Ōe Taku (大江 卓, November 2, 1847 – September 21, 1921) was a samurai, bureaucrat, politician, entrepreneur and social activist in the late Meiji and Taishō period Empire of Japan.

Somewhat ironically for his xenophobic background, he was assigned as a judge to assist Mutsu Munemitsu (who had been appointed governor of Kanagawa Prefecture) in the management of foreign affairs at the port of Yokohama.

Ōe played a central role in the María Luz Incident, in which the Japanese government took steps to rescue 232 Chinese indentured laborers from a Peruvian ship, over the vehement protests by the Western nations.

[1] In 1877, Ōe returned to Tosa, in an attempt to encourage his countrymen to rise up against the central government in support of the Satsuma Rebellion.

[3] However, in 1914, Ōe retired from all business and political activities, took the tonsure and became a Buddhist priest of the Sōtō Zen sect, and traveled around the country.