page_title: Yamagata Aritomo
section_title: Personal life and hobbies
hierarchical_section_title: Yamagata Aritomo / Personal life and hobbies
caption_attribution_description: English: Prince Yamagata Aritomo, was a Japanese field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. Photo taken before 1922. 日本語: 山縣有朋
context_page_description: Gensui Prince Yamagata Aritomo, also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the genrō, an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated Japan after the Meiji Restoration. As the Imperial Japanese Army's inaugural Chief of Staff, he was the chief architect of the Empire of Japan's military and its reactionary ideology. For this reason, some historians consider Yamagata to be the “father” of Japanese militarism.
  During the latter part of the Meiji Era, Yamagata Aritomo vied against Marquess Itō Hirobumi for control over the nation's policies. After Itō was assassinated in 1909, he became the most powerful figure in Japan save for Emperor Meiji himself. When Meiji died in 1912, Yamagata used his successor's infirmity to justify becoming the country's de facto ruler. In this capacity, he committed his energies to defending the privileges of the Restoration regime, especially those held by the army. Henceforth, Yamagata dominated national policy until a fall out with the Imperial family led to him losing power shortly before his death in February 1922.
context_section_description: Prince Yamagata was a talented garden designer, and today the gardens he designed are considered masterpieces of Japanese gardens. A noted example is the garden of the villa Murin-an in Kyoto.
  As Yamagata had no children, he adopted a nephew, the second son of his eldest sister, to be his heir. Yamagata Isaburō subsequently assisted his adopted father by serving as a career bureaucrat, cabinet minister, and head of the civilian administration of Korea.
caption: Prince Yamagata Aritomo in his later years.
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