Tsuyoshi Inukai (1855-1932) was a Japanese journalist, politician, and statesman. His premiership in 1931-1932 climaxed the trend toward responsible party government, but his assassination by ultranationalists brought this development to a halt.

Tsuyoshi Inukai, whose personal name has alternate readings in Japanese (Ki, Takeshi, Tsuyoki), was born to a samurai of the Niwase han (fief) in Okayama Province. His family had traditionally stressed Confucian learning, and he might have ended up a teacher of the classics had not a book on international law aroused his interest in Western learning.

In 1876 Inukai made his way to Tokyo, got a job with the newspaper Hochi, and studied political philosophy under Yukichi Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa's support enabled Inukai to found Tokai, a financial newspaper, together with Ryohei Toyokawa, who was related to the Mitsubishi; this explains Inukai's close connections with the powerful zaibatsu family throughout his political career.

Inukai first entered politics...