He was born into an upper-samurai family of Tosa. Losing his father young, he was raised and taught by Yoshida Toyo, his uncle by marriage. Toyo was the power behind the domain's reforms, and Shojiro was strongly influenced by him.
Around this time he took a domain post on Toyo's recommendation and studied at Toyo's private school, the Shorinjuku. Itagaki Taisuke and Iwasaki Yataro are said to have been there as well. Ties with these young peers later extended into Meiji politics and business.
Toyo was killed by members of the Tosa Loyalist Party, and Shojiro too left office. The loyalist faction took hold of domain politics. Losing his benefactor greatly influenced his later actions.
When the former lord Yamauchi Yodo moved against the Loyalist Party, Shojiro was appointed chief inspector and handled the interrogation of Takechi Hanpeita and others. Having regained the domain's lead, he soon won Yodo's trust and stood at the center of domain affairs.
He set up the Kaiseikan to promote the domain's industry and trade, and traveled to Nagasaki and Shanghai to buy ships and arms. Dealing with foreign merchants in Nagasaki, he learned of world trends and began to think about Japan's path.
In Nagasaki he met Sakamoto Ryoma and joined hands despite past enmity. Based on Ryoma's ideas, he urged on Yodo a plan for the shogun to return power to the court, the return of political power, and submitted it to the shogunate as Tosa's petition. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu accepted it.
He became a councilor of the new Meiji government and served as governor of Osaka, among other posts. That year, when British minister Parkes was attacked in Kyoto, he protected him with Nakai Hiroshi and is said to have later received a sword from Britain. He also proved able in foreign dealings.
In the dispute over sending an envoy to Korea, the Seikanron debate, he left the government with Saigo Takamori, Itagaki Taisuke and others. His rivalry with Okubo Toshimichi and those who held the government continued, and he chose to engage in politics from outside.
With Itagaki Taisuke and others he submitted to the government a memorial calling for an elected assembly. It is regarded as the start of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Shojiro also went into business, but ventures such as coal mining did not go well.
Ahead of the opening of the Diet, he called for the Daido Danketsu Movement to unite the divided people's rights activists. He toured the country giving speeches and drew many. But in 1889 he himself joined the government, surprising his fellow campaigners.
He joined Kuroda Kiyotaka's cabinet as minister of communications, handling post, telegraph and transport, and remained a minister in the following Yamagata Aritomo and Matsukata Masayoshi cabinets. His shift from opposition campaigner to government minister drew criticism.
He became minister of agriculture and commerce in Ito Hirobumi's second cabinet, formed that year. But suspicions arose over a stock exchange affair, and he resigned in 1894. His political life was turbulent, mixing brilliant feats with failures.
He died of illness. Starting as an upper samurai of Tosa, he stood at many great turning points, from the petition for the return of power to the start of parliamentary politics in Meiji. Known for his bold character, he is still remembered through his ties with Ryoma and Itagaki.
Yoshida TōyōSaigō TakamoriSakamoto RyōmaTokugawa YoshinobuŌkubo ToshimichiIwasaki YatarōMatsukata MasayoshiItagaki Taisuke
Sanjō SanetomiŌkuma ShigenobuYamagata AritomoEdward S. MorseShibusawa EiichiKuroda KiyotakaItō HirobumiTanaka Shōzō
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.