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senzenwomenHara Takashi, often better known as Hara Kei, was Japan’s so-called “commoner Prime Minister.” In 1883, then aged twenty-seven, he was appointed to a post as consul-general of Japan in Tianjin, China; however, it was considered a necessity for diplomats abroad to be married, and so he made haste to look for a bride. On the strong recommendation of the then Foreign Minister (ie his boss) Inoue Kaoru, Hara selected Nakai Sadako, the daughter of Nakai Hiromu (whose brief first marriage had been to Inoue’s subsequent wife Takeko; there were rumors, probably unfounded, that Sadako was actually Inoue’s daughter, or even Takeko’s). Sadako was fourteen at the time (FOURTEEN). Shipped off to a primitively appointed consulate in unfamiliar China with a husband twice her age, it is hard to believe that she was prepared to fulfill the various functions of a diplomat’s wife. When she broke down crying, Hara is said to have put her on his back and carried her around the garden like a child.
Fortunately, his next posting was to Paris, in 1887, where Sadako found the social whirl congenial. In 1889, however, they returned to Japan; Sadako was unimpressed by life as a civil servant’s wife and was accused by Hara of looking down on his humble northern origins. He suggested divorce, but she was unwilling, and they settled for living separately. At some point in the following years, Hara became closely involved with a geisha called Kanno (or Sugano) Asa, who came from Iwate up north just as he did; by 1896 he had introduced her to his mother and made her free of his home.
In 1897, Sadako asked to live together once again. In addition to obtaining her permission for Asa’s presence there, Hara issued her with a twenty-one-point document covering such demands as “be filial to my mother,” “take charge of the household duties,” “be modest and unadorned with regard to makeup and dress,” and “don’t go out at night incautiously.” Sadako agreed to these and moved back in, but in the event did not seem especially inclined to follow his directions. In 1906, they were finally divorced when she became pregnant with another man’s child. Hara continued to send her alimony until her death in 1919.
Free to marry Asa, he did so immediately, although she protested that as an illiterate former geisha she was ill-suited to being the wife of a leading politician. They apparently lived very happily together, with Asa helping to raise their adopted son Mitsugi (Hara’s biological great-nephew); on weekends in the country, Hara would seat Asa in a rickshaw and pull it himself.
He was assassinated in 1921, when Asa took the lead in making sure his directions for a modest funeral and the disposal of his remains in his hometown were followed. She died two years later and was buried beside him with, as he had directed, a gravestone of equal size.
Sources
Ishii
http://harakeijiten.la.coocan.jp/ (Japanese) Unreasonably detailed website on Hara’s life and work
Fortunately, his next posting was to Paris, in 1887, where Sadako found the social whirl congenial. In 1889, however, they returned to Japan; Sadako was unimpressed by life as a civil servant’s wife and was accused by Hara of looking down on his humble northern origins. He suggested divorce, but she was unwilling, and they settled for living separately. At some point in the following years, Hara became closely involved with a geisha called Kanno (or Sugano) Asa, who came from Iwate up north just as he did; by 1896 he had introduced her to his mother and made her free of his home.
In 1897, Sadako asked to live together once again. In addition to obtaining her permission for Asa’s presence there, Hara issued her with a twenty-one-point document covering such demands as “be filial to my mother,” “take charge of the household duties,” “be modest and unadorned with regard to makeup and dress,” and “don’t go out at night incautiously.” Sadako agreed to these and moved back in, but in the event did not seem especially inclined to follow his directions. In 1906, they were finally divorced when she became pregnant with another man’s child. Hara continued to send her alimony until her death in 1919.
Free to marry Asa, he did so immediately, although she protested that as an illiterate former geisha she was ill-suited to being the wife of a leading politician. They apparently lived very happily together, with Asa helping to raise their adopted son Mitsugi (Hara’s biological great-nephew); on weekends in the country, Hara would seat Asa in a rickshaw and pull it himself.
He was assassinated in 1921, when Asa took the lead in making sure his directions for a modest funeral and the disposal of his remains in his hometown were followed. She died two years later and was buried beside him with, as he had directed, a gravestone of equal size.
Sources
Ishii
http://harakeijiten.la.coocan.jp/ (Japanese) Unreasonably detailed website on Hara’s life and work
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