{"record":{"aliases":["Takahira Kogorō","Takahira Kogoro"],"appointmentIds":["japan-a7d07466468ce6","japan-37566615f51387"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/kogoro-takahira-d3fd012315/","countrySlug":"japan","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/kogoro-takahira-d3fd012315/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Kogorō Takahira entered the Foreign Ministry in 1876 and served in consular and diplomatic posts in Europe and the United States. He was born in 1854. His two Washington appointments were distinct: he was minister during the Russo-Japanese War and returned later with the rank of ambassador.","During the war, Takahira helped seek President Theodore Roosevelt’s mediation and joined Foreign Minister Jutarō Komura as Japan’s plenipotentiary at Portsmouth. They signed the peace treaty on September 5, 1905. It ended the fighting while transferring Russian leasehold and railway interests in southern Manchuria to Japan, subject to Chinese consent, and recognizing Japan’s predominant interests in Korea.","Returning to Washington in 1908, Takahira urged Tokyo to invite the American fleet during its world cruise. The visit to Yokohama that October preceded his agreement with Secretary of State Elihu Root. Their November 30 exchange affirmed respect for each country’s Pacific possessions, China’s independence and territorial integrity, and equal commercial opportunity. It also provided for consultation if those principles or the regional status quo were threatened.","Invited to a Clark University conference on East Asia in 1909, he initially considered defending Japan’s policy but ultimately did not attend after reviewing the proposed speakers and their positions. He later served in the House of Peers and died in 1926."],"id":"japan:kogoro takahira","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-d3fd0123151a0d770c2b.html","name":"Kogorō Takahira","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["takahira-jacar","takahira-matsumura"],["takahira-jacar","portsmouth-treaty"],["takahira-matsumura","takahira-root"],["takahira-matsumura","takahira-jacar"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-d3fd0123151a0d770c2b.html","relatedEvents":[{"basis":"reviewed-context","country":"Japan","date":"1905-09-05","description":"Japanese and Russian envoys sign a peace treaty after American mediation. The fighting ends, but the settlement’s terms provoke anger in Japan and extend its power in East Asia.","id":"japan-portsmouth","note":"Komura, Takahira, and Rosen are treaty plenipotentiaries identified in their biographies; Rosen provides the Russian counterpart.","sourceUrls":["https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1905/d915","https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/portsmouth-treaty"],"title":"Peace at Portsmouth","url":"Japan.html#history-japan-portsmouth"}],"relatedPeople":[{"certainty":"documented","name":"Jutarō Komura","note":"Joint Japanese plenipotentiaries at Portsmouth in 1905.","profileUrl":"diplomat-b5092308efea2ed8c173.html","sourceIds":["portsmouth-treaty"],"targetId":"japan:jutaro komura","type":"co_signatory"}],"relationships":[{"certainty":"documented","note":"Joint Japanese plenipotentiaries at Portsmouth in 1905.","sourceIds":["portsmouth-treaty"],"targetId":"japan:jutaro komura","type":"co_signatory"}],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"b08a0c3b9405753e","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"takahira-jacar","locator":"Takahira Kogoro entry","publisher":"Japan Center for Asian Historical Records","title":"日露戦争特別展2 用語集 — 高平小五郎","type":"institutional-history","url":"https://www.jacar.go.jp/exhibition/nichiro2/yougoshu/index.html"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2006","id":"takahira-matsumura","locator":"Especially pp. 55–59 and 62","publisher":"Masayoshi Matsumura / Ministry of Foreign Affairs research journal","title":"もう一人のポーツマス講和全権委員 — 高平小五郎・駐米公使","type":"scholarship","url":"https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/pr/pub/geppo/pdfs/06_1_2.pdf"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1905-12-13","id":"portsmouth-treaty","locator":"FRUS 1905, document 915; treaty of September 5, articles II, V–VI and plenipotentiaries","publisher":"U.S. Department of State","title":"Ambassador Meyer to the Secretary of State, enclosing the Portsmouth peace treaty","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1905/d915"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1908-11-30","id":"takahira-root","locator":"FRUS 1908, document 487, five declarations","publisher":"U.S. Department of State","title":"The Japanese Ambassador to the Secretary of State","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1908/d487"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2012-11-19","id":"mission-5a397b8676ad6894559b","locator":"Modern chief names and protocol dates through Kenichiro Sasae; Historical diplomatic representation from 1891; Embassy raised in 1906, wartime interruption, reopening in 1952","publisher":"","title":"Diplomatic Representation for Japan","type":"Mission record","url":"https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94066.htm"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-6638041c91b3c897245a","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Kogorō Takahira — mission record (1908–1909)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/root-takahira"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-80a9d4bbf43dd78e5b4c","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Kogorō Takahira — mission record (1900–1906)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1905/papers"}],"topics":["Portsmouth peace negotiations","Root–Takahira agreement","Pacific naval diplomacy"]},"schemaVersion":1}