The scandal of the five curiosities increased the antipathy toward Takaaki Kato, the president of the opposition party Kensei-kai. In an editorial, the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun denounced President Kato as “cruel” for promising not to support Yukio Ozaki and Saburo Shimada, the meritorious members of the Kenseikai, in exchange for 50,000 yen in financial support from Shinya Uchida, the president of Uchida Steamship Co.
Hara Takashi Diary: On March 20, Nobuya Uchida came to Japan, and Takaaki Kato told Uchida that he was indeed against the general election. Therefore, it can be said that Kato was not an advocate of universal suffrage in his heart (as it should be, Kato was forced by his subordinates and brought in without the power to control them), and Uchida said that he might enter the political world in the future. Since Uchida has considerable wealth, it is not surprising that he may become a member of the political world. Kenzo Adachi, a member of the Keseikai, was supposed to have visited Tanaka before the latter’s departure for his new home, and asked Ogasawara what he had said, In the end, he soothed Yamagata’s feelings by saying that the Manchurian Railway was a fact and that he was extremely sympathetic to Yamagata, and that he was planning to revive the Constitution Society.
Leave a Reply