Hara Takashi - Political Career

Political Career

In 1900, Hara returned to politics and joined the new-founded party Rikken Seiyūkai that was founded by Itō Hirobumi. Hara became the first secretary-general of the party.

He ran successfully for the lower house as a representative from Iwate Prefecture and was appointed Minister of Communications in the Fourth Ito Administration. He later served as Home Minister in several cabinets between 1906 and 1913. Hara was also able to effect many reforms from the powerful position of Home Minister. Hara realized that a fundamental political issue in Japan was the tension between the elected government and the appointed bureaucracy, and his career was dedicated to weakening the power of the non-elected bureaucrats.

As Home Minister, he systematically dismissed local bureaucrats in local governments in every capacity from governor down to high school principal. Any public employee who fell under his power would be replaced by someone in whom he saw real ability instead of a mere useful recipient of a favor.

Thus, he created a system in which people with talent could rise to the top of the bureaucracy, regardless of their background or rank. Hara also understood that maintenance of the supremacy of the elected leaders depended on the government’s ability to develop the Japanese national infrastructure and on a long-term economic plan that would address regional as well as national interests.

In 1914, after heated debate, he was appointed the president of the Rikken Seiyūkai to replace the outgoing and aging leader Saionji Kinmochi. This period is often called Taishō democracy, which represented the move away from Japan's traditional system of government and toward something that could be called a real parliamentary democracy. Under Hara's leadership, the Rikken Seiyukai gained supporters steadily and, in 1917, it became the largest party in the Diet.

Hara held strong views about his opponents, the military powersm and politicians who originated from the Kagoshima and Yamaguchi Prefectures: the former Satsuma and Chōshū clans.