Satou Rin

**Satou Rin** (b. 8 August 1835) is the current Kanpaku of Nantou. He also served in the same role from 1876 to 1886. Satou is the leader of the Seikō Club, a centrist conservative faction in the Imperial Diet of Nantou.

## Political career

### First premiership

In 1875, Kanpaku Matsumoto Miho announced his sudden retirement from politics due to difficulties with his health. The first kanpaku to have come from a faction other than Aikokusha, Matsumoto enjoyed considerable popularity and oversaw significant growth in the more centrist and open-minded segments of the conservative faction. Satou Rin, Seikō Club's second-in-command to Matsumoto, naturally rose to the party's leadership and led Seikō into the 1876 general election. Despite worries that Matsumoto's departure would weaken Seikō and restore Aikokusha as the dominant conservative party, Seikō instead solidified its place in control of the government.

On 3 July 1876, Satou was officially designated as kanpaku by Emperor Shinmei. Much like his predecessor, as kanpaku Satou sought to engage in dialogue with the progressive opposition in the Imperial Diet. The rising influence of the progressive faction was creating a rift among the conservatives, particularly as the Aikokusha old guard sought to diminish the extent to which cooperation would be possible for Satou. Nonetheless, Satou resisted Aikokusha, as well as the military factions, even pursuing joint legislation with progressives on significant issues.

The most notable of these issues was the creation of a national railway system. Private rail development scattered the nation, largely concentrated in large cities, and rail was becoming of greater interest to the people. Progressives launched an initiative calling on the establishment of a Ministry of Railways and a state organization to oversee rapid nationwide development of railway infrastructure. Although supportive of the railways, many in the conservative faction were cautious of such a massive state-led project and preferred to see private corporations continue to benefit from rail expansion led by capital interests.

Satou and the majority of Seikō Club ultimately sided with the New Politics Society and the other progressives, breaking from all other conservatives, to craft a policy for a national railway. And so, in 1882, the Ministry of Railways became a reality and Nantou Railways was founded.

Despite continued popularity among most Nantians, the conservative faction did not forgive Satou for his political betrayal and maneuvered to cause his ouster in favor of a kanpaku that would be more loyal to the conservative faction as a whole. The general elections of 1886 were riddled with controversy, particularly in prefectures that provided the most support for Seikō Club. Reports emerged of rampant manipulation of voters through the spread of misinformation regarding polling dates, times, and locations. In the final vote count, Seikō Club narrowly lost the necessary seat count to maintain its control of the premiership, handing power back to Aikokusha.

### Second premiership

Just under a decade since Aikokusha's successful plot to end his premiership, Satou Rin returned as head of government in 1895. Aided again by the growth of progressive power in politics, Satou was able to bypass Aikokusha's hold on the seat of government. And not far into his new term as kanpaku, Satou, much like the past, opened up cooperation with the progressives. This time, working with Miyake Hiyao of the New Politics Society, Kanpaku was able to enact a universal public pension system for Nantou.

While Satou and his party was able to secure its place leading government, the real hold on power among the conservatives was highly contentious. In the late 1890s, labor interests organizations began to emerge, most notably the Nantou Federation of Labor. The supporters of these groups, traditionally aligned with the progressives, started to split off as their own unique, and more radical, political organizations. While mostly interested in workers' rights and encouraging democratic labor action, these organizations were soon targeted by the Tokko-Kenpeitai, the criminal investigation division of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Historically controlled by forces friendly to Aikokusha and the military, the Tokko-Kenpeitai became the means by which Aikokusha would leverage more control over government.

Even as Kanpaku Satou opposed the aggressive investigations of Tokko-Kenpeitai, he remained powerless in actually stopping these acts. Bolstered by the negative media narrative being built around the "dangerous socialists" of the Nantou Federation of Labor and other "subversive groups," Aikokusha successfully saw the passage of the Safety Passage Law in February 1899. Within hours the bill's passage, the Nantou Federation of Labor was banned and the Tokko-Kenpeitai warned of criminal punishments for all associated with these types of organizations. Notably, Kanpaku Satou, as well as the entirety of Seikō Club, cast their vote against the legislation. In another repeat of history, this was widely viewed as a betrayal of the conservatives, although this time much more severe a betrayal than in Satou's first premiership.