ライオン像

“ライオン宰相”として人気を博した浜口雄幸内閣の成立を祝って、地元高知の浜口後援会が“ライオン像”を作成。立憲民政党本部（現在の日比谷フォートタワー/ 旧東京桜田ビル敷地）正面玄関入り口に据えられ、あたかも守護神的存在となった。
浜口首相は立憲民政党初代総裁。同内閣の発足は昭和４(1929)年7月2日で、桂冠は同6(1931)年4月24日。在職日数は652日であった。
浜口首相は昭和5(1930)年11月14日、岡山における陸軍大演習陪観のため東京駅を出発する直前、右翼団体・愛国社の佐郷屋留雄によってピストル射撃を受け、重傷を負った。病状は回復せず、昭和6年8月26日死去した。享年61歳。
「ライオン像」はセメント造り、重さ２００㎏。２０世紀の太平洋戦争末期、B29による東京大空襲（昭和20《1945》年3月10日）の際被災、尾の後半部分が破砕したが生き残り、その後の化粧直しで完全に蘇った。「ライオン像」の台座には次の刻印がある。

完製　昭和5年12月
寄贈　関　清一
制作　亀岡　定一
助手　井上　丈吉
焼成　沖谷　仙司

The Lion Statue

To celebrate the formation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi, who gained popularity as the “Lion Prime Minister,” the local supporters’ association of Hamaguchi in Kochi created a statue of him as a lion. The statue was placed at the main entrance of the Rikken Minseito headquarters (now the Hibiya Fort Tower/former site of the Tokyo Sakurada Building) and became a guardian deity of the party.

Prime Minister Hamaguchi was the first president of the Constitutional Democratic Party. His cabinet was inaugurated on July 2, 1929, and he resigned on April 24, 1931. He was in the cabinet office for 652 days.

On November 14, 1930, just before Prime Minister Hamaguchi left Tokyo Station to attend a major army exercise in Okayama, he was shot and seriously wounded by Tomeo Sagoya of the right-wing Aikokusha organization. His condition did not improve, and he died on August 26, 1931. He was 61 years old.

The lion statue, made of cement and weighing 200 kg, was damaged in an air raid on Tokyo by B-29s at the end of the Pacific War (March 10, 1945), and the second half of its tail was crushed, but it restored by repair afterwards.

The base of the “Lion Statue” has the following engraving.

Completed December 1930

Donated by Seiichi Seki

Produced by Sadaichi Kameoka

Assistant:  Takekichi Inoue

In charge of quenching work: Senji Okitani