Wakatsuki Reijiro
Wakatsuki Reijirō (若槻 礼次郎
Wakatsuki Reijirō) (
March 21,
1866"
November 20,
1949) was a Japanese politician and the 25th and 28th
Prime Minister of Japan. His first term lasted from
January 30,
1926 to
April 20,
1927; the second from
April 14,
1931 to
December 13,
1931.
Opposition politicians of the time labeled him
Usotsuki Reijiro, or "Reijiro the Liar". The official representation of his name in Chinese characters is 禮次郎.
He was born in
Matsue of
Izumo province, now called
Matsueshi in
Shimane Prefecture. His father was named Okumura, a
samurai who served the
Matsudaira clan. Later Wakatsuki married a woman of the Wakatsuki clan who adopted him since the clan had no male heir.
He enrolled in the
Tokyo Imperial University in
1892 and studied law. After graduation, he worked in the
Ministry of Finance and eventually rose to position of second minister. In
1911 he was appointed a senator in the
Kizoku-in. He was then appointed as the
Minister of Finance under
Katsura Taro and
Okuma Shigenobu in the early
1910's.
He opposed aggression with
United States before
World War II and after declaration of hostilities, publicly stated the war should end as quickly as possible.
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