MVP ARCHIVE PEOPLE | Prime Ministers of Japan: Itō Hirobumi 1841–1909 / Itō Hirobumi - Building Systems, Leading the Nation, and Transcending the Era
MVP ARCHIVE PEOPLE > Prime Ministers of Japan > Itō Hirobumi 1841–1909 / Itō Hirobumi - Building Systems, Leading the Nation, and Transcending the Era
Itō Hirobumi - Building Systems, Leading the Nation, and Transcending the Era
Tracing the life of
Itō Hirobumi, the first person to hold the position of "Prime Minister" in Japan, is not merely looking at a single politician. From a Chōshū domain samurai at the end of the Edo period to the center of the Meiji government. Constitution drafting, parliamentary politics, the cabinet system, the Sino-Japanese and
Russo-Japanese Wars, and finally, Resident-General of Korea.
His journey overlaps with the very process by which Japan built its systems as a modern state, entered the world of great powers, and eventually expanded its influence into East Asia.
The "World" as Seen from Chōshū
In 1841, Itō Hirobumi was born in Kumage District, Suō Province, in present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture. At the end of the Edo period, he participated in the Chōshū domain's sonnō jōi (revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians) movement.
However, in 1863, Itō secretly traveled to England with Inoue Kaoru and others. He was one of the students later known as the "Chōshū Five." There, what
Itō witnessed was an England that had undergone the Industrial Revolution. Industrial power, military strength, cities, railways, and political systems. Having seen firsthand the gap in national power between Japan and the Western great powers, Itō realized that simple expulsion of foreigners could not protect Japan.
Upon learning that the Chōshū domain was heading toward a conflict with foreign fleets, he returned home and worked to avoid a full-scale confrontation with foreign powers. The experience of seeing the world at the end of the Edo period would long influence
Itō's subsequent politics.
Making the Meiji State a "System"
1868, the Meiji Restoration. When the new government was established,
Itō joined the Meiji government and rapidly advanced to the center of politics. Japan would not become a modern state just by dismantling the shogunate-domain system. It was necessary to reconstruct the very mechanisms that constitute a nation: the central government, bureaucracy, tax system, military system, currency, education, judiciary, and diplomacy.
In 1871, he visited Europe and the United States as a member of the Iwakura Mission. Afterward,
Itō traveled to Europe again, specifically studying the German-Prussian constitutional system, and faced various challenges: what kind of political system to introduce to Japan, how to define the position of the Emperor, and how to connect the government and the parliament.
Itō proceeded to build a national system adapted to Japan's political structure, rather than simply importing Western systems as they were.
The First Prime Minister
In 1885, the cabinet system was established in Japan. Replacing the Dajōkan (Grand Council of State) system that had previously held the center of government, a mechanism was introduced where the government was operated by various Ministers of State and the Prime Minister at their center. The person who became the first Prime Minister was the 44-year-old
Itō Hirobumi. Itō
would later serve as Prime Minister a total of four times.
And in 1889, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated. The following year, in 1890, the Imperial Diet was opened, and parliamentary politics based on the constitution began in Japan.
He was a politician deeply involved in the basic design of what kind of state modern Japan would become through its systems.
Government and Political Parties
However, creating a constitution and a parliament did not mean politics would be stable. Once the Imperial Diet began, conflicts between the government and political parties were repeated. The government prioritized the continuity of national administration.
Meanwhile, the parliament had the authority to deliberate on the budget. The government, centered on the han cliques, and the political parties that gained seats through elections. How to connect these two within the new political system became a major issue, and Itō himself gradually came to recognize the limitations of operating parliamentary politics with the government alone.
In 1900, he formed the Rikken Seiyūkai (Friends of Constitutional Government). The fact that Itō, a central figure of the Meiji government, stepped into party politics symbolized the changes in Japanese politics.
The First Sino-Japanese War and East Asia
Itō was serving his second term as Prime Minister in 1894 when the First Sino-Japanese War began.
In the following year, 1895, Japan defeated the Qing dynasty, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed.
The Qing dynasty recognized the independence of Korea and ceded territories such as Taiwan to Japan.
Japan rapidly emerged as a new power in East Asia.
However, immediately afterward, due to the Triple Intervention by Russia, Germany, and France, Japan was forced to return the Liaodong Peninsula to the Qing dynasty.
Even with a military victory, Japan could not maintain its gains due to the balance of power among the great powers.
Once again, Meiji Japan was confronted with the disparity of power between major nations in international politics.
And in East Asia, Russian influence began to expand rapidly.
Russia and Korea
The Korean Peninsula became a critical region for both Japan and Russia.
Within Japan, arguments anticipating a conflict with Russia intensified.
However, Itō also explored the possibility of negotiations with Russia.
In 1901, Itō himself visited Russia to attempt to reconcile the interests between Japan and Russia.
The negotiations did not lead to a final agreement.
In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began.
In 1905, Japan won the war, but the nation's strength had been significantly depleted.
The post-war challenge was not simply to 'expand power as a victor.'
Japan had entered a new phase: how to stabilize the order in East Asia, including Manchuria and Korea, while avoiding another war with Russia.
The First Resident-General of Korea
In 1905, the Eulsa Treaty placed the foreign affairs of the Korean Empire under Japanese control, and the Residency-General was established the following year.
Itō Hirobumi became the first Resident-General of Korea.
Itō's tenure as Resident-General saw Japan's involvement in Korea deepen further.
In 1907, the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907 expanded the powers of the Resident-General, and Japan began to intervene deeply in Korea's domestic affairs.
The Korean army was also disbanded, and resistance to Japanese rule spread across various regions.
Itō was one of the central figures who advanced Japanese control over Korea.
On the other hand, he was initially cautious about immediately annexing Korea to Japan.
He operated a protectorate system where Japan supervised important policies while maintaining the state form of the Korean government.
However, by 1909, Itō also shifted toward accepting annexation.
In July of that year, the Japanese government decided on a policy to execute the annexation of Korea at an appropriate time.
At this point, Japan's policy toward Korea was entering its next phase.
Harbin
In October 1909, Itō headed to Manchuria for a meeting with Vladimir Kokovtsov, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire.
Russo-Japanese War Four years after the war, Japan and Russia, once enemies, were moving toward reconciling their interests in East Asia, including Manchuria, rather than fighting again.
On October 26, the train carrying Itō arrived at Harbin Station.
Itō held talks with Kokovtsov on the train.
Afterward, as Itō stepped onto the platform, the Korean independence activist An Jung-geun
approached and fired shots.
Itō Hirobumi died at the age of 68.
An Jung-geun was detained on the spot by the Russian side and later handed over to the Japanese side.
Itō's Death and the Annexation of Korea
Itō's assassination did not determine the annexation of Korea.
The Japanese government had already decided on the policy for future annexation in July 1909, about three months before the assassination.
Itō himself had accepted the annexation by that stage.
On August 22, 1910, the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed.
On August 29, the treaty was promulgated, and the Korean Empire came under Japanese rule.
This occurred about 10 months after the assassination of Itō.
The Legacy of Itō Hirobumi
Itō Hirobumi's political life overlaps with two major aspects of Meiji Japan. One is
Japan as a nation that built a modern state.
Japan as a nation that expanded its influence into East Asia.
Itō was deeply involved in both.
It is also about seeing, within the same individual, the process by which Meiji Japan sought to build a state that would not be dominated by the great powers, and the process by which Japan itself expanded its dominance into surrounding regions.
MVP Perspective
Itō Hirobumi visited Great Britain at the end of the Edo period and witnessed the overwhelming disparity in national power between Japan and the Western powers. Afterward, he built Japan's national system, handled diplomacy with the great powers, and pushed Japan up to become a member of international politics.
And in his later years, that same Japan stood on the side of influencing the politics of the Korean Peninsula. From the end of the Edo period in the 1840s to Harbin in 1909.
Itō's 68 years reveal the process by which the early Meiji challenge of "protecting the nation from the great powers" shifted to the problem of "how Japan itself should act as a great power." The figure of
Itō Hirobumi passed through almost all of those turning points. His life is a record of one politician, and at the same time, it is also
a record of the very era in which the nation of modern Japan was formed and expanded its power into East Asia.
