Itō Hirobumi

Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文; Japanese pronunciation: [i.toː (|) çi.ɾoꜜ.bɯ.mʲi], 16 October 1841 – 26 October 1909), born Hayashi Risuke (Japanese: 林 利助), was a Japanese statesman 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.

Born into a poor farming family in the Chōshū Domain, Itō and his father were adopted into a low-ranking samurai family. After the opening of Japan in 1854, he joined the nationalist sonnō jōi movement before being sent to England to study at University College London in 1863. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Itō was appointed the junior councilor for foreign affairs in the newly formed Empire of Japan. In 1870, he traveled to the United States to study Western currency, and subsequently helped establish Japan's taxation system in 1871. Itō then set off on another overseas trip with the Iwakura Mission to the U.S. and Europe. Upon his return to Japan in 1873, he became a full councilor and public works minister.

During the 1880s, Itō emerged as the de facto leader of the Meiji oligarchy. In 1881, he was officially entrusted with overseeing the drafting of Japan's first Constitution. After traveling to Europe to study its nations' political systems, Itō settled on adopting a constitution emulating that of Prussia by reserving considerable power with the emperor while limiting political parties' involvement in government. 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 a draft of the constitution was prepared in 1888, he established a supra-cabinet Privy Council led by himself to discuss and approve it on the emperor's behalf before having the Meiji Constitution officially proclaimed in 1899. Even out of office as Japan's head of government, Itō continued to wield vast influence over the country's policies as a permanent imperial adviser, or genkun, and as the President of the Emperor's Privy Council.

On the world stage, Itō Hirobumi presided over an ambitious foreign policy. He strengthened diplomatic ties with the Western powers including Germany, the United States and especially the United Kingdom. In Asia, he oversaw the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated the surrender of China's ruling Qing dynasty on terms aggressively favourable to Japan, including the annexation of Taiwan and the release of Korea from the Chinese Imperial tribute system. While expanding his country's claims in Asia, Itō sought to avoid conflict with the Russian Empire through the policy of Man-Kan kōkan – the proposed surrender of Manchuria to Russia's sphere of influence in exchange for recognition of Japanese hegemony in Korea. When Itō's attempts at diplomacy failed, Japan's incumbent prime minister, Katsura Tarō, elected to abandon the pursuit of Man-Kan kōkan which ultimately resulted in the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.

After Japanese forces emerged victorious over Russia, the ensuing Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 made Itō the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea. He consented to the total annexation of Korea in response to pressure from the increasingly powerful Imperial Army. Shortly thereafter, he resigned as Resident-General in 1909 and assumed office once again as President of the Imperial Privy Council. Four months later, Itō was assassinated by Korean-independence activist and nationalist An Jung-geun in Harbin, Manchuria.