Etō Shinpei

Etō Shinpei (江藤 新平; 18 March 1834 – 13 April 1874) was a Japanese statesman during the early Meiji period, remembered chiefly for his role in the unsuccessful Saga Rebellion.

Early life and Meiji bureaucrat

Etō was born into a crestless and poor samurai family in Yae (modern-day Saga), in Hizen Province (present-day Prefectures of Saga and Nagasaki), on the island of Kyushu. He lived near the house of Sagara Chian (Tomoyasu) who also played an influential role in Meiji Japan. In 1848 Etō entered the school of the Nabeshima Clan and soon drew attention as a gifted young man, but after his father lost his employment, he continued his studies in a private school run by Edayoshi Shinyō, an ardent adherent of National Studies (Kokugaku). Together with other ambitious young samurai such as Ōkuma Shigenobu, Soejima Taneomi, Ōki Takatō, Shima Yoshitake, Etō joined the Gizai-dōmei ("Ceremonial League") established by Edayoshi in 1850. Three years later he wrote a paper (Tokaisaku), in which he propagated the opening of Japan and a series of plans to gain economic and military strength. After his marriage (1857) he worked for the Saga domain.

During the Boshin War to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, he served as a general in the imperial army.

After the Meiji Restoration, Etō was appointed to a number of posts, including that of Lord of Justice in 1872, and was responsible for drafting Japan's first modern penal code the (Kaitei Ritsurei). In 1873, he became a sangi (Councilor) in the Daijō-kan, but resigned the same year, after the proposal made by to invade was rejected.