Iwakura Tomomi
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On the old 500 yen note |
Iwakura Tomomi (岩倉具視
Iwakura Tomomi,
October 26,
1825-
July 20,
1883) was a
statesman who played an important role in the
Meiji restoration, influencing opinions of the
Imperial Court.
He was born in
Kyoto as the second son of a courtier and nobleman (
kuge) Horikawa Yasuchika (堀川康親). In
1836 he was adopted by another nobleman, Iwakura Tomoyasu (岩倉具康). He was trained by the
kampaku in those day Takatsukasa (鷹司"通) and wrote the opinion for the imperial Court reformation. In
1854 he was appointed to a
chamberlain of the
Emperor Komei.
Like other courtiers in Kyoto, Iwakura opposed the
Shogunate's plans to open Japan to foreign countries. When
Hotta Masayoshi, a
Roju of the Shogunate came to Kyoto to get the imperial permission to sign the treaty between Japan and the
U.S.A. in
1858, Iwakura gathered courtiers who opposed the treaty and attempted to hinder this negotiation between the Shogunate and the Court. But in those days his political thought put importance on the alliance of those two political powers. After
Tairo Ii Naosuke was assassinated in
1860, Iwakura took initiatives
Kobugattai, alliance of the Court and the Shogunate. The central policy of this alliance was the marriage of the Shogun
Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazunomiya (Princess Sadako), the sister of the Emperor Komei. Samurai who were against the Shogunate and its opening diplomatic 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 and moved to Iwakura, north of Kyoto.
In Iwakura he wrote many opinions and sent them to the Court or his political companions in Satsuma
han. In
1866 when the Shogun Iemochi died, Iwakura attempted to have the Court seize political initiative. He tried to gather
daimyos under the name of the Court but failed. When the Emperor Komei died the next year, there was a rumor Iwakura had plotted to murder the emperor with poison, but he escaped arrest.
In
1867 he worked mainly for the proclamation of the
Emperor Meiji to renew the politics of Japan. It was the start of the Meiji restoration. He made
Tokugawa Yoshinobu resign the honorific title and offices at the Court and made him give back all his domain to the Court. It became a reason for the
Boshin War, because many of those who served the Shogunate disappoved the decision of Yoshinobu who accepted all those demands from the Court.
During the Meiji restoration he stepped up the carriers of the new government. In
1871, he became
minister of state of
Japan, and in the same year set out on a two-year journey known as the
Iwakura mission, visiting the
United States and several countries in
Europe with the purpose of renegotiating treaties and gathering information to help effect the modernization of Japan.
After returning from the mission in
1873, he was involved in forestalling war with
Korea.
The 500
Yen Japanese currency carried his portrait.
