Iwakura Tomomi
Iwakura Tomomi was a Japanese statesman during the Bakumatsu and Meiji period. He was adopted by the influential Iwakura family, and became perhaps the single most influential leader of the nobility during Japan's transition from feudalism to modernity. By 1858 he was an advisor to the Emperor, but was exiled from the royal court from 1862 to 1867 for his moderation. After release he became the liaison between the court and the anti-Tokugawa movement. He played a central role in the new Meiji government after 1868. He successfully opposed aggressive policies in Korea in the crisis of 1873, and was nearly assassinated by his enemies. He led the 50-member Iwakura Mission for 18 months in Europe and America, studying modern institutions, technology, and diplomacy. The Mission promoted many the key reforms that quickly modernized Japan. He promoted a strong imperial system along Western lines, and played a central role in creating financial institutions for the new nation. A 500 Yen banknote issued by the Bank of Japan carried his portrait.
Early life
Iwakura was born in Kyoto as the second son of a low-ranking courtier and nobleman Horikawa Yasuchika; through his mother, he was a first cousin of Emperor Ninkō. His childhood name was Kanemaru but, he was called Iwakichi from other court nobles. Iwakichi was typically a name for commoners. Others called him Iwakichi because he was superior to them, so they were also jealous of him. Since his childhood, he learned about Confucianism. Fusehara Nobuharu, a Confucian scholar and Iwakura’s teacher, suggested Iwakura Tomoyasu adopt Kanemaru as his child. In 1836 he was adopted by another nobleman, Iwakura Tomoyasu, from whom he received his family name. In 1838, he changed his name from Kanemaru to Tomomi. The Iwakura house was new because it became independent from the Koga house in the early Edo period. The Iwakura house did not have a family business, so they were tight on money. In 1839, he started to get involved in politics. He was trained by the kampaku Takatsukasa Masamichi and wrote the opinion for the imperial Court reformation. In 1854 he became a chamberlain to Emperor Kōmei, his first cousin once removed. He had a wife, named Mineko, but she died on October 24th, 1874. After she died, he married another woman, named Makiko Noguchi.As court noble
As with most other courtiers in Kyoto, Iwakura opposed the Tokugawa shogunate's plans to end Japan's national isolation policy and to open Japan to foreign countries. When Hotta Masayoshi, a Rōjū of the Tokugawa government came to Kyoto to obtain imperial permission to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1858, Iwakura gathered courtiers who opposed the treaty and attempted to hinder negotiations between the Shōgun and the Court. The imperial court and shogunate had a conflict because of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The shogunate agreed to sign the treaty, but almost the people of the imperial court had the opposite idea. However, Hisatada Kujō, and authority of the imperial court, supported the shogunate’s idea. Iwakura wanted to prevent the treaty of Amity and Commerce, so he decided to use an unusual method. In particular, he planned to have a direct talk with the Kanpaku by leading a lot of nobles. As a result of this, the Kanpaku agreed to prevent to sign the treaty. This incident is called the demo of eighty-eight retainers of the Imperial court, and it made Iwakura famous.After Tairō Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860, Iwakura supported the Kobugattai Movement, an alliance of the Court and the Shogunate. The central policy of this alliance was the marriage of the Shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazu-no-Miya Chikako, the younger sister of the Emperor Kōmei. Andō and Kuze became rōjū and began to have power, and they suggested the marriage for the Kōbu gattai, the settlement of the imperial court and the shogunate. Although the shogunate ordered marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige, the emperor Kōmei opposed to this request, because Kazunomiya and Arisugawanomiya had been already engaged and he could not understand about Kōbu gattai. At that time, the emperor Kōmei demanded an opinion of Iwakura, because he knew that Iwakura was a talented person. Iwakura suggested that the emperor should let the shogunate promise the executing of the treaty withdrawal and allow the marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige. The emperor accepted Iwakura’s opinion, and the marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige was officially decided. Samurai and nobles who supported the more radical Sonnō jōi policy saw Iwakura as a supporter of the Shogunate, and put pressure on the Court to expel him. As a result, Iwakura left the Court in 1862 and moved to Iwakura, north of Kyoto. He decided to hide because he received a threatening message from Takechi Hanpeita, from Tosa clans that if Iwakura did not leave the urban area of Kyoto, he would be exposed to Shijōkawara. He started to live in the Reigenji-temple in Nishigamo, that where a grave of Iwakura ancestor was. On that day, he wrote about his despair in his diary. After that he found that the Reigenji-temple was not suitable for a long-term stay, so he moved to the Saihōji-temple. Moreover, the imperial court issued the order of expulsion from the city, so he had to move to Iwakura village. Sanshirō, a foster parent of Iwakura’s third son, suggested this place.
In exile
The exile continued for around five years. During exile, he had some connections with people who were familiar with politics. In Iwakura he wrote many opinions and sent them to the Court or his political companions in Satsuma Domain. For example, in 1865, Iwakura showed 'SōrimeichūOn October 15th, 1867, the shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned his power to the imperial court. Yoshinobu worried about the external crisis and recognized the importance of national unity. In this situation, Ōkubo planned the coup that abolished the shogunate and sekkan systems. On December 8th, Iwakura participated in the kogosho meeting and talked about the disposal of Yoshinobu. During this meeting, Yamauchi Yōdō shouted, claiming that they should let Yoshinobu participate in this meeting and blamed for a coup. It is a famous episode that Iwakura scolded Yamauchi because his attitude was rude, but this episode is fiction. In fact, Iwakura could not easily convince Yamauchi, and their discussion was continued for the long term. Finally, Iwakura and Ōkubo convinced those who opposed the disposal of Yoshinobu.
With Ōkubo Toshimichi and Saigō Takamori, on January 3, 1868, he engineered the seizure of the Kyoto Imperial Palace by forces loyal to Satsuma and Chōshū, thus initiating the Meiji Restoration. He commissioned Imperial banners with the sun and moon on a red field, which helped ensure that the encounters of the Meiji Restoration were generally bloodless affairs.
Meiji bureaucrat
After the establishment of the Meiji government, Iwakura played an important role due to the influence and trust he had with Emperor Meiji. He put forward the emperor's directly ruled government. He was largely responsible for the promulgation of the Five Charter Oath of 1868, and the subject abolition of the han system. Also, he established Dajō-kan. Moreover, he planned to move the emperor from Kyoto to Tokyo to make a new political environment. Some court nobles in Kyoto criticized about these reforms, but he promoted these restorations with Sanjō despite their opposition.Soon after his appointment as Minister of the Right in 1871, he led the two-year around-the-world journey known as the Iwakura mission, visiting the United States and several countries in Europe with the purpose of renegotiating the unequal treaties and gathering information to help effect the modernization of Japan. American newspapers reported that a visit by Iwakura was as important as a visit by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He failed when he discussed the revision of the unequal treaty with the U.S. president. The U.S. president pointed out that Iwakura did not have a commission of full powers. Ōkubo and Itō immediately returned to Japan on March 24 to get a commission of full powers and then returned to the United States on June 17. Despite their efforts, the United States was no longer interested in the revision of the unequal treaty at that time. Through the inspection, Iwakura was surprised at the economic prosperity in western countries. He was especially interested in the railways. Also, he learned the importance of religious problems in the United States and he thought that the prohibition of Christian was an obstacle to change the unequal treaties. Also, he felt the danger of rapid Westernization, because he saw and learned about the merits and demerits of Westernization. A celebration was held in Manchester and Liverpool in 1997 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Iwakura Mission.
Before the return of the Iwakura mission, the dispatch of Saigō to Korea was decided in a cabinet meeting. Generally, the dispatch of Sigō was too dangerous, so his decision was really strong. On his return to Japan in 1873, he was just in time to prevent an invasion of Korea. Iwakura opposed the dispatch because he thought Japan needed to see not only the Korean problem but also other foreign issues such as Karafuto and Taiwan. Also, Iwakura wanted to prevent the dispatch of Saigō to avoid foreign wars. Realizing that Japan was not in any position to challenge the western powers in its present state, he advocated strengthening the imperial institution, which he felt could be accomplished through a written constitution and a limited form of parliamentary democracy. Ōkubo supported Iwakura’s idea. In the next meeting, Saigō was absent to imply his disposal. Sanjō Sanetomi, the prime minister was surprised about it and suddenly changed his opinion from the opposition of dispatch to the acceptance of dispatch. A lot of members include Iwakura criticized the sudden change of Sanjō, and they requested their disposal. Sanjō was panicked and he was unable to work because he wanted to avoid every member’s disposal. Iwakura became the substitute of the prime minister, and he prevented the dispatch of Saigō. He ordered Inoue Kowashi to begin work on a constitution in 1881, and ordered Itō Hirobumi to Europe to study various European systems. Iwakura wanted to make the national system centered on the emperor, and worried that Itō’s thoughts were different from him. Iwakura thought that Itō wanted to imitate the Germany system. In 1882, He established an Internal regulation interrogation station to investigate imperial ceremonies and Japanese tradition, and offered the install of the National history compilation stations in 1883. This station aimed to translate Japanese history into English.
Death
Although in poor health by early 1883, Iwakura went to Kyoto in May to direct efforts to restore and preserve the imperial palace and the buildings of the old city, many of which had been falling into disrepair since the transfer of the capital to Tokyo. Soon however, he became seriously ill and was confined to his bed. The Meiji Emperor sent his personal physician, Erwin Bälz, to examine Iwakura; Baelz diagnosed advanced throat cancer. The emperor personally visited his cousin and old friend on July 19, and was moved to tears at his condition. Iwakura died the following day, and was given a state funeral, the first ever given by the imperial government. He was buried in Asamadai, Minami-shinagawa.Personal life
Iwakura Tomomi’s height was about 160 cm. He was born in poverty, and he lived a simple life. He used to like Japanese sake and drank around 90 ml, three times a day. However, because of his health condition and food restrictions, he could drink western wines only instead of Japanese sake. During his life after retirement, he did not exercise at all, and he ate very little like a bird. However, he was very particular about what to eat. For example, he was fond of eating fish, meat, and vegetables rather than beef and chicken. Also, he liked the cuisine of Kyoto, and turtle cuisine was one of his favorites. His hobby was a Noh dance in plain clothes. He was an open-minded person who put himself in the other person's shoes before forming any opinion.Evaluation
“Iwakura was open-minded, and he was unique in court nobles.”Tokutomi Sohō
“Iwakura was an outstanding person. His appearance from bakumatsu to the early Meiji period was lucky for the Imperial Household, the state, and citizens.”
“Iwakura was a brave man not only in court nobles but also in politicians.”
Honours
From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
Order of precedence
- Junior fifth rank
- Fifth rank
- Senior fifth rank
- Fourth rank
- Senior fourth rank
- Third rank
- Senior second rank
- First rank
- Senior first rank
Ancestry