The Ōkuma–Itagaki Cabinet Forms and Breaks Apart

Opposition to the Itō government’s proposed land-tax increase brought the Liberal and Progressive parties into a common organization, the Kenseitō, in June 1898. Itō recommended a change of government. Ōkuma Shigenobu became prime minister on June 30, with Itagaki Taisuke as home minister.

The Cabinet drew its ministers from the new party except for the army and navy portfolios. Party politicians therefore obtained the chief civilian offices, while the armed forces retained ministers outside their organization. The appointment was made within the imperial constitutional system; it did not establish a rule that the parliamentary majority would automatically choose every subsequent Cabinet.

The merger concealed competing groups and claims to appointments. Education Minister Ozaki Yukio made a speech invoking a hypothetical republic while criticizing the political power of wealth. Controversy forced him out. Ōkuma’s selection of Inukai Tsuyoshi as his replacement intensified conflict with Itagaki’s supporters over who controlled offices.

The former Liberal group broke with the merged party, and the Cabinet collapsed. Its term ended on November 8, 1898, after roughly four months. A unified party name had not supplied durable rules for sharing authority. The episode gave party leaders direct executive experience but left government formation dependent on imperial appointment, senior statesmen and offices that the party itself did not fully control.