Statesman. Born in the Saga domain to a vassal of the Ogi clan, sent by the Ministry of the Army to study abroad in France in 1872. After returning to Japan, he retired from the Ministry of the Army and joined the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement and published Toyo Jiyu Shimbun with SAIONJI Kinmochi. In 1882, he participated in the establishment of the Kyushu Constitutional Progressive Party and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in 1890. In 1898, he became Minister of Finance in the 1st Okuma Cabinet and Minister of Education in the 4th Ito Cabinet, before serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1904 to 1906. Later, he became the Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance in the 1st Saionji Cabinet in 1906, and served as Minister of Justice in the 1st Yamamoto Cabinet in 1913. He was a baron.