Itō Hirobumi

Prince Itō Hirobumi
Prime Minister of Japan
1st Prime Minister of Japan
In office 22 December 1885 – 30 April 1888
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Kuroda Kiyotaka
5th Prime Minister of Japan
In office 8 August 1892 – 31 August 1896
Preceded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
Succeeded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
7th Prime Minister of Japan
In office 12 January 1898 – 30 June 1898
Preceded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
Succeeded by	Okuma Shigenobu
10th Prime Minister of Japan
In office 19 October 1900 – 10 May 1901
Preceded by	Yamagata Aritomo
Succeeded by	Katsura Taro
Personal details
Born	constituency4 (1841-10-16)16 October 1841 Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Died	26 October 1909(1909-10-26) (aged 68)
Resting place	constituency4
Political party	Rikken Seiyukai
Height	300px
Spouse	Ume Itō
Parent	constituency4

Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文, Itō Hirobumi, 16 October 1841–26 October 1909, also called Hirofumi/Hakubun and Shunsuke in his youth) was a Japanese statesman, Resident-General of Korea, four time Prime Minister of Japan (the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th) and genrō. Itō was assassinated by An Jung-geun, a Korean activist who was against the Annexation of Korea by the Japanese Empire. Ironically, Itō's death resulted in the acceleration of the final stage of the colonization process.

Suematsu Kencho was Itō’s son-in-law, having married his second daughter, Ikuko.

Prime Minister of Japan

• 1st: 22 December 1885 - 30 April 1888 861 days
• 5th: 8 August 1892 - 31 August 1896 1485 days
• 7th: 12 January 1898 - 30 June 1898 170 days
• 10th: 19 October 1900 - 10 May 1901 204 days

Early years

Itō was born as the adopted son of Hayashi Juzo, a lower class samurai from Hagi, Chōshū domain (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture). He was a student of Yoshida Shoin at the Shoka Sonjuku and later joined the Sonno joi movement (“to revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians”), together with Kido Takayoshi. Itō was chosen to be one of the Chōshū Five who studied at University College London in 1863, and the experience in Great Britain convinced him of the necessity of Japan adopting Western ways.

In 1864, Itō returned to Japan with fellow student Inoue Kaoru to attempt to warn the Chōshū clan against going to war with the foreign powers (the Bombardment of Shimonoseki) over the right of passage through the Straits of Shimonoseki. At that time, he met Ernest Satow for the first time, later a lifelong friend.

Political career

After the Meiji Restoration, Itō was appointed governor of Hyōgo Prefecture, junior councillor for Foreign Affairs, and sent to the United States in 1870 to study Western currency systems. Returning to Japan in 1871, he established Japan's taxation system. Later that year, he was sent on the Iwakura Mission around the world as vice-envoy extraordinary, during which he won the confidence of Okubo Toshimichi.

In 1873, Itō was made a full councillor, Minister of Public Works, and in 1875 chairman of the first Assembly of Prefectural Governors. After Okubo's assassination, he took over the post of Home Minister and secured a central position in the Meiji government. In 1881 he urged Okuma Shigenobu to resign, leaving himself in unchallenged control.

Itō went to Europe in 1882 to study the constitutions of those countries, spending nearly 18 months away from Japan. While working on a constitution for Japan, he also wrote the first Imperial Household Law and established the Japanese peerage system (kazoku) in 1884.

In 1885, he negotiated the Convention of Tianjin with Li Hongzhang, normalizing Japan's diplomatic relations with Qing Dynasty China.

As Prime Minister

Also in 1885, based on European ideas, Itō established a cabinet system system of government, replacing the Daijō-kan as the decision-making state organization, and on December 22, 1885, he became the first prime minister of Japan.

On April 30, 1888, Itō resigned as prime minister, but headed the new Privy Council to maintain power behind-the-scenes. In 1889, he also became the first genro. The Meiji Constitution was promulgated in February 1889.

He remained a powerful force while Kuroda Kiyotaka and Yamagata Aritomo, his political nemesis, were prime ministers.

File:Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu.jpg

Statues of Mutsu Munemitsu and Itō Hirobumi at Shimonoseki

During Itō’s second term as prime minister (August 8, 1892 – August 31, 1896), he supported the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated the Treaty of Shimonoseki in March 1895 with his ailing foreign minister Mutsu Munemitsu. In the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of 1894, he succeeded in removing some of the onerous unequal treaty clauses that had plagued Japanese foreign relations since the start of the Meiji period.

During Itō’s third term as prime minister (January 12, 1898 – June 30, 1899), he encountered problems with party politics. Both the Jiyuto and the Shimpoto opposed his proposed new land taxes, and in retaliation, Itō dissolved the Diet and called for new elections. As a result, both parties merged into the Kenseito, won a majority of the seats, and forced Itō to resign. This lesson taught Itō the need for a pro-government political party, so he organized the Rikken Seiyukai in 1900. Itō's womanizing was a popular theme in editorial cartoons and in parodies by contemporary comedians, and was used by his political enemies in their campaign against him.

Itō returned to office as prime minister for a fourth term from October 19, 1900, to May 10, 1901, this time facing political opposition from the House of Peers. Weary of political back-stabbing, he resigned in 1901, but remained as head of the Privy Council as the premiership alternated between Saionji Kimmochi and Katsura Taro. Itō received an honorary doctorate from Yale University around this time.

As Resident-General of Korea

In November 1905, following the Russo-Japanese War, the Korean government signed the Eulsa Treaty, making Korea a Japanese protectorate. Itō became the first Resident-General of Korea on December 21, 1905. He urged the Korean King Gojong to abdicate in 1907 in favor of his son King Sunjong and pushed through the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907, giving Japan control over Korean internal affairs. In spite of his dedication to the annexation, his political nemesis, politically influential Imperial Japanese Army led by Yamagata Aritomo, blamed him for the delay of the colonization over Korea, therefore Itō had to resign on June 14, 1909.

Assassination

Itō arrived at the Harbin train station on October 26, 1909 for a meeting with a Russian representative in Manchuria. When he arrived and proceeded to meet the Russian, An Jung-geun, a Korean independence activist, fired seven shots at him. Three of those shots hit Itō in the chest and he died shortly thereafter.

Legacy

A portrait of Itō Hirobumi was on the 1,000 yen note of Japan from 1963 until a new series was issued in 1984. His former house is preserved as a museum near the Shoin Jinja, in Hagi city, Yamaguchi prefecture. However, the actual structure was Itō’s second home, formerly located in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Further reading

• Hamada Kengi (1936). Prince Ito. Tokyo: Sanseido Co.
• Johnston, John T.M. (1917). World patriots. New York: World Patriots Co.
• Kusunoki Sei'ichirō (1991). Nihon shi omoshiro suiri: Nazo no satsujin jiken wo oe. Tokyo: Futami bunko.
• Nakamura Kaju (1910). Prince Ito, the man and the statesman, a brief history of his life. New York: Japanese-American commercial weekly and Anraku Pub. Co.
• Palmer, Frederick (1910). Marquis Ito: the great man of Japan. n.p.

External links

• Template:Japanese prime ministers-NDL
• Biographical material at the Notable Names Database.
• About Japan: A Teacher's Resource Ideas about how to teach about Ito Hirobumi in a K-12 classroom

See also

• Japanese students in Britain