Shuzo Aoki

Japanese: 青木周蔵 - あおき・しゅうぞう

Year of death: February 16, 1914
Year of birth: 15th November 1844 (3rd March 1844)
A diplomat in the Meiji period. He was the eldest son of Miura Genchu, a physician of Western medicine from Asa, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and his wife Tomoko. His pen name was Kotoshiro. He was later adopted by Aoki Kenzo, a physician of the Choshu domain, and married Teru, the daughter of Kenzo's older brother, Shusuke. He studied at the Teshima School of the Nakatsu domain and the Meirinkan Kosei-do school of the Choshu domain (Hagi). In 1868 (Meiji 1), he traveled to Europe to study in Prussia for three years at the domain's expense. In 1869, he abandoned his medical studies and switched to studying politics and law. During the Iwakura Mission's stay in Europe, he lectured Kido Takayoshi on the political systems of Western Europe, which led to his appointment as a first-class secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1873. In the autumn of the same year, he sent Kido the draft of the Japanese Constitution, "Dai Nippon Seiki," which he had been asked to submit. In March 1874, he returned to Japan, stayed at Kido's residence, and in September, he became envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Japan. Except for a brief return to Japan in 1887, during the 10 years he worked in Germany until 1883, he advocated the active introduction of Western and especially German systems and technology, and promoted Westernization and imitation of Germany in the 1870s by taking care of students studying abroad and European inspection missions, and selecting and hiring advisors. In addition to his talent for German, he remarried Elisabeth of Baronial family (1877), and gained confidence in Western diplomacy, including court diplomacy. Returning to Japan in 1883, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs (later Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs). He assisted Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru as a deputy member of the Treaty Revision Conference that began the following year. He was made a Viscount. Inoue resigned in response to criticism, and was succeeded by Okuma Shigenobu, but he continued in the same position. He became Foreign Minister after Okuma resigned again due to an opposition movement. In light of the failures of the previous two times, he promoted treaty revision negotiations that excluded the employment of foreign judges and the ratification of the legal code by other nations, but he resigned in disgrace due to the Otsu Incident (1891). The following year, he was appointed Minister to Germany again. At the end of 1926, he was appointed plenipotentiary for the revision of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty, and then appointed as minister to the UK, and finally succeeded in the revision of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty. From 1928 to 1930, he was a viscount elected by mutual vote in the House of Peers. In 1931, he became Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Yamagata Cabinet, and was in charge of the implementation of the revised treaty and the Boxer Rebellion. In 1933, he resigned as Minister for Foreign Affairs when the Ito Cabinet was formed. After serving as a Privy Councilor, he became the first Ambassador to the United States in 1939. However, the following year, in 1940, he was summoned and dismissed for exceeding his authority in negotiations on immigration issues with the United States. In 1941, he became a Privy Councilor. <Works> "Autobiography of Aoki Shuzo"

(Masatoshi Sakata)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正3.2.16(1914)
生年：弘化1.1.15(1844.3.3)
明治期の外交官。山口県厚狭の蘭方医三浦玄仲,妻友子の長男。号は琴城。のち長州藩医青木研蔵の養子に入り,研蔵の兄周弼の娘テルと縁組みする。中津藩手島塾,長州(萩)藩校明倫館好生堂に学ぶ。藩費による3年間のプロシャ留学のため明治1(1868)年渡欧。3年,医学修業を放棄し政法学に転向。岩倉遣外使節一行のヨーロッパ滞在中木戸孝允に西欧の政治制度を講じたのが縁で,6年外務1等書記官心得に任命される。同年秋には依頼されていた日本国憲法草案「大日本政規」を木戸に送る。7年3月帰国,木戸邸に滞留,9月駐独特命全権公使。12年の一時帰国を除き,18年まで約10年のドイツ勤務の間,欧米,特にドイツの制度,技術の積極的な導入を主張し,留学生や来欧の視察調査使節の世話,顧問などの選定や雇い入れを通じて,明治10年代の欧化,ドイツ模倣を推進,ドイツ語の才能に加え,男爵家のエリザベトと再婚(1877),宮廷外交を含む西洋外交にも自信を深めた。 18年帰国して外務大輔(のち外務次官)に就任。翌年より始まった条約改正会議の副委員として井上馨外相を助けた。子爵。批判を受けて辞任した井上のあとを大隈重信が継ぐが,引き続き同職。再び反対運動のために大隈が辞職したのち外相になる。前2回の失敗に鑑み,外国人裁判官の採用,列国による法典の承認を排した条約改正交渉を進めたが,大津事件(1891)で引責辞職。翌年再び駐独公使となって赴任。26年暮れ,日英条約改正商議全権,次いで駐英公使兼任を命じられ,ついに日英条約改正に成功する。23年から30年の間貴族院子爵互選議員。31年山県内閣の外相に就任,改正条約の実施,義和団事件を担当した。33年伊藤内閣成立で外相辞任。枢密顧問官を経て39年初代駐米大使。しかし翌40年対米移民問題交渉に越権行為があったとして召喚,免職となった。41年枢密顧問官。<著作>『青木周蔵自伝』

(酒田正敏)

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