Hoshi Tōru

Hoshi Tōru (星 亨; 19 May 1850 – 21 June 1901) was a Japanese politician and cabinet minister in Meiji period Japan.

Early life and education

Hoshi was born in Edo in what is now part of Tsukiji, Tokyo; little is known about his biological father other than that he was a plasterer. His mother remarried to a medical doctor in Uraga, and he adopted the Hoshi surname. Initially intending to pursue a career in medicine, he learned English at Yokohama, and eventually became an English language instructor. He travelled to England, where he studied at the Middle Temple, and in 1877 became the first Japanese to qualify as a barrister in the United Kingdom.¹

Career

After the Meiji Restoration, he enjoyed the patronage of Mutsu Munemitsu and entered into the service of the new Meiji government, serving as head of the Yokohama Customs Office. At one point he precipitated a minor diplomatic incident over a disagreement with British minister Harry Smith Parkes over what kanji to use in translating the title of “queen” as in Queen Victoria, and refusing to agree to Parkes's position, resigned his post.

On his return to Japan from England, Hoshi entered the Ministry of Justice, and was outspoken in his criticism of the hanbatsu, or clan-based politics, and what he perceived as the weak position of the Japanese government over the revision of the imequal treaties with the western powers. He was briefly expelled from Tokyo under the Peace Preservation Law² and forbidden to publish in 1887 and jailed in 1888. Hoshi left Japan for the United States and Canada in 1888 soon after his release, remaining for a year, and continued on to England and Germany, only returning to Japan in 1890.