In This Review

The Last Genro
The Last Genro
By Bunji Omura
Lippincott, 1938, 442 pp.

Prince Saionji's political career compasses the entire history of modern Japan, for he himself helped overthrow the Shogunate in 1868. At the age of 88, he is the last of the Elder Statesmen and the only official Councillor to the Emperor. He therefore merits a first-rate biography. Unfortunately Omura's work falls between the two stools of biography and fiction.