Political Career
Returning to Japan, Saionji joined the Privy Council, and served as president of the House of Peers. He also served as Minister of Education in the 2nd and 3rd Itō administrations (1892–1893, 1898) and 2nd Matsukata administration. During his tenure, he strove to improve the quality of the educational curriculum towards an international (i.e. western) standard.
In 1900, Itō founded the Rikken Seiyūkai political party, and Saionji joined as one of the first members. Due to his experiences in Europe, Saionji had a liberal political point of view and supported parliamentary government. He was one of the few early politicians who claimed that the majority party in parliament had to be the basis for forming a cabinet.
Saionji replaced Itō as president of the Privy Council in 1900, and as president of the Rikken Seiyūkai in 1903.
Read more about this topic: Saionji Kinmochi
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