Kogorō Takahira

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. ^{1, 2}

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. ^{1, 3}

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. ^{2, 4}

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. ^{2, 1}