Hirata Tosuke

Who was Hirata Tosuke?

Count Hirata Tosuke was a statesman and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan, active in the Meiji and Taishō period Empire of Japan.

Hirata was born in the Yonezawa Domain, Dewa Province as the son of a local samurai. He was sent by the domain to Edo for studies, and subsequently fought in the Boshin War on the side of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. After the Meiji restoration, was ordered by the domain to go to Tokyo and study at the Daigaku Nankō. After graduating, he was a student member of the Iwakura Mission of 1871 along with Makino Nobuaki. He later stayed in Germany to study at Heidelberg University and Leipzig University. He is the first Japanese with a doctorate degree.

Hirata returned to Japan in 1876 and served in a number of posts in the new Meiji government's Ministry of Finance, and later became Documentation Bureau Director of the Grand Council and Legislation Bureau Director. In 1890, he was selected as a member of the House of Peers of the new Diet of Japan by Imperial command.