Tomomi Iwakura

Tomomi Iwakura was born into Kyoto’s court aristocracy in 1825 and adopted into the Iwakura family. As a chamberlain to Emperor Komei, he initially opposed imperial approval of the American commercial treaty and promoted reconciliation between court and shogunate. Political opponents forced him into confinement. By 1867 he had joined the movement to overthrow the shogunate and helped organize the restoration of imperial rule. ¹

As ambassador extraordinary, Iwakura led the mission that left Japan in December 1871 to visit Western governments, study their institutions, and discuss treaty revision. President Ulysses S. Grant received the delegation on March 4, 1872. Negotiations with Secretary of State Hamilton Fish exposed a problem: the visitors lacked sufficient authority to conclude a new treaty. Ito Hirobumi and Okubo Toshimichi returned to Japan for additional powers. Eleven rounds of talks ultimately failed to reconcile the two governments’ positions, and the mission continued to Europe without a revised American treaty. ²

After returning, Iwakura argued that domestic consolidation should take precedence over the proposed mission to Korea. In October 1873 the emperor accepted his recommendation to postpone sending Saigo Takamori, provoking a major split in the government. Iwakura survived an armed attack near the palace in January 1874; wounded, he escaped his assailants by falling down the moat’s embankment. ^{3, 4}

He later advocated a constitution granted by the emperor, drawing on Prussian arrangements. An outline submitted in 1881 proposed two parliamentary chambers, a restricted electorate, and a cabinet separate from parliament. These proposals helped shape the eventual Meiji Constitution. Iwakura died in July 1883, before its promulgation; the emperor visited him during his final illness. ^{5, 6}