Toyama Mitsuru

Born Apr. 12, 1855; died Oct. 5, 1944. Japanese political figure.

In the 1870’s, Toyama joined a movement calling for the immediate annexation of Korea by Japan. In 1881 he helped found Genyosha, a chauvinistic society, together with K. Hiraoko and R. Hakoda. In 1894 he founded Tairo Doshikai, an anti-Russian patriotic society. Both societies, under Toyama’s leadership, advocated Japanese expansion and cultivated close ties with pro-Japanese organizations in other Asian countries. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, the societies strongly supported the establishment of fascism in Japan.