Itō Hirobumi

Not to be confused with Hirofumi Itō.

In this Japanese name, the surname is Itō.

Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文, 16 October 1841 – 26 October 1909) was a Japanese politician who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the genrō, a group of senior statesmen that dictated policy during the Meiji era. Even out of office as head of government, Itō continued to wield vast influence over Japan's policies as a permanent imperial adviser (genkun) and frequent president of the emperor's Privy Council. A staunch monarchist and leading proponent of Japan's Westernization, Itō favored a large, all-powerful bureaucracy that answered solely to the emperor, and opposed the formation of political parties.

Junior First Rank Prince Itō Hirobumi
伊藤 博文
President of the Privy Council
In office 14 June – 26 October 1909
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Yamagata Aritomo
Succeeded by	Yamagata Aritomo
In office 13 July 1903 – 21 December 1905
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Saionji Kinmochi
Succeeded by	Yamagata Aritomo
In office 1 June 1891 – 8 August 1892
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Oki Takato
Succeeded by	Oki Takato
In office 30 April 1888 – 30 October 1889
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Oki Takato
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 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (as Shōgun)
Succeeded by	Kuroda Kiyotaka
Additional positions President of the House of Peers In office 24 October 1890 – 20 July 1891 Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Hachisuka Mochiaki Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan In office September 1887 – February 1888 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Inoue Kaoru Succeeded by Ōkuma Shigenobu
Personal details
Born	Hayashi Risuke (1841-10-16)16 October 1841 Tsukari, Suō, Tokugawa shogunate (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan)
Died	26 October 1909(1909-10-26) (aged 68) Harbin, Heilongjiang, Qing dynasty
Manner of death	Assassination by gunshot
Resting place	Hirobumi Itō Cemetery, Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Independent (Before 1900) Constitutional Association of Political Friendship (1900–1909)
Spouse	Itō Umeko (1848–1924)
Children	3 sons, 2 daughters
Parent	Itō Jūzō (father)
Alma mater	University College London[1]
Signature

Born into a poor farming family in the Chōshū Domain, Itō and his father were adopted into a low-ranking samurai family. He joined the nationalist sonnō jōi movement after the opening of Japan in 1854, and in 1863 was sent to England to study at University College London. After the Shimonoseki campaign of 1864, in which four Western powers bombed Chōshū, he resolved to set Japan on a path of Westernization. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Itō was appointed the junior councilor for foreign affairs in the new Empire of Japan. In 1870, he traveled to the United States to study Western currency, and in 1871 helped establish Japan's taxation system. He then set off on another overseas trip with the Iwakura Mission to the U.S. and Europe, and upon his return to Japan in 1873, became a full councilor and public works minister. Itō also served as home minister from 1878, and by 1881 he had become the de facto leader of the Meiji oligarchy.

After the advent of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and political parties, in 1881 Itō promised a constitution and national assembly. In 1882, he embarked on a trip to Europe to study its constitutions; his preference was for a Prussian-style one which would retain considerable power for the emperor and limit party involvement in the cabinet. He replaced religious references with those rooted in the Japanese concept of kokutai ("national polity"), which became the constitutional justification for imperial authority. In 1884, Itō reorganized the peerage to fill the seats in the anticipated House of Peers. In 1885, he replaced the Daijō-kan with a cabinet composed of ministry heads, and himself took up the new position of prime minister. When the draft constitution was ready in 1888, Itō established a supra-cabinet Privy Council to discuss and approve it on the emperor's behalf. He resigned as prime minister so he could head this new body. The Meiji Constitution was proclaimed in 1889, and the Imperial Diet was first assembled in 1890.

From 1892 to 1896, Itō was again prime minister. During his term, Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, and he was involved in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which annexed Taiwan to the empire and freed Korea from the Chinese tributary system. During Itō’s third term as prime minister in 1898, his tax policies were opposed by political parties and he soon resigned. In 1900, he started his fourth term and formed his own pro-government party, the Rikken Seiyūkai, but continued to face opposition, and resigned in 1901. After Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Itō became the resident-general of Korea, a nation which Japan desired to annex. Korea was declared a Japanese protectorate in 1905, and in 1907 Itō obliged its emperor to step down. Itō was made a prince that year and resigned as resident-general in 1909; later that year, he was assassinated while in Manchuria by a Korean nationalist.

Biography

Early years

Itō Hirobumi as a samurai in his youth

Hayashi Risuke (林利助) was born on 16 October 1841, in Tsukari, Kumage, Suō Province (present-day Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture), the eldest son of farmer Hayashi Jūzō and his wife Kotoko. After his father went bankrupt and left for Hagi, Yamaguchi in 1846, he went to live at his mother's parental home. In 1849, Jūzō invited the family to Hagi and the family reunited. There Risuke entered Kubo Gorō Saemon's school. Because the family was poor, when Risuke was 12, Jūzō was adopted by samurai servant Mizui Buhē. In 1854, Mizui Buhē was adopted by samurai foot soldier (ashigaru) Itō Yaemon from Aihata, Saba. Mizui Buhē was renamed Itō Naoemon, Jūzō took the name Itō Jūzō, and Hayashi Risuke was renamed Itō Shunsuke at first, then Itō Hirobumi. These adoptions allowed both Hirobumi and his father Jūzō to rise to the samurai class and become ashigaru.^[2] Jūzō was the biological son of Hayashi Sukezaemon (林助左衛門), a 5th generation descendant of Hayashi Nobuyoshi (林信吉) who was a member of the Hayashi clan of Owari (尾張林氏).

Clockwise from top left: Endō Kinsuke, Nomura Yakichi, Itō Shunsuke, Yamao Yōzō, and Inoue Monta, photographed in 1863

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 Katsura Kogorō. Active in the movement, he took part in an incendiary attack of the British legation on 31 January 1863 led by Takasugi Shinsaku, and in the company of Yamao Yōzō attacked and mortally wounded the head of the Wagakukōdansho institute on 2 February 1863, believing a false report that the institute was looking into ways of toppling the Emperor.^[3] Itō was chosen as one of the Chōshū Five who studied at University College London in 1863, and the experience in Great Britain eventually 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

Rise to power

Photo of Itō (second from right, standing) alongside other members of the Iwakura mission

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. With the advice of Edmund Morel, a chief engineer of the railway department, Itō endeavored to found the Public Works together with Yamao Yozo. 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.^[4]

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. By 1881, he successfully pushed for the resignation of Ōkuma Shigenobu, thereby allowing him to emerge as the de facto leader of the Meiji government.^[5][6]

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. In the same year, In 1885, Itō established a cabinet system of government based on European ideas, replacing the Daijō-kan as the nation's main policy-making organization.

As Prime Minister

Itō Hirobumi as prime minister (c. 1880s)

On 22 December 1885, Itō became the first Prime Minister of Japan, as the head of First Itō Cabinet. The first Itō Cabinet endeavored to establish institutions preparatory to the promulgation of the Constitution, and in February 1886 established a system of government for each ministry, and in March, the Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) was established, and in March of the following year, a national academic association was established and supported it. On the other hand, Inoue Kaoru was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and was given responsibility for amending the treaty, but the amendment proposed by Inoue included the appointment of foreign judges, leading to the problem of appointing private officials. foreign legislation, leading to In July 1887, a revision meeting aimed at foreign countries was cancelled, and Inoue Kaoru resigned in September, leading to defeat. In June of the same year, he began studying the draft constitution with Itō Miyoji, Inoue Tsuyoshi, Kaneko Kentaro and others in Tsushima.^{[citation needed]}

On 30 April 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.^[7] This stemmed from his rejection of some European notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity.^[7]

He remained a powerful force while Kuroda Kiyotaka and Yamagata Aritomo, his political nemeses,^{[according to whom?]} were prime ministers.

During Itō's second term as prime minister (8 August 1892 – 31 August 1896), he supported the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated the Treaty of Shimonoseki in March 1895, made Taiwan a Japanese colony 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 era.

During Itō's third term as prime minister (12 January – 30 June 1898), he was forced to contend with the rise of political parties. Both the Liberal Party and the Shimpotō opposed his proposed new land taxes, and in retaliation, Itō dissolved the lower house of the Imperial Diet and called for general election. 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.^{[citation needed]}

Itō returned to office as prime minister for a fourth term from 19 October 1900, to 10 May 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.

Itō in the later years of his political career

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. He set off from Yokohama on 18 September, traveled through the U.S. to New York City, and received an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) from Yale University in late October.^[8] He then sailed to Boulogne, reaching Paris on 4 November. On 25 November, 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 the use of Korean ports for its navy, was in no mood to compromise. 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".^[9] 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.^{[citation needed]} In Britain, Itō met 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".^[10]

While Prime Minister, Itō invited Professor George Trumbull Ladd of Yale University to serve as a diplomatic adviser to promote mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. Lectures delivered by Ladd in Japan revolutionized its educational methods; he was the first foreigner to receive the Third Class honor (conferred by the Emperor in 1899) and the Second Class honor (in 1907) in the Orders of the Rising Sun. He later wrote a book on his personal experiences in Korea and with Resident-General Itō.^[11][12][13] When Ladd died, half his ashes were buried in a Buddhist temple in Tokyo and a monument was erected to him.^[12][14]

As Resident-General of Korea

Prince Itō and the Crown Prince of Korea Yi Un

On 9 November 1905, following the Russo-Japanese War, Itō arrived in Hanseong and gave a letter from the Emperor of Japan to Gojong, Emperor of Korea, asking him to sign the Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty, which would make Korea a Japanese protectorate. On 15 November 1905, he ordered Japanese troops to encircle the Korean imperial palace.

On 17 November 1905, Itō and Japanese Field Marshal Hasegawa Yoshimichi entered the Jungmyeongjeon Hall, a Russian-designed building that was once part of Deoksu Palace, to persuade Gojong to approve the treaty, but the Emperor refused. Itō then pressured the Emperor's ministers with the implied, and later stated, threat of bodily harm, to sign the treaty.^[15] Five ministers signed an agreement that had been prepared by Itō in the Jungmyeongjeon. The agreement gave Imperial Japan complete responsibility for Korea's foreign affairs,^[16] and placed all trade through Korean ports under Imperial Japanese supervision.

After the treaty had been signed, Itō became the first Resident-General of Korea on 21 December 1905. In 1907, he urged Emperor Gojong to abdicate in favor of his son Sunjong and secured the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907, thereby giving Japan authority to dictate Korea's internal affairs.

While Itō was firmly against Korea falling into China or Russia's sphere of influence, he also opposed its annexation, advocating instead that the territory should be treated as a protectorate. When the cabinet voted in favor of annexing Korea, he proposed that the process be delayed in the hopes that the decision could eventually be reversed.^[17] However, Itō ultimately changed his mind and approved plans to have the region annexed on 10 April 1909. Despite changing his position, he was forced to resign on 14 June 1909 by the Imperial Japanese Army (one of the foremost advocates for Korea's annexation).^[18] His assassination is believed to have accelerated the path to the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty.^[19]

Assassination

Last image of Itō arriving at Harbin Station shortly before his assassination on 26 October 1909

Itō arrived at the Harbin railway station on 26 October 1909 for a meeting with Vladimir Kokovtsov, a Russian representative in Manchuria. There An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist^[19] and independence activist,^[20][21] 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 on 4 November 1909 at Hibiya Park.^[22] An Jung-geun later listed "15 reasons why Itō should be killed" at his trial.^[23][24] On 14 February 1910, Ahn was sentenced to death by hanging, Yu to two years in prison, and Cao and Liu to one year and six months in prison for murder and crimes against the Imperial Japanese Government.

Legacy

In Japan

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

• A portrait of Itō Hirobumi was on the obverse of the Series C 1,000 yen note from 1963 until a new series was issued in 1984.
• The publishing company Hakubunkan takes its name from Hakubun, an alternate pronunciation of Itō's given name.

Itō Hirobumi former residence in Hagi

Former residence of Itō Hirobumi in Hagi

The house where Itō lived from age 14 in Hagi after his father was adopted by Itō Naoemon still exists, and is preserved as a museum. It is a one-story house with a thatched roof and a gabled roof, with a total floor area of 29 tsubo and is located 150 meters south of the Shōkasonjuku Academy. The adjacent villa is a portion of a house built by Itō in 1907 in Oimura, Shimoebara-gun, Tokyo (currently Shinagawa, Tokyo). It was a large Western-style mansion, of which three structures, a part of the entrance, a large hall, and a detached room, were transported Hagi. The large hall has a mirrored ceiling and its wooden paneling uses 1000-year old cedar trees from Yoshino.^[25] The buildings were collectively designated a National Historic Site in 1932.^[26]

In Korea

The Annals of Sunjong record that Gojong held a positive view of Itō's governorship. In an entry for 28 October 1909, almost three years after being forced to abdicate his throne, the former emperor praised Itō, who had died two days earlier, for his efforts to develop Japanese civilization in Korea. However, the integrity of Joseon silloks dated after the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 is considered dubious by Korean scholars due to the influence exerted over record-keeping by the Japanese.

Itō has been portrayed several times in Korean cinema. His assassination was the subject of North Korea's An Jung-gun Shoots Itō Hirobumi in 1979 and South Korea's Thomas Ahn Joong Keun in 2004; both films made his assassin An Jung-geun the protagonist. The 1973 South Korean film Femme Fatale: Bae Jeong-ja is a biopic of Itō's alleged adopted Korean daughter Bae Jeong-ja (1870–1952).

Itō argued the Pan-Asian view that if East Asians did not co-operate closely with one another, Japan, Korea and China would all fall victim to Western imperialism. Initially, Gojong and the Joseon government shared that belief and agreed to collaborate with the Japanese military.^[27] Korean intellectuals had predicted that the victor of the Russo-Japanese War would assume hegemony over their peninsula, and as an Asian power, Japan enjoyed greater public support in Korea than Russia. However, policies such as land confiscation and the drafting of forced labor turned Korean popular opinion against the Japanese, a trend exacerbated by the arrest or execution of those who resisted.^[27] An Jung-geun was also a proponent of what was later called Pan-Asianism. He believed in a union of the three East Asian nations to repel Western imperialism and restore peace in the region.

Itō memorial temple built

On 26 October 1932, the Japanese unveiled in Seoul the Hakubun-ji 博文寺 Buddhist Temple dedicated to Prince Itō. Full official name "Prince Itō Memorial Temple (伊藤公爵祈念寺院)". Situated in then Susumu Tadashidan Park on the north slope of Namsan, which after liberation became Jangchungdan Park 장충단 공원. From October 1945, the main hall served as student home, ca. 1960 replaced by a guest house of the Park Chung-Hee administration, then reconstructed and again a student guest house. In 1979 it was incorporated into the grounds of the Shilla Hotel then opened. Several other parts of the temple are still at the site.

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

Peerages

• Count (7 July 1884)
• Marquess (5 August 1895)
• Prince (21 September 1907)

Decorations

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2 November 1877)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (11 February 1889)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (5 August 1895)
• Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (1 April 1906)

Court ranks

• Fifth rank, junior grade (1868)
• Fifth rank (1869)
• Fourth rank (1870)
• Senior fourth rank (18 February 1874)
• Third rank (27 December 1884)
• Second rank (19 October 1886)
• Senior second rank (20 December 1895)
• Junior First Rank (26 October 1909; posthumous)

Foreign

•  German Empire:
  • Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Crown (1886)
  • Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle (22 December 1886); in Brilliants (December 1901)^[28][29]
  •  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon (29 September 1882)
•  Russian Empire:
  • Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (17 September 1883)
  • Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (19 March 1896); in Brilliants (28 November 1901)^[30][29]
• Sweden-Norway: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of Vasa (25 May 1885)^[29]
•  Austria-Hungary: Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Iron Crown (27 September 1885)^[29]
• Siam: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Siam (24 January 1888)^[31]
•  Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (26 October 1896)^[29]
•  Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Royal Order of Leopold (4 October 1897)^[29]
•  France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (29 April 1898)^[29]
•  Qing dynasty: Order of the Double Dragon, Class I Grade III (5 December 1898)^[31]
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (civil division) (14 January 1902)^[32][29]
•  Kingdom of Italy: Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (16 January 1902)^[33][29]
•  Korean Empire: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Golden Ruler (18 April 1904)^[31]

Popular culture

Year	Title	Portrayed by
1957	Emperor Meiji and the Great Russo-Japanese War	Kusuo Abe [ja]
1958	Emperor & Empress Meiji and the Sino-Japanese War	Kusuo Abe
1967	San Shimai	Yoshiyuki Fukuda
1968	Ryōma ga Yuku	Atsuo Nakamura
1969	Battle of the Japan Sea	Eijirō Yanagi
1977	Kashin	Isao Bitō [ja]
1978	Kaze ga Moeta	Tomokazu Miura
1980	The Battle of Port Arthur	Hisaya Morishige
1980	Shishi no Jidai	Jinpachi Nezu
1981	Portsmouth no Hata	Mizuho Suzuki
1982	Bakumatsu Seishun Graffiti Sakamoto Ryōma	Yōsui Inoue
1985	Haru no Hatō	Juzo Itami
1986	Bakumatsu Seishun Graffiti Ronin Sakamoto Ryōma	Masatō Ibu
1986	Rokumeikan	Tatsuya Mihashi
1989	Kiheitai	Daijirō Tsutsumi [ja]
1990	Tobu ga Gotoku	Hisahiro Ogura [ja]
2001–02	Empress Myeongseong	Yoon Joo-sang
2009–11	Clouds Above the Slope	Gō Katō
2010	Ryōmaden	Hiroyuki Onoue
2014	Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends	Yukiyoshi Ozawa
2015	Burning Flower	Hitori Gekidan
2018	Segodon	Kenta Hamano
2018	Mr. Sunshine	Kim In-woo [ko]
2022	Hero	Kim Seung-rak [ko]
2024	Harbin	Lily Franky

See also

• Japan portal
• History portal
• Politics portal
• Biography portal

• Japanese students in Britain

References

1. "Famous Alumni". UCL. 11 January 2018.
2. Itō, Yukio; 伊藤之雄 (2009). Itō Hirobumi : kindai Nihon o tsukutta otoko. 之雄 伊藤. Kōdansha. pp. 22–25. ISBN 978-4-06-215909-8. OCLC 466068077.
3. Takii, Kazuhiro (2014). Itō Hirobumi - Japan's First Prime Minister and Father of the Meiji Constitution. trans. Takeshi Manabu. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415838863.
4. "Itō Hirobumi". Britannica. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
5. Perez, Louis G. (8 January 2013). "Itō Hirobumi". In Perez, Louis G. (ed.). Japan at War:An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, LLC. p. 149. ISBN 9781598847420. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
6. Grunden, Walter E. (8 January 2013). "Ōkuma Shigenobu". In Perez, Louis G. (ed.). Japan at War:An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, LLC. p. 295. ISBN 9781598847420. Retrieved 16 April 2023. In 1878, Ōkuma was placed in charge of the bureau for land tax revision, where he attempted to enforce a series of unsuccessful programs geared toward financial retrenchment. Despite economic setbacks, his public popularity grew because he favored the immediate adoption of a British-style constitution and parliamentary government. Consequently, Ōkuma found himself the chief political rival and competitor of Itō Hirobumi, who championed the Prussian-style constitutional monarchy. In 1881, as the popular rights movement was gaining momentum, Ōkuma publicly advocated the immediate establishment of a national assembly. That stand placed him in direct opposition to Itō, and as a result, he was forced out of office in 1881.
7. W. G. Beasley,The Rise of Modern Japan, pp. 79–80 ISBN 0-312-04077-6
8. "United States". The Times. No. 36594. 24 October 1901. p. 3.
9. Ian Nish, The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War (Longman, 1985; ISBN 0582491142), p. 118.
10. Nish, The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 116.
11. Topics of the Week: "George Trumbull Ladd", The New York Times. 22 February 1908.
12. "Business: Japanese Strip", Time. 8 May 1939.
13. "American Honored by the Japanese", The New York Times. 22 October 1899.
14. "Great Head Temple Sôjiji". 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
15. McKenzie, F.A. (1920). Korea's Fight for Freedom. Fleming H. Revell Company.
16. United States. Dept. of State. (1919). Catalogue of treaties: 1814–1918, p. 273, at Google Books
17. Umino, Fukuju (2004). Hirobumi Itō and Korean Annexation (Itō hirobumi to kankoku heigou) (in Japanese). Aoki Shoten. ISBN 978-4-250-20414-2.
18. Ogawara, Hiroyuki (2010). 伊藤博文の韓国併合構想と朝鮮社会 (in Japanese). 岩波書店. ISBN 978-4000221795.
19. Keene, Donald (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press. pp. 662–667. ISBN 0-231-12340-X.
20. "What Defines a Hero?". Japan Society. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
21. "안중근". terms.naver.com.
22. Nakamura, Kaju (2010) [1910]. Prince Ito – The Man and Statesman – A Brief History of His Life. Lulu Press (reprint). ISBN 978-1445571423.
23. "The Harbin Tragedy". The Straits Times. 2 December 1909. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
24. "Why Did Ahn Jung-geun Kill Hirobumi Ito?". The Korea Times. 24 August 2009.
25. Isomura, Yukio; Sakai, Hideya (2012). (国指定史跡事典) National Historic Site Encyclopedia. 学生社. ISBN 978-4311750403.(in Japanese)
26. "伊藤博文旧宅" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
27. Lee Jeong-sik (이정식) (May 2001). 긴급대특집, 일본 역사교과서 왜곡파문 [Special report on Japan's history textbook issue.]. New DongA (in Korean). Retrieved 1 May 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. ...1904 년 주한미국공사 호레스 앨런의 보고서]
28. "Latest intelligence – Germany". The Times. No. 36639. London. 16 December 1901. p. 6.
29. Clark, Samuel (2016). "Status Consequences of State Honours". Distributing Status: The Evolution of State Honours in Western Europe. Canada: McGill-Queens University Press. p. 322. doi:10.1515/9780773598560 (inactive 2 December 2024). ISBN 9780773598577. JSTOR j.ctt1c99bzh. OCLC 947837811. Retrieved 14 May 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
30. "Latest intelligence – Russia and Japan". The Times. No. 36626. London. 30 November 1901. p. 7.
31. JAPAN, 独立行政法人国立公文書館 | NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF. "枢密院文書・枢密院高等官転免履歴書 明治ノ二". 国立公文書館 デジタルアーカイブ.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
32. "No. 27397". The London Gazette. 14 January 1902. p. 295.
33. "Court circular". The Times. No. 36667. London. 17 January 1902. p. 8.

Sources

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

Further reading

• Edward, I. "Japan's Decision to Annex Taiwan: A Study of Itō-Mutsu Diplomacy, 1894–95". Journal of Asian Studies 37#1 (1977): 61–72.
• 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 (1901). "Marquis Ito: The Great Man of Japan". Scribner’s Magazine 30(5), 613–621.

External links

• Works by or about Itō Hirobumi at the Internet Archive
• 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.
• Newspaper clippings about Itō Hirobumi in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Political offices
Preceded by Ōkubo Toshimichi	Lord of Home Affairs 1874	Succeeded by Ōkubo Toshimichi
	Lord of Home Affairs 1878–1880	Succeeded by Matsukata Masayoshi
New office	Prime Minister of Japan 1885–1888	Succeeded by Kuroda Kiyotaka
Preceded by Inoue Kaoru	Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan) 1887–1888	Succeeded by Ōkuma Shigenobu
New office	President of the Privy Council 1888–1889	Succeeded by Oki Takato
	President of the House of Peers 1890–1891	Succeeded by Hachisuka Mochiaki
Preceded by Oki Takato	President of the Privy Council 1891–1892	Succeeded by Oki Takato
Preceded by Matsukata Masayoshi	Prime Minister of Japan 1892–1896	Succeeded by Kuroda Kiyotaka as Acting Prime Minister
	Prime Minister of Japan 1898	Succeeded by Ōkuma Shigenobu
Preceded by Yamagata Aritomo	Prime Minister of Japan 1900–1901	Succeeded by Saionji Kinmochi as Acting Prime Minister
Preceded by Saionji Kinmochi	President of the Privy Council 1903–1905	Succeeded by Yamagata Aritomo
New office	Resident General of Korea 1905–1909	Succeeded by Sone Arasuke
Preceded by Yamagata Aritomo	President of the Privy Council 1909	Succeeded by Yamagata Aritomo