Editing Matsukata Masayoshi (section)

===Financial reform===
Matsukata moved to [[Tokyo]] in 1871 and began work on drafting laws for the Land Tax Reform of 1873–1881.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ericson|first=Steven|date=2016|title=Orthodox Finance and "The Dictates of Practical Expediency": Influences on Matsukata Masayoshi and the Financial Reform of 1881–1885|journal=Monumenta Nipponica|volume=71|pages=83–117|doi=10.1353/mni.2016.0002|s2cid=163999291}}</ref>

Under the new system:
# a taxpayer paid taxes with money instead of rice
# taxes were calculated based on the price of estates, not the amount of the agricultural product produced, and
# tax rates were fixed at 3% of the value of estates and an estate holder was obliged to pay those taxes.

The new tax system was radically different from the traditional tax gathering system, which required taxes to be paid with [[rice]] varied according to location and the amount of rice produced. The new system took some years to be accepted by the Japanese people.

Matsukata became [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Lord Home Minister]] in 1880. In the following year, when Ōkuma Shigenobu was expelled in a political upheaval, he became [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Lord Finance Minister]]. The Japanese economy was in a crisis situation due to rampant [[inflation]]. Matsukata introduced a policy of fiscal restraint that resulted in what has come to be called the "Matsukata Deflation". The economy was eventually stabilized, but the resulting crash in commodity prices caused many smaller landholders to lose their fields to money-lending neighbors. Matsukata also established the [[Bank of Japan]] in 1882, replacing the prior system of [[National Banks in Meiji Japan|national banks]].<ref>Roberts, George E. (1900). [https://books.google.com/books?id=e9DzAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA393&dq= ''Annual report of the Director of the Mint'' (US), p. 393].</ref> When [[Itō Hirobumi]] was appointed the first modern-day [[Prime Minister of Japan]] in 1885, he named Matsukata to be the first Finance Minister in his cabinet.

Matsukata also sought to protect Japanese industry from foreign competition, but was restricted by the [[unequal treaties]]. The unavailability of protectionist devices probably benefited Japan in the long run, as it enabled Japan to develop its export industries. The national government also tried to create government industries to produce particular products or services. Lack of funds forced the government to turn these industries over to private businesses which in return for special privileges agreed to pursue the government's goals. This arrangement led to the rise of the ''[[zaibatsu]]'' system.

Matsukata served as finance minister in seven of the first nine cabinets, and led the Finance Ministry for 15 of the 20-year period from 1881 to 1901. He is also believed to have had significant influence on drafting Articles 62–72 of the [[Meiji Constitution]] of 1890.