Genrō


Genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen, considered the "founding fathers" of modern Japan, who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa periods in Japanese history.
The institution of genrō originated with the traditional council of elders common in the Edo period; however, the term genrō appears to have been coined by a newspaper only in 1892. The term is sometimes confused with the Genrōin, a legislative body which existed from 1875–1890; however, the genrō were not related to the establishment of that body or its dissolution.
Experienced leaders of the Meiji Restoration were singled out by the Emperor as genkun, and asked to act as Imperial advisors. With the exception of Saionji Kinmochi, all the genrō were from medium or lower ranking samurai families, four each from Satsuma and Chōshū, the two former domains that had been instrumental in the overthrow of the former Tokugawa shogunate in the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration of 1867–1868. The genrō had the right to select and nominate Prime Ministers to the Emperor for approval.
The first seven genrō were all formerly members of the Sangi which was abolished in 1885. They are also sometimes known to historians as the Meiji oligarchy, although not all of the Meiji oligarchs were genrō.
The institution expired in 1940, with the death of the last of the genrō, Saionji Kinmochi.

List of genrō

NameOriginBirthDeath-
1Itō HirobumiChōshū16 October 184126 October 1909
2Kuroda KiyotakaSatsuma16 October 184023 August 1900
3Ōyama IwaoSatsuma12 November 184210 December 1916
4Inoue KaoruChōshū16 January 18361 September 1915
5Saigō TsugumichiSatsuma1 June 184318 July 1902
6Matsukata MasayoshiSatsuma25 February 18352 July 1924
7Yamagata AritomoChōshū14 June 18381 February 1922
8Katsura TarōChōshū4 January 184810 October 1913
9Saionji KinmochiKuge23 October 184924 November 1940