page_title: Ōkubo Toshimichi
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Ōkubo Toshimichi / Early life
caption_attribution_description: a Japanese man 大久保利通 (Toshimichi Okubo)
context_page_description: Ōkubo Toshimichi was a Japanesestatesman and one of the Three Great Nobles regarded as the main founders of modern Japan.
  Ōkubo was a samurai of the Satsuma Domain and joined the movement to overthrow the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate during the Bakumatsu period. Upon the founding of the new Empire of Japan, Ōkubo became a leading member of the Meiji Restoration and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. Following his return from the Iwakura Mission in 1873, he became Lord of Home Affairs and used his office's authority to rapidly expand his influence within the Restoration government. By 1874, he had consolidated power to become the country's de facto dictator. In this capacity, he enacted numerous social reforms, pacified disputes within the regime at the Osaka Conference of 1875, and suppressed several rebellions threatening the survival of the empire. As a result of his ironhanded leadership, Ōkubo became the focus of deep animosity in Japan and was ultimately assassinated in 1878.
context_section_description: Ōkubo was born on 26 September 1830 in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture) to Ōkubo Juemon (1794-1863; also known as Toshio and Shirō), a low-ranking retainer of Shimazu Nariakira, the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain, later given a minor official position, and his wife Minayoshi Fuku (1803-1864), daughter of a physician. Although the Ōkubo family were not of high status, they were of distinguished origin, thought to descend from the noble Fujiwara clan. The eldest of five children, Ōkubo studied at the same local school as Saigō Takamori, who was three years older. In 1846, Ōkubo was given the position of aide to the Satsuma Domain's archivist.
caption: Ōkubo Toshimichi as a young samurai.
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