Editing Hamaguchi Osachi (section)

==Political career==
[[File:Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi photograph.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Osachi Hamaguchi, before 1931]]
Hamaguchi joined the ''[[Rikken Dōshikai]]'' political party led by [[Katō Takaaki]] in 1915, which became the ''[[Kenseikai]]'' in 1916. Hamaguchi was elected to the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|lower house]] in the [[Japanese Diet]] in 1915 from the Kōchi Second District, and was to hold onto this seat until his death in 1931.

In June 1924, Hamaguchi served as Finance Minister under the [[Katō Takaaki Cabinet]], holding the same portfolio under the [[First Wakatsuki Cabinet]] from January to June 1926. As Finance Minister, he pursued fiscal retrenchment, and proposed reducing government spending by 17 percent and laying off tens of thousands of government workers; however, his policies had to be scaled considerably back due to strenuous opposition from government bureaucrats.<ref name=Metzler>''Lever of Empire'', p. 155.</ref>

Hamaguchi was subsequently [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Minister]] in the Wakatsuki cabinet from June 1926 to April 1927. In a continuation of his efforts while as Finance Minister, Hamaguchi promoted a moral campaign through sponsorship of movies which emphasized thrift and reduced [[Consumption (economics)|public consumption]], with the goal of helping reduce Japan's [[trade deficit]].<ref>Metzler, page 155</ref>

In 1927, Hamaguchi became the chairman of the new ''[[Rikken Minseitō]]'' political party formed by the merger of the ''Kenseikai'' and the ''[[Seiyūhontō]].''