View source for Yamamoto Tatsuo

{{short description|Japanese politician and Governor of the Bank of Japan}}
{{family name hatnote|Yamamoto|lang=Japanese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Senior Second Rank]]<br />[[Kazoku|Baron]]
| name             = Yamamoto Tatsuo
| native_name      = {{Nobold|山本 達雄}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image            = Yamamoto Tatsuo.jpg
| alt              =
| caption          = Yamamoto in 1898
| office           = [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Minister of Home Affairs]]
| term_start       = 26 May 1932
| term_end         = 8 July 1934
| primeminister    = [[Saitō Makoto]]
| predecessor      = [[Suzuki Kisaburō]]
| successor        = [[Fumio Gotō]]
| office1          = [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]]
| term_start1      = 29 September 1918
| term_end1        = 12 June 1922
| primeminister1   = {{plainlist|
* [[Hara Takashi]]
* [[Takahashi Korekiyo]]
}}
| predecessor1     = [[Nakashōji Ren]]
| successor1       = [[Arai Kentarō]]
| term_start2      = 20 February 1913
| term_end2        = 16 April 1914
| primeminister2   = [[Yamamoto Gonnohyōe]]
| predecessor2     = Nakashōji Ren
| successor2       = [[Ōura Kanetake]]
| office3          = [[Minister of Finance (Japan)|Minister of Finance]]
| term_start3      = 30 August 1911
| term_end3        = 21 December 1912
| primeminister3   = [[Saionji Kinmochi]]
| predecessor3     = [[Katsura Tarō]]
| successor3       = [[Wakatsuki Reijirō]]
| office4          = Governor of the [[Bank of Japan]]
| term_start4      = 20 October 1898
| term_end4        = 19 October 1903
| predecessor4     = [[Iwasaki Yanosuke]]
| successor4       = [[Shigeyoshi Matsuo]]
| office5          = Member of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]]
| term_start5      = 20 November 1903
| term_end5        = 2 May 1947 {{hanging indent|Nominated by the [[Emperor Meiji|Emperor]]}}
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1856|04|07|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Usuki, Ōita]], [[Tokugawa shogunate|Japan]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1947|11|02|1856|04|07|df=yes}}
| death_place      =
| resting_place    = [[Aoyama Cemetery]], Tokyo
| party            = [[Rikken Minseitō]] (after 1927)
| otherparty       = [[Rikken Seiyūkai]] (1912–1925)<br>[[Seiyūhontō]] (1925–1927)
}}
Baron {{nihongo|'''Yamamoto Tatsuo'''|山本 達雄||extra=7 April 1856 – 2 November 1947}} was a Japanese banker and politician who was Governor of the [[Bank of Japan]] from 1898 to 1903. He was also a member of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]] and served as a cabinet minister in the pre-war government of the [[Empire of Japan]].

== Early life ==
Yamamoto was born in [[Usuki, Ōita|Usuki, Ōita Prefecture]].<ref>Bank of Japan (BOJ), [https://www.boj.or.jp/en/about/outline/history/pre_gov/sousai05.htm/ 5th Governor]</ref> He was the younger son of a [[samurai]] family of [[Usuki Domain]]. After the [[Meiji Restoration]], at 19 he moved to [[Osaka]], and at 22 to [[Tokyo]], where he studied at a school run by the [[Mitsubishi]] company.

==Career==
Yamamoto's first employment was as a teacher at the [[Osaka University of Commerce]]. At 26, he was appointed its principal.

In 1883, Yamamoto turned towards commerce, and obtained a position at the Mitsubishi-affiliated shipping firm [[Nippon Yusen]], in which he rapidly rose through the corporate ranks. In 1890, he joined the [[Bank of Japan]] (BOJ), and in 1895 was appointed the chairman of the [[Yokohama Specie Bank]]. In April 1896, in order to better acquaint himself with issues pertaining to the [[gold standard]], he travelled to England, and while still in England the following year, was appointed to the board of directors of the Bank of Japan. In October 1898, at the strong request of Bank of Japan governor [[Iwasaki Yanosuke]], he was recalled to Japan to assume the role of governor of the Bank of Japan. He had been with the Bank of Japan for eight years and was 43 years old at the time.

Yamamoto served as BOJ Governor from 20 October 1898 to 19 October 1903.<ref>BOJ, [https://www.boj.or.jp/en/about/outline/history/pre_gov/index.htm/  List of Governors]</ref> During his tenure, the Japanese economy experienced various crisis pertaining to [[foreign exchange market|foreign exchange]] issues and the gold and [[silver standard]]s. However, his greatest concern was the increasing budget deficits incurred by the Japanese government. As head of the Bank of Japan, Yamamoto refused to yield to political pressure from the [[Diet of Japan|Japanese Diet]], the [[Cabinet of Japan|Cabinet]], and the ''[[genrō]]'' to alter his fiscal policies. When political pressure was applied to his subordinates, causing eleven senior managers to resign in protest, Yamamoto used the opportunity to fill the positions with his supporters. Yamamoto's actions were critical in preserving the future independence of the Bank of Japan from politics. In 1903, the combined efforts of [[Itō Hirobumi]] and [[Yamagata Aritomo]] managed to dislodge Yamamoto from his position. He was then appointed as a member of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]], and in 1909 became the head of [[Nippon Kangyo Bank]].

In 1911, Prime Minister [[Saionji Kinmochi]] decided that he needed an expert in the field of finance to reform the [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Finance Ministry]] during his [[Second Saionji Cabinet|second cabinet]], and appointed Yamamoto to become Finance Minister. This was the first time that a businessman had been selected to head a cabinet post, and set a precedent for selecting business executives to head ministries focused on economics or finance.<ref>Fletcher, Japanese Business Community and National Trade Policy, 1920&ndash;1942. pg. 17</ref> However, with a looming financial crisis in the aftermath of the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Yamamoto strongly opposed the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]'s demands for additional funding to support an increase in the number of [[infantry division]]s. This issue led directly to the collapse of the Second Saionji Cabinet in 1912.<ref>Ozawa, The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio. Pg 269</ref> Afterwards, Yamamoto joined the ''[[Rikken Seiyūkai]]'' party.

After the start of the [[Taishō period]], during the [[First Yamamoto Cabinet|First Cabinet]] of [[Yamamoto Gonnohyōe]], Yamamoto was picked to become [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]]. Yamamoto Gonnohyōe also picked another former Bank of Japan governor, [[Takahashi Korekiyo]], to head the Finance Ministry, hoping for a through fiscal revamp of the Japanese government. However, his cabinet was soon brought down by the [[Siemens scandal]]. Yamamoto returned again as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce under the subsequent [[Hara Cabinet|Hara]] and [[Takahashi Cabinet]]s from 1918 to 1922. He was ennobled with the ''[[kazoku]]'' peerage title of ''danshaku'' ([[baron]]) in 1920. 

In 1925, Yamamoto joined the new ''[[Seiyūhontō]]'' party, along with [[Ichirō Hatoyama]]; however, the party failed to gain popular support and soon merged with the ''[[Kenseikai]]'' to form the ''[[Rikken Minseitō]]''. However, as a former member of the rival ''Seiyūkai'', Yamamoto found himself excluded from the highest ranks of the party leadership, and passed over for any important positions until 1932, when he was appointed as [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Minister]] under the [[Saitō Cabinet]] in the aftermath of the [[March 15 incident]]. As Home Minister, he presided over a more severe interpretation of the [[Peace Preservation Law]].

Yamamoto continued to serve in the House of Peers until its dissolution by the post-war [[Constitution of Japan]], and died in 1947 at the age of 91. His grave is at [[Aoyama Cemetery]] in Tokyo.

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Tatsuo Yamamoto}}

== References ==
* {{cite book
 | last = Araki
 | first = Osamu
 | year = 2008
 | title = Refugee Law and Practice in Japan
| publisher =Ashgate
 | isbn = 0-7546-7009-0
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Duus
 | first = Peter
 | year = 1998
 | title = The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895&ndash;1910
| publisher =University of California Press
 | isbn = 0-520-21361-0
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Fletcher
 | first = William Miles
 | authorlink = 
 | year = 1989
 | title = Japanese Business Community and National Trade Policy, 1920&ndash;1942
 | publisher = University of North Carolina Press
 | location = 
 | isbn = 0-8078-1847-X
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/japanesebusiness0000flet
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Sims
 | first = Richard
 | authorlink =
 | year = 2001
 | title = Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868&ndash;2000
 | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
 | isbn = 0-312-23915-7
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Ozawa
 | first = Yukio
 | year = 2001
 | title = The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan
 | publisher = Princeton University Press
 | location =
 | isbn = 0-691-05095-3
}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.boj.or.jp/about/outline/history/pre_gov/sousai05.htm/ Bank of Japan page on Yamamoto] (in Japanese)

{{s-start}}
{{S-gov}}
{{Succession box|
before=[[Yanosuke Iwasaki]]|
title=[[Bank of Japan|Governor of the Bank of Japan]]|
after=[[Shigeyoshi Matsuo]]|
years=October 1898 – October 1903}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before=[[Katsura Tarō]] | title=[[Minister of Finance (Japan)|Minister of Finance]]| years= August 1911 – December 1912| after=[[Wakatsuki Reijirō]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Nakashōji Ren]] | title=[[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]]| years= February 1913 – April 1914| after=[[Ōura Kanetake]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Nakashōji Ren]] | title=Minister of Agriculture & Commerce | years= September 1918 – June 1922| after=[[Arai Kentarō]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Suzuki Kisaburō]] | title=[[Home Ministry (Japan)|Minister of Home Affairs]] | years= May 1932 – July 1934| after=[[Fumio Gotō|Gotō Fumio]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Japanese finance ministers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Tatsuo (politician)}}
[[Category:1856 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:Kazoku]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Japan]]
[[Category:Ministers of home affairs of Japan]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Governors of the Bank of Japan]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Peers (Japan)]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ōita Prefecture]]
[[Category:Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan) politicians]]
[[Category:Rikken Seiyūkai politicians]]
[[Category:People from Usuki, Ōita]]
[[Category:Burials at Aoyama Cemetery]]