Itō Hirobumi

Itō Hirobumi
伊藤博文
Prime Minister of Japan
In office 19 October 1900 – 10 May 1901
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Yamagata Aritomo
Succeeded by	Saionji Kinmochi (Acting)
In office 12 January 1898 – 30 June 1898
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
Succeeded by	Ōkuma Shigenobu
In office 8 August 1892 – 31 August 1896
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
Succeeded by	Kuroda Kiyotaka (Acting)
In office 22 December 1885 – 30 April 1888
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Kuroda Kiyotaka
Resident General of Korea
In office 21 December 1905 – 14 June 1909
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Sone Arasuke
Personal details
Born	16 October 1841 Tsukari, Japan
Died	26 October 1909 (aged 68) Harbin, China
Political party	Independent (Before 1900) Constitutional Association of Political Friendship (1900–1909)
Spouse(s)	Itō Umeko
Alma mater	University College London
Signature

Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文, October 16, 1841 – October 26, 1909, born Hayashi Risuke and also known as Hirofumi, Hakubun and briefly during his youth Itō Shunsuke) was a Japanese statesman and genrō. A London-educated samurai of the Chōshū Domain and an influential figure in the early Meiji Restoration government, he chaired the bureau which drafted the Meiji Constitution in the 1880s. Looking to the West for legal inspiration, Itō rejected the United States Constitution as too liberal and the Spanish Restoration as too despotic before ultimately drawing on the British and German models, especially the Prussian Constitution of 1850. Dissatisfied with the prominent role of Christianity in European legal traditions, he substituted references to the more traditionally Japanese concept of kokutai or "national polity", which became the constitutional justification for imperial authority.

In 1885 he became Japan's first Prime Minister, an office his constitutional bureau had introduced. He went on to hold the position four times, and wielded considerable power even out of office as the occasional head of Emperor Meiji's Privy Council. A monarchist, Itō favoured a large, bureaucratic government and opposed the formation of political parties. His third government was ended by the consolidation of the opposition into the Kenseitō party in 1898, prompting him to found the Rikken Seiyūkai in response. He resigned his fourth and final ministry in 1901 after growing weary of party politics, but served as head of the Privy Council twice more before his death.

Itō's foreign policy was ambitious. He strengthened diplomatic ties with Western powers including Germany, the United States and especially the United Kingdom. In Asia he oversaw the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated Chinese surrender on terms aggressively favourable to Japan, including the annexation of Taiwan and the release of Korea from the tribute system. Itō sought to avoid a Russo-Japanese War through the policy of Man-Kan kōkan – surrendering Manchuria to the Russian sphere of influence in exchange for the acceptance of Japanese hegemony in Korea. A diplomatic tour of the United States and Europe brought him to Saint Petersburg in November 1901, where he was unable to find compromise on this matter with Russian authorities. Soon the government of Katsura Tarō elected to abandon the pursuit of Man-Kan kōkan, and tensions with Russia continued to escalate towards war.

The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 made Itō the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea. He supported the sovereignty of the indigenous Joseon monarchy as a protectorate under Japan, and in 1909 was forced to resign his position by the increasingly powerful Imperial Japanese Army, which instead favoured the total annexation of Korea. Four months later, Itō was assassinated by Korean nationalist An Jung-geun in Manchuria.^[1] His death accelerated the annexation both he and his assassin had opposed; the process was formalised by another treaty the following year. Through his daughter Ikuko, Itō was the father-in-law of politician, intellectual and author Suematsu Kenchō.

Life

Early years

Letter of Itō Hirobumi

Itō was born as Hayashi Risuke. His father Hayashi Jūzō was the adopted son of Mizui Buhei who was an adopted son of Itō Yaemon's family, a lower-ranked samurai from Hagi in Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). Mizui Buhei was renamed Itō Naoemon. Mizui Jūzō took the name Itō Jūzō, and Hayashi Risuke was renamed to Itō Shunsuke at first, then Itō Hirobumi. He was a student of Yoshida Shōin at the Shōka Sonjuku and later joined the Sonnō jōi movement ("to revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians"), together with Kido Takayoshi. Itō was chosen as one of the Chōshū Five who studied at University College London in 1863, and the experience in Great Britain convinced him Japan needed to adopt Western ways.

In 1864, Itō returned to Japan with fellow student Inoue Kaoru to attempt to warn Chōshū Domain 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 of 1868, Itō was appointed governor of Hyōgo Prefecture, junior councilor 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 Ōkubo Toshimichi, one of the leaders of the Meiji government.

In 1873, Itō was made a full councilor, Minister of Public Works, and in 1875 chairman of the first Assembly of Prefectural Governors. He participated in the Osaka Conference of 1875. After Ōkubo's assassination, he took over the post of Home Minister and secured a central position in the Meiji government. In 1881 he urged Ōkuma 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 Tientsin with Li Hongzhang, normalizing Japan's diplomatic relations with Qing Dynasty China.

As Prime Minister

In 1885, based on European ideas, Itō established a cabinet 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 genrō. The Meiji Constitution was promulgated in February 1889. He had added to it the references to the kokutai or "national polity" as the justification of the emperor's authority through his divine descent and the unbroken line of emperors, and the unique relationship between subject and sovereign.^[2] This stemmed from his rejection of some European notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity.^[2]

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

Statues of Count Mutsu (Right) and Prince Itō (Left) 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 – June 30, 1898), he encountered problems with party politics. Both the Jiyūtō and the Shimpotō 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 Kenseitō, 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 Seiyūkai(Constitutional Association of Political Friendship) 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 Kinmochi and Katsura Tarō.

Toward the end of August 1901, Itō announced his intention of visiting the United States to recuperate. This turned into a long journey in the course of which he visited the major cities of the United States and Europe, setting off from Yokohama on September 18, traveling through the U.S. to New York City (Itō received an honorary doctorate LL.D. from Yale University in late October^[3]), from which he sailed to Boulogne, reaching Paris on November 4. On November 25, he reached Saint Petersburg, having been asked by the new prime minister, Katsura Tarō, to sound out the Russians, entirely unofficially, on their intentions in the Far East. Japan hoped to achieve what it called Man-Kan kōkan, the exchange of a free hand for Russia in Manchuria for a free hand for Japan in Korea, but Russia, feeling greatly superior to Japan and unwilling to give up its ability to use Korean ports for its navy, was in no mood to compromise; its foreign minister, Vladimir Lamsdorf, "thought that time was on the side of his country because of the (Trans-Siberian) railway and there was no need to make concessions to the Japanese."^[4] Itō left empty-handed for Berlin (where he received honors from Kaiser Wilhelm), Brussels, and London. Meanwhile, Katsura had decided that Man-Kan kōkan was no longer desirable for Japan, which should not renounce activity in Manchuria. When Itō reached London, he had talks with Lord Lansdowne which helped lay the groundwork for the Anglo-Japanese Alliance announced early the following year. The failure of his mission to Russia was "one of the most important events in the run-up to the Russo-Japanese War."^[5]

It was during his terms as Prime Minister that he invited Professor George Trumbull Ladd of Yale University to serve as a diplomatic adviser to promote mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. It was because of his series of lectures he delivered in Japan revolutionizing its educational methods, that he was the first foreigner to receive the Second Class honor (conferred by the Meiji Emperor in 1907) and the Third Class honor (conferred by The Meiji Emperor in 1899), Orders of the Rising Sun. He later wrote a book on his personal experiences in Korea and with Resident-General Itō.^[6][7][8] When he died, half his ashes were buried in a Buddhist temple in Tokyo and a monument was erected to him.^[7][9]

As Resident-General of Korea

Prince Itō and the Crown Prince of Korea Yi Un.

In November 1905, following the Russo-Japanese War, Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 was made between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Korea,^[10][11] making Korea a Japanese protectorate. After the treaty had been signed, Itō became the first Resident-General of Korea on December 21, 1905. In 1907, he urged Emperor Gojong to abdicate in favor of his son Sunjong and secured the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907, giving Japan its authorities to control Korea's internal affairs. Itō's position, however, was nuanced. He was firmly against Korea falling into China or Russia's sphere of influence, which would cause a grave threat to Japan's national security. But, he was actually against the annexation, advocating instead that Korea should remain as a protectorate. When the cabinet eventually voted for annexing Korea, he insisted and proposed a delay, hoping that the annexation decision could be reversed in the future.^[12] His political nemesis came when the politically influential Imperial Japanese Army, led by Yamagata Aritomo, whose main faction was advocating annexation forced Itō to resign on June 14, 1909. His assassination is believed to have accelerated the path to the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty.^[13]

Assassination

Itō arrived at the Harbin Railway Station on October 26, 1909 for a meeting with Vladimir Kokovtsov, a Russian representative in Manchuria. There An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist^[13] and independence activist,^[14][15] fired six shots, three of which hit Itō in the chest. He died shortly thereafter. His body was returned to Japan on the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Akitsushima, and he was accorded a state funeral.^[16]

Legacy

A Series C 1,000 yen note of Japan, with a portrait of Itō Hirobumi.

A portrait of Itō Hirobumi was on the Series C 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 Shōin Jinja, in Hagi city, Yamaguchi prefecture. However, the actual structure was Itō's second home, formerly located in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

The publishing company Hakubunkan was named after Itō, based on an alternate pronunciation of his given name.

Evaluation in modern Korea

According to the Annals of Sunjong, Gojong said on October 28, 1909 that Itō Hirobumi made great efforts to develop civilization. However, the Annals of Gojong and of Sujong are regarded as unreliable by the National Institute of Korean History, given that these two Annals or sillocks are not designated as National Treasures of South Korea and UNESCO's World Heritage unlike other silloks due to Japanese influence exerted on them.^[17]

The 1979 North Korean film, An Jung-gun Shoots Ito Hirobumi, is an account of Hirobumi's assassination from the North Korean perspective. The 1973 South Korean film Femme Fatale: Bae Jeong-ja is the life of Itō's adopted daughter Bae Jeong-ja (1870–1950).

Itō proclaimed that if East Asians did not closely cooperate with each other, all three would fall to the victims of Western imperialism. Gojong and the Joseon government believed these claims and agreed to help the Japanese military.^[18] However, the opinion of Joseon soon turned against Japan over Japanese actions, including confiscation of lands, drafting civilians for forced labor, and executing those that resisted.^[18] Ironically, his assassin, An Jung-geun, strongly believed in a union of the three East Asian nations in order to counter and fight off the "White Peril",^[13] since the European countries engaged in colonialism. He hoped the union would restore peace in the region.

Genealogy

• Hayashi family

　∴Hayashi Awajinokami
Michioki
　┃
　┣━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┓
　┃　　　　┃　　　　┃Hayasi Magoemon ┃　　　　　┃　　　　　┃　　　　┃　　　　　┃
Michimoto　Michiyo　Michisige　　　　　Michiyoshi　Michisada　Michikata　Michinaga　Michisue
　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　　　　　　┃Hayasi Magosaburō
　　　　　　　　　　Nobukatsu
　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　　　　　　┃Hayasi Magoemon
　　　　　　　　　　Nobuyoshi
　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╋━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┓
　┃Hayasi Magoemon ┃　　　　　┃　　　　┃
Nobuaki　　　　　　Sakuzaemon　Sojyurō　 Matazaemon
　┃　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┃　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┃Hayasi Hanroku　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
Nobuhisa　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Genzō
　┃　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┣━━━━━━━━━┓　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┃　　　　　┃　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
Sōzaemon　　Heijihyōe　　　　　　　　　　Yoichiemon
　　　　　　　┃　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃
　┏━━━━━━━━━┻━━━━━━┓　　　　　　┏━━━━━┫
　┃Hayasi Hanroku　┃　　　　　　┃　　　┃
Rihachirō　　　　　Riemon　　　　Masuzō　Sukezaemon
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　┃adopted son of Hayasi Rihachirō
　　　　　　┏━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┫
　　　　　　┃Itō ┃Hayasi Shinbei's wife ┃Morita Naoyoshi's wife
　　　　　Jyuzō　woman　　　　　　　　　　woman
　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　┃
　　　　　　┃Itō
　　　　　Hirobumi
　　　　　　┃
　┏━━━━━━━╋━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━┓
　┃Itō 　　┃Kida　　┃Itō 　　┃　　　┃
Hirokuni　Humiyoshi　Shinichi　woman　woman
　┃
　┣━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━┳━━━┓
　┃Itō 　　┃Shimizu ┃Itō　　　　 ┃Itō　 ┃Itō　　 ┃Itō　　 ┃Itō　　 ┃Itō　　　 ┃Itō　　 ┃Itō　　　 ┃　　　┃　　┃
Hirotada　 Hiroharu　Hiromichi　 Hiroya　Hirotada　Hiroomi　Hironori　Hirotsune　Hirotaka　Hirohide　woman　woman　woman
　┃
　┣━━━━━━━┳━━━━━┳━━━━┳━━━━━┳━━━┓
　┃Itō　　 ┃　　　┃　　┃　　　┃　　┃
Hiromasa　 woman　woman　woman　woman　woman
　┃
　┣━━━━━━━┓
　┃Itō　　 ┃
Tomoaki　　woman

• Itō family

　∴
Itō Yaemon
　┃
Itō Naoemon (Mizui Buhei)Yaemon's adopted son
　┃
Itō Jyuzō (Hayashi Jyuzo)Naoemon's adopted son
　┃
Itō Hirobumi (Hayashi Risuke)

Honours

From the Japanese Wikipedia article

Japanese

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (November 2, 1877)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (February 11, 1889)
• Count (July 7, 1884)
• Marquis (August 5, 1895)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (August 5, 1895)
• Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (April 1, 1906)
• Prince (September 21, 1907)

Foreign

• GC of the Order of Vasa of Sweden (May 25, 1885)
• GC of the Order of the Iron Crown of Austria-Hungary (September 27, 1885)
• GC of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia (December 22, 1886) (he later received the Grand Cross in brilliants during his visit to Berlin in December 1901^[19])
• GC of the Order of Charles III of Spain (October 26, 1896)
• GC of the Order of Leopold of Belgium (October 4, 1897)
• GC of the Legion d'Honneur of France (April 29, 1898)
• GC of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky of Russia (November 28, 1901)^[20]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), United Kingdom (January 14, 1902; after a visit to London)^[21]
• GC of the Order of the Annunciation of Italy (January 16, 1902; during his visit to Rome)^[22]

See also

• Japanese students in Britain

References

1. Dudden, Alexis (2005). Japan's Colonization of Korea: Discourse and Power. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2829-1.
2. W. G. Beasley,The Rise of Modern Japan, pp. 79-80 ISBN 0-312-04077-6
3. "United States" The Times (London). Thursday, October 24, 1901. (36594), p. 3.
4. Ian Nish, The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War (Longman, 1985; ISBN 0582491142), p. 118.
5. Nish, The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 116.
6. Topics of the Week: "George Trumbull Ladd," New York Times. February 22, 1908.
7. "Business: Japanese Strip," Time Magazine. May 8, 1939.
8. "American Honored by the Japanese," The New York Times. October 22, 1899.
9. "Great Head Temple Sôjiji". 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
10. 이토 히로부미는 직접~ :한계옥 (1998년 4월 10일). 〈무력을 앞장 세워 병탄으로〉, 《망언의 뿌리를 찾아서》, 조양욱, 1판 1쇄, 서울: (주)자유포럼, 97~106쪽쪽. ISBN 89-87811-05-0
11. Lee Hang-bok."The King's Letter," English JoongAng Daily. September 22, 2009.
12. Umino, Fukuju (2004). Hirobumi Ito and Korean Annexation (Ito hirobumi to kankoku heigou) (in Japanese). Aoki Shoten. ISBN 978-4-250-20414-2.
13. Keene, Donald (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press. pp. 662–667. ISBN 0-231-12340-X.
14. "What Defines a Hero?". Japan Society. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
15. An, Jung-geun, Naver encyclopedia
16. Nakamura, Kaju (2010) [1910]. Prince Ito - The Man and Statesman - A Brief History of His Life. Lulu Press (reprint). ISBN 1445571420.
17. Yu Seok-jae (유석재) (January 14, 2007). 고종·순종실록의 '찜찜한' 인터넷 공개 [Questionable contents of Annals of Gojong and Sunjong exposed to public] (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
18. Lee Jeong-sik (이정식) (May 2001). 긴급대특집, 일본 역사교과서 왜곡파문 [Special report on Japan's history textbook issue.] (in Korean). New DongA. Retrieved May 1, 2012. ... initially many Koreans supported Japanese against Russians, and helped Japanese military. ... Many intellectuals had predicted that whoever wins the Russo-Japanese War, Joseon would be controlled by a victor. Still, they had hoped for the Asian power's victory. .... On 14 April 1904, Japan demanded unrestricted fishing rights all across Korean peninsular. On 28 June, Japan asked for the right to use every unclaimed land in Korea. Many Japanese gangsters had beaten Korean citizens in numerous occasions. ... 1904, U.S. diplomatic cable by Horace Allen, then U.S. representative in Korea. [...러·일전쟁 때 많은 조선인이 일본측에 동조했고, 일본군을 도왔다... 많은 지식인이 전쟁이 끝난 후에 조선은 승자에게 굴(屈)하고 주권을 상실할 것이라 예측했음에도, 러시아보다는 ‘동족(同族)’인 일본이 승리하기를 바랐다. ... (1) 1904년 4월14일. 일본은 조선반도 전역에서 거의 무제한적인 어업권을 요구했다. (2) 6월28일. 그들은 지금 조선 내 모든 황무지를 점거하고 사용할 수 있는 권리를 요구했다. (3) 많은 수의 일본인 불량배 노동자들이 조선 사람들을 괴롭히고 있다. ...1904년 주한미국공사 호레스 앨런의 보고서]
19. "Latest intelligence - Germany" The Times (London). Monday, 16 December 1901. (36639), p. 6.
20. "Latest intelligence - Russia and Japan" The Times (London). Saturday, November 30, 1901. (36626), p. 7.
21. The London Gazette: no. 27397. p. 295. 14 January 1902.
22. "Court circular" The Times (London). Friday, 17 January 1902. (36667), p. 8.

Sources

• Nish, Ian. (1998) The Iwakura Mission to America and Europe: A New Assessment. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library. ISBN 9781873410844; ISBN 0415471796; OCLC 40410662

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.
• Ladd, George T. (1908). In Korea with Marquis Ito
• 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

• Works by or about Itō Hirobumi at Internet Archive
• 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
•  "Ito, Hirobumi, Prince". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.