Background
Shimpei Goto was born in Iwate Prefecture.
Shimpei Goto was born in Iwate Prefecture.
Went to Germany and received there the degree of M.D. Upon returning to Japan, he was appointed director of the Public Health Bureau, Home Ministry. In 1892 Was involved in the so-called Soma Incident centering about the poisoning of a member of the Soma family, and was imprisoned but released on insufficient evidence. During the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), he was recognized for his distinguished ability as chief inspector of army hygiene. After the war, in 1901 he was selected by General Gen- taro Kodama as Chief Civil Administrator of the Government-General in Formosa . In 1906 he was made a baron and appointed president of the South Manchuria Railway Co. and Minister of Communications and president of the Railway Board . In 1913, he was Minister of Communications again and subsequently Home Minister, Foreign Minister and Mayor of Tokyo (1920).In 1922 he was promoted to viscount and in 1923 became Home Minister and concurrently president of the National Capital Reconstruction Board, which was created to rehabilitate Tokyo after the great earthquake (1923). In 1928 he was made a count on the occasion of the enthronement ceremony of the present emperor.
