KIDO, k•des, TAKAYOSIII (IS:32-77). A Jap anese statesman. 'The Pen of the Revolution of 1S68; born at Hagi. in the Province of Choshiu, about IS:32. His father was a physician. When Commodore Perry's expedition arrived in .Tapan in IS54 he disguised himself as a laborer and served as porter to carry the instruments and baggage of the surveying parties. in order to penetrate the genet of the strength of Western nations. In lS(IS he joined the revolutionary party, and with Twakura. Oknho. and Saigo (qq.v.) lie planned and executed the coup d'•at of January, IS6S, •hieh gave the coalition of sonth•estern clans possession of the Imperial palace of Kioto and the person of the Mikado. ( See KEINI.) He was the author of a famous State document, the address to the throne, which secured the abolition of the feudal system and the relinquishment by 270 dainlios of their lands and income to the _Mikado. Recognizing the newspaper press as a potent element in civiliza tion, he founded in 1868, at his own expense, the first regular newspaper, called the Shimbun, Lasshi. In he was vice-ambassador with
iwakura in tile embassy round the world. lie caused the translation and publication in Japan ese, in eight volumes, of _Montesquieu', great work, L'esprit des Buis, the reading of which by the educated classes in Japan ripened public sen timent for the Constitution of 1889. Return ing to Japan, he secured the formation of an assembly of local rulers; was made a Privy Coun cilor of the Emperor, and was in attendance upon the Mikado until his death in Kioto, 27, 1S77. He was a man of pr6iminent political genius, stainless life, and gentle manners. At the promulgation of the Constitution, his abilities were recognized in posthumous honors, and in the elevation of his son to the nobility.