Makino Nobuaki was a Japanese politician and imperial court official. As Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan, Makino served as Emperor Hirohito’s Chief counselor on the monarch’s position in Japanese society and policymaking. On a broader scale, he significantly contributed to the militarization of Japanese society through his extensive patronage of ultranationalist groups and persuasion of Hirohito to sanction the Army’s rampant aggression in China. Even after his retirement in 1935, he remained a close advisor to the throne through the end of World War II.
Upon beginning his career as a diplomat, Makino was assigned to the Japanese Embassy in London. There, he made the acquaintance of Itō Hirobumi. Following his service abroad, he served as governor of Fukui Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture. He resumed his career in diplomacy as an Ambassador to Italy and later Ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Switzerland. , among others. In March 1906, Makino was appointed Minister of Education under Prime MinisterSaionji Kinmochi. While serving in the 1st Saionji Cabinet, he was elevated in rank to danshaku under the kazoku peerage system. When Saionji began his second term as Prime Minister on 30 August 1911, Makino again joined his Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. He was also appointed to serve on the Privy Council. Over the course of his political career, he aligned his policies closely with Itō Hirobumi and later, with Saionji, and was considered one of the early leaders of the Liberalism movement in Japan. After the end of World War I, Makino was appointed to be one of Japan's ambassador plenipotentiaries to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, headed by the elder statesman, Marquis Saionji. At the conference, he and other members of the delegation put forth a racial equality proposal that did not pass. On September 20, 1920, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers. In February 1921, he became Imperial Household Minister and elevated in rank to shishaku. Behind the scenes, he strove to improve Anglo-Japanese and Japanese-American relations, and he shared Saionji Kinmochi's efforts to shield the Emperor from direct involvement in political affairs. In 1925, he was appointed Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. He relinquished the post in 1935 and was elevated in the title to hakushaku. Although he formally retired his positions in 1935, his relations with Emperor Shōwa remained good, and he still had much power and influence behind the scenes. This made him a target for the militarists, and he narrowly escaped assassination at his villa in Yugawara during the February 26 Incident in 1936. He continued to be an advisor and exert a moderating influence on the Emperor until the start of World War II.
Makino was also the first president of the Nihon Ki-in Go Society, and a fervent player of the game of go. After the war, his reputation as an "old liberalist" gave him high credibility, and the politician Ichirō Hatoyama attempted to recruit him to the Liberal Party as its chairman. However, Makino declined for reasons of health and age. He died in 1949, and his grave is at the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.
