IWAKURA, Tomomi, Jap anese reformer and statesman : b. Kioto, about 1825; d. Tokio, 20 July 1883. He was of illustrious ancestry, one of the Kuge or court nobility, chamberlain of the imperial household, and at first in favor of the expulsion of for eigners. He never saw a foreigner until be was 43 years old. Becoming a Progressive, he was banished into exile and shaved his head, but his real aim was to restore the lustre of the imperial throne by the overthrow of the Yedo Shogunate. Entering into communication with the leaders of the confederation of southern daimios, he became the link between court nobility and the progressive samurai or gentry, and took a prominent part in the Restoration of 1868. He was one of the first to send his three sons to be educated under Verbeck and to America. He received high office and salary, and in 1870, as envoy of the mikado to the recalcitrant Satsuma leaders, led in the move ment to abolish feudalism, and was prominent in securing the formation of a new national army. As Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Junior Premier, he was visited by his sovereign. He went to Europe and America as head of the great embassy of 1872. Upon his return he opposed strongly and with success war against Korea. He was a great admirer of political institutions in the United States and left a powerful impress on the nation and the sover eign, from whom he received the highest honors. He escaped numerous attempts to assassinate him, notably that carried out by nine assassins in 1873. Of his children, a son, Prince Iwa kura Tomosada, of the House of Peers, be came an important functionary at the Court of the Emperor, and the other, a daughter, became the head of the Red Cross work in Japan. See JAPAN.