Ito Hirobumi

Ito Hirobumi

(born Oct. 14, 1841, Suo province, Japan—died Oct. 26, 1909, Harbin, China) Japanese statesman, prime minister, and writer of the Meiji Constitution. He played a minor role in the Meiji Restoration, through which he came in contact with Kido Takayoshi and Okubo Toshimichi. When Okubo was assassinated in 1878, Ito succeeded him as home minister. He persuaded the government to adopt a constitution and then traveled abroad to research constitutions. In 1889 the emperor promulgated the resultant document. Later, as prime minister, Ito negotiated an end to extraterritoriality with Britain; other Western nations followed suit, signaling that the West was beginning to treat Japan as an equal. Frustrated with the ability of the political parties to impede passage of government programs in the Diet, in 1900 Ito founded his own party, the Rikken Seiyukai. This foray cost him control of the genro (elder statesmen) but made cooperation between high-ranking bureaucrats and party politicians acceptable. In 1906 Ito became resident general in Korea; he was assassinated in 1909 by a Korean nationalist.