Gotō Shinpei Count was a statesman and cabinet minister in the Taisho and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan . He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule , the first director of the South Manchuria Railway , the seventh mayor of Tokyo , the first Chief Scout of Japan , the first director of NHK , the third principal of Takushoku University , and the Home Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan . Early life . Gotō was born in Isawa ( present - day in Iwate Prefecture ) . He entered Sukagawa medical school in Fukushima prefecture at the age of seventeen , and became a doctor in Nagoya , Aichi after graduation . In 1877 , he served as a government medic during the Satsuma Rebellion . At the age of 25 , he became president of the Nagoya Medical School . Having distinguished himself through his work at the Nagoya Medical School and at the military hospital in Osaka during the Satsuma Rebellion , Gotō joined the Home Ministry ’ s medical bureau ( 衛生局 ) in 1883 , eventually becoming its head . While at the ministry , in 1890 he published his Principles of National Health ( 国家衛生原理 ) and took part in the creation of new sewage and water facilities in Tokyo . This recommended him to Army Vice - Minister Kodama Gentarō ( 1852 - 1906 ) , who made Gotō chief of the Army Quarantine Office looking after the return of more than 230 , 000 soldiers from the Sino - Japanese War ( 1895 - 95 ) . After the war , Gotō returned to the Home Ministry , but remained involved in overseas affairs , advising the new Japanese administration on Taiwan about health issues . In 1896 , Kodama , now governor - general of Taiwan , asked Gotō to join him there , eventually making him the first civilian governor of the island in 1898 . In 1890 Gotō was sent by the Japanese government to Germany for further studies . Taiwan . During the First Sino - Japanese War ( 1894 – 95 ) Gotō served at the Port of Hiroshima and worked on the quarantine of returning soldiers . His work was noticed by Kodama Gentarō in the Imperial Japanese Army . At the end of the war , China ceded Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki . Kodama became the Governor - General of Taiwan , and Gotō was asked to become the head of civilian affairs in his government . As a doctor by training , Gotō believed that Taiwan must be ruled by " biological principles " ( 生物学の原則 ) , i . e . that he must first understand the habits of the Taiwanese population , as well as the reasons for their existence , before creating corresponding policies . For this purpose , he created and headed the Provisional Council for the Investigation of Old Habits of Taiwan ( 臨時台湾旧慣調査会 ) . Opium addiction was an endemic problem in China at the time , and Taiwan was no exception . Gotō recommended a policy of the " gradual " prohibition of opium . Under this scheme , opium could only be purchased from licensed retailers . In addition , as government revenues from opium sales became extremely lucrative as a result , Gotō used opium sales licenses to reward Taiwanese elite loyal to the Japanese empire and those who assisted in the suppression of the " Taiwan Yiminjun " , an armed group that resisted Japanese rule . The plan achieved both its purposes : opium addiction dropped gradually and the activities of the " Taiwan Yiminjun " were undermined . Gotō worked for the government monopolization of sugar and camphor and also for the development of railways in Taiwan . Statesman . In 1906 , Gotō became the first director of the South Manchuria Railway Company . In 1908 , he returned to Japan as Minister of Communications and the head of the Railway Bureau ( " Tetsudoin " ) , under the second Katsura administration . In 1912 , Gotō became director of the Colonization Bureau " ( Takushokukyoku ) . " A close confident of Prime Minister Katsura , he assisted in the formation of the " Rikken Dōshikai " political party after the Taisho Political Crisis in 1912 . In 1916 , Gotō became Home Minister , and in 1918 ( in the Terauchi administration ) , Foreign Minister . A strong believer in Pan - Asianism , Gotō pushed for an aggressive and expansionist Japanese foreign policy , and strongly endorsed the Siberian Intervention . Gotō served as Mayor of Tokyo in 1920 , and again as Home Minister in 1923 , contributing to the reconstruction of Tokyo following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake . In 1924 , Citizen Watch Co . ' s forerunner , the Shokosha Watch Research Watch Institute produced its first pocket watch , and presented it to the mayor of Tokyo , Gotō Shimpei . Gotō named the watch " citizen " with the hope that the watch , then a luxury item , would one day become widely available to ordinary citizens . Gotō died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1929 . His papers are preserved at the Gotō Shimpei Memorial Museum , which is situated in his birthplace , Mizusawa City , in Iwate Prefecture . Scouting . Gotō was made the first Chief Scout of Japan and tasked with rebuilding the organization . As Minister of Railways , Count Gotō traveled around the country , and was able to promote Scouting all over Japan in his spare time .