Japan Sends Its Leaders Around the World to Learn

On December 23, 1871, a delegation of about one hundred Japanese leaders, officials, and students departed Yokohama aboard the steamship SS America. Bound for San Francisco, this endeavor, known as the Iwakura Mission, represented an extraordinary undertaking by the newly established imperial government. Rather than delegating foreign observation to low-ranking envoys, Japan sent some of its most influential statesmen on an extensive overseas survey that would keep them out of the country for nearly two years.

The journey emerged from proposals by Guido Verbeck, a Dutch-American missionary serving as an advisor to the government. In 1869, Verbeck submitted a memo to official Okuma Shigenobu suggesting that Japan examine Western political, economic, and educational systems firsthand, later discussing the concept directly with Iwakura Tomomi. Named ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Iwakura led the mission alongside four vice-ambassadors, including three of the government's most senior officials: Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, and Ito Hirobumi. The delegation had three main objectives: securing diplomatic recognition for the restored imperial reign under the Emperor Meiji, seeking preliminary revisions to the unequal treaties forced upon Japan, and conducting an exhaustive investigation of Western institutions.