Iwakura Tomomi

A politician from the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji period. As a nobleman, he was in the highest leadership position of the Meiji government along with Sanjo Sanetomi. He was born in Kyoto on September 15, 1825, as the second son of former provisional middle counselor Horikawa Yasuchika, and was adopted by Iwakura Tomoyasu. His childhood name was Kanemaru, and his pen name was Taigaku. In 1853 (Kaei 6), he came into contact with the regent Takatsukasa Masamichi through the art of waka poetry, and the following year he became a chamberlain to Emperor Komei. In 1858 (Ansei 5), when the Shogunate's senior councilor Hotta Masayoshi petitioned for the Imperial sanction of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, Iwakura, along with fellow nobles, opposed the Imperial Court delegating the matter of the treaty to the Shogunate, and in alliance with Ohara Shigetomi and others, drafted and submitted the "Shinshu Banzai Ken Saku" (Shinshu Banzai Ken Saku), calling for the strengthening of military preparations in order to expel foreigners. After the death of Chief Minister Ii Naosuke in the Sakuradamon Incident in 1860 (Man'en 1), the Shogunate promoted a policy of unifying the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, and realized the marriage of Princess Kazunomiya, Iwakura, who was a powerful figure in negotiations with the Shogunate from the Imperial Court side, adopted a cooperative attitude. For this reason, the Sonn-Joi patriots ousted Iwakura as a pro-Shogunate nobleman and petitioned the Imperial Court for his punishment as one of the "Four Traitors." Due to this pressure, Iwakura was forced to resign from his post, shave his head, change his name to Tomoyama, and hide in Iwakura Village in Rakuhoku, Kyoto, which was his fief. During this time, Iwakura kept an eye on the Sonn-Joi movement, and in 1866 (Keio 2), he drafted opinion papers such as "Sori Meichu" and "Nationwide Joint Saku," calling for the unification of national power with the Imperial Court at the center. Furthermore, the following year, he carried out a scheme with the lower ranks of the anti-Shogunate domains, who had long held the same aspirations, and succeeded in having a secret imperial decree for the overthrow of the Shogunate bestowed on the two domains of Satsuma and Choshu, contributing to the realization of the restoration of the monarchy.

With the establishment of the new Meiji government, Iwakura was promoted from counselor and councilor to vice president, secretary-general of the navy and army, secretary-general of the accounting department, and then chief minister, with a permanent stipend of 5,000 koku. He also worked hard to return the domains and people to the emperor and to abolish the feudal domains and establish prefectures, and was promoted to minister of the right in 1871 (Meiji 4). In the same year, he led a mission as an extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to foreign countries to negotiate treaty revisions and inspect the United States and Europe, returning to Japan in 1873. Shortly afterwards, Iwakura teamed up with Okubo Toshimichi and others to reject the argument for the Expedition to Korea advocated by Saigo Takamori and others. As a result, he was attacked by disgruntled samurai who supported the Expedition to Korea at Akasaka Ichigai in Tokyo in 1874.

Later, in response to the rise of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, Iwakura adopted a policy of consolidating the foundations of the Meiji state with the Emperor at the center, and took successive measures to promote this. First, in 1878, he became Director General of the Imperial Household Ministry's Bureau of Internal Regulation Investigation, and in 1881, he ordered Inoue Kowashi to draft the "Great Principles," which laid out the framework of the future Imperial Constitution. Iwakura also cooperated with Sanjo Sanetomi and Okubo Toshimichi in expanding the assets of the Imperial family and participating in the establishment of the Japanese Railway Company, acting as one of the most powerful men and the dictatorial ruler of the absolutist government. He died on July 20, 1883, at the age of 59. He was given a state funeral. He was posthumously awarded the rank of Shoichii and the title of Dajo Daijin.

[Hiromi Ishizuka]

"Iwakura Tomomi" (Chuko Shinsho) by Toshiaki Okubo, compiled by the Imperial Household Ministry, 3 volumes (1906, Iwakura Tomomi Historical Site Preservation Society) "

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末・明治前期の政治家。公卿(くぎょう)として三条実美(さんじょうさねとみ)とともに明治政府の最高指導者の位置にあった。前権中納言(ごんちゅうなごん)堀河康親(ほりかわやすちか)の次子として文政(ぶんせい)8年9月15日京都に生まれ、岩倉具慶(ともやす)の養嗣子(ようしし)となった。幼名を周丸(かねまる)、号を対岳と称した。1853年（嘉永6）歌道を通じて関白鷹司政通(たかつかさまさみち)に接し、翌年孝明(こうめい)天皇の侍従となる。1858年（安政5）幕府の老中堀田正睦(ほったまさよし)が日米修好通商条約の勅許を奏請したことに対して、同志の公卿とともに、条約一件を朝廷が幕府に委任することに反対して、大原重徳(おおはらしげとみ)らと提携、「神州萬歳堅策」を起草、内奏し、攘夷(じょうい)のための武備充実を主張した。1860年（万延1）桜田門外の変で大老井伊直弼(いいなおすけ)が殺害されたのち、幕府が公武合体策を進め、皇女和宮(かずのみや)の降嫁を実現すると、朝廷側にあって対幕交渉の実力者の立場にあった岩倉は、それに協力する態度をとった。そのためもあって、尊攘派の志士たちは岩倉を佐幕派公卿として排撃し、「四奸」の一人として朝廷にその処罰を奏請した。そうした圧力により、岩倉は辞官、剃髪(ていはつ)して、名を友山と改め、その知行地(ちぎょうち)であった京都・洛北(らくほく)の岩倉村に身を潜めることを余儀なくされた。その間にも、岩倉は尊攘運動の動きに注目し、1866年（慶応2）「叢裡鳴蟲(そうりめいちゅう)」「全国合同策」などの意見書を起草、朝廷を中心に国権の統一を主張した。さらにその翌年には、かねて志を通じていた討幕派諸藩の下士層と策略を進めて、薩長(さっちょう)2藩に討幕の密勅を下賜させることに成功、王政復古の実現に貢献した。

　明治新政府の成立とともに、参与、議定(ぎじょう)から副総裁兼海陸軍事務総督、会計事務総督、ついで大納言となり、永世禄(えいせいろく)として5000石を授けられた。さらに版籍奉還、廃藩置県にも奔走し、1871年（明治4）には右大臣に昇任した。また同年、条約改正交渉と米欧視察のため、特命全権大使として使節団を引率して外国を巡回し、1873年に帰国した。その直後、西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)らが主張した征韓論に対して、岩倉は大久保利通(おおくぼとしみち)らと組んでそれを退けた。そのため、1874年東京の赤坂喰違(あかさかくいちがい)において征韓派の不平士族たちに襲われた。

　その後、自由民権運動の高揚に対して、岩倉は天皇を中心に明治国家の基礎を固める方針を採用し、それを推進するために、順次、措置を講じた。まず1878年宮内省内規取調局総裁に就任し、1881年には井上毅(いのうえこわし)に命じて「大綱領」を起草させた。そこには後の帝国憲法の枠組みが示されていた。また岩倉は皇室財産の拡充、日本鉄道会社の設立にも関与するなど、三条実美や大久保利通らと協力、最高の実権者の一人、絶対主義政府の専制支配者として行動した。明治16年7月20日、59歳で没。国葬。没後贈正一位、太政大臣(だじょうだいじん)。

［石塚裕道］

『宮内省編『岩倉公実記』全3巻（1906・岩倉公旧蹟保存会）』▽『大久保利謙著『岩倉具視』（中公新書）』

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