Background
Kenkichi Kataoka was born on 14 February 1844 in in the domain of Tosa in Shikoku.
Kenkichi Kataoka was born on 14 February 1844 in in the domain of Tosa in Shikoku.
In 1863 he became a district official in the domain and in 1867 took part in the Boshin civil war, fighting in the cause of the emperor. After returning to his domain, he became an inspector general. When a national system of military conscription was set up, he became a member of the military and rose to the rank of naval commander.
In 1875 he helped found the Aikokusha and in 1877 became president of the Risshisha. He petitioned the government for creation of an elected assembly, but he and Hayashi Yuzo were both arrested on suspicion of having lent aid to Saigo Takamori, the leader of the rebel forces in the Seinan War.
In 1879 he became a member of the Kochi prefectural assembly and in 1880 helped to form the Kokkai Kisei Domei. He also drew up a proposal for a genuinely democratic type of constitution for Japan. In 1881 he became head of the Kochi Shimbunsha and in 1885 he was chosen to be an elder of the Kochi Church.
In 1887 he took part in the movement to petition the government to grant freedom of speech and take other measures and was arrested for violation of the Peace Preservation Regulations. In 1890 he became a member of the Lower House of the Diet and later held the positions of president and vice president of the Lower House. In 1895 he took part in the founding of the Kenseito (Constitution Party), and in 1900 participated in the formation of the Rikken Seiyukai.
In 1885 he was baptized a Christian.
While pursuing a military career, he began around the time of the Iwakura mission of 1871 to Europe and America to take an increasing interest in politics. In 1873 he joined with Hayashi Yuzo and others to found an organization in Kochi called the Kainan Gisha, which supported the members of the government who were calling for an expedition against Korea. When the advocates of this move were defeated, he resigned from naval service. The following year, he helped to found the political organizations known as the Aikoku Koto and Risshisha and became active in the people’s rights movement.