The Iwakura Mission: Feudal Japan's bold leap towards modernisation

In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, the Japanese group of islands underwent a sudden and dramatic political shift.

Following centuries of internal stability under the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji Restoration in 1868 ended the rule of the military government and returned political power to the imperial court.

It occurred through a series of calculated moves by reform-minded leaders who feared that Japan’s feudal structures had left the nation unprotected in a world controlled by foreign powers. 

Under sakoku, Japan had isolated itself from most foreign contact since the early seventeenth century.

Trade had been limited to a small group of Dutch and Chinese merchants in Nagasaki, and foreign ideas had been rigorously suppressed.

By the 1850s, however, foreign gunboats forced the country to reopen under a series of unequal treaties.

The arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 showed Japan’s weakness, and the leadership of the new Meiji government concluded that they had to either modernise or submit to foreign domination. 

Within the highest levels of the new regime, influential advisors debated how best to guide Japan’s future.

Some pushed for rapid industrialisation and centralised authority. Others believed that the restoration of imperial power should be followed by a cautious preservation of tradition.

Because stronger and more technologically advanced states surrounded Japan, the country could no longer delay a decision.

A group of senior officials resolved to embark on a fact-finding mission that would allow them to see, firsthand, how Western nations governed their people, organised their economies, and educated their citizens. 

When the idea of a large-scale diplomatic expedition emerged in early 1871, the Meiji government had already created new ministries and begun drafting initial reforms.

To strengthen Japan’s position abroad and to revise the unequal treaties imposed under duress, the government appointed Iwakura Tomomi to lead an official mission.

Iwakura was a former court noble who had supported the imperial cause during the final years of Tokugawa rule and held a lot of influence among the Meiji leadership.

He possessed the authority and political standing needed to secure cooperation from the various domains and ministries. 

The delegation included over fifty core officials and scholars, though the full group, including students and support staff, numbered more than one hundred.

Many of the core delegates later held senior positions in the Meiji government.

Among the most prominent were Kido Takayoshi, Itō Hirobumi, and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi.

The mission also included a group of students who were expected to remain in the West for extended periods to complete formal education.

Some of these students, such as Tsuda Umeko, later became pioneers in Japanese education and women’s rights.

The inclusion of young minds signalled the government’s interest in long-term institutional reform rather than short-term diplomacy alone. 

The group carried official papers from the emperor, which allowed them to act as representatives of the emperor's government.

Their instructions tasked them with negotiating with foreign governments and observing Western institutions alongside gathering technical knowledge in fields ranging from industry to military affairs.

They aimed to gather practical knowledge and also tried to understand the ideas that supported Western societies.

The group's varied composition and clear objectives showed the Meiji leadership's urgent approach to modernisation. 

After they boarded the SS America on 23 December 1871 and departed Yokohama the following day, the mission crossed the Pacific and arrived in San Francisco in January 1872.

Their visit to the United States included visits to schools and factories, and observations of the judicial and legislative systems.

Although President Ulysses S. Grant held office at the time, the delegation did not meet him personally during their stay.

They travelled by rail to Washington, Boston, and New York, inspecting universities such as Harvard and observing the structure of American higher education.

They noted the importance of scientific research and the independence of legal institutions, although they also expressed concerns about social instability and racial divisions in post-Civil War America. 

From North America, the mission sailed to Britain and began its period of detailed observation.

During their four-month stay, they examined railways, waterworks, textile factories, government offices, and military institutions.

Delegates met with politicians, scientists, engineers, and academics. They observed sessions of the British Parliament and examined the workings of a constitutional monarchy in practice.

Unlike in the United States, where power stemmed from electoral participation, Britain demonstrated how a system of government could balance a symbolic monarch with an active legislative body. 

Their itinerary then took them across Europe. In France, they visited schools, museums, and public buildings that reflected the influence of Napoleonic reforms.

In Prussia, they observed the centralised education system and efficient military structure.

The mission visited Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and several Scandinavian kingdoms.

During their final stops, they briefly visited the Ottoman Empire and India, although their observations in these locations remained limited by their short time abroad and language difficulties.

The mission returned to Japan in September 1873, though several students remained abroad to continue their studies. 

In every country they visited, the delegates collected large amounts of information through official meetings, public lectures, factory inspections, and direct interviews.

They gathered hundreds of pages of notes and printed materials, and recorded thorough reports on systems of government, taxation, education, industrial labour, and technological development.

The delegation came to understand that modernisation required both technology and a total restructuring of Japanese society and government. 

Among the lessons that impressed the delegates most was the relationship between education and national strength.

In Prussia, they saw how universal schooling produced disciplined and capable citizens.

In Britain, they observed the value of scientific research and the role of universities in economic development.

In France, they studied the legal codes that created predictable outcomes in both civil and criminal trials.

The mission members concluded that Japan’s future would depend on the rapid establishment of similar institutions at home. 

Iwakura Tomomi, who had initially hesitated to embrace radical change, became a staunch supporter of reform after witnessing the organisation and prosperity of Western societies.

He argued that Japan must build a strong, centralised state with uniform laws, an efficient military, and a modern education system.

Younger members of the delegation, such as Itō Hirobumi, absorbed Western political theory and later used that knowledge to draft the Meiji Constitution.

Others focused on transport networks, postal services, and industrial production techniques. 

Although the mission provided very useful information, it encountered significant diplomatic resistance.

One of the delegation’s primary goals had been to renegotiate the unequal treaties that had stripped Japan of tariff autonomy and consular jurisdiction.

Western powers refused to consider revision, arguing that Japan lacked the legal and institutional structures required to enforce fair trials and contractual obligations.

This refusal humiliated the delegates and exposed the extent to which Japan remained dependent on foreign goodwill. 

In the absence of many senior officials, political tensions in Tokyo increased.

During the mission’s travels, Saigō Takamori and other powerful figures pushed for a military expedition against Korea.

Known as the Seikanron debate, this proposal gained traction while the Iwakura Mission remained abroad.

Upon their return, Iwakura and his allies rejected the plan, arguing that internal reform must take precedence over foreign conflict.

This disagreement led to Saigō’s resignation and sowed the seeds of the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. 

Criticism also came from within the samurai class. Some believed that the mission had become too enchanted with the West, and that Japan’s cultural identity would suffer under foreign influence.

Others accused the delegates of wasting government funds on unnecessary travel.

Despite these objections, the government pushed forward with its reform agenda, since it relied on the information and experience gained by the mission to justify and shape its policies. 

In the years following the mission’s return, Japan experienced a period of rapid government reform.

The Meiji government created a cabinet system, established a national education curriculum, and passed laws to abolish the privileges of the samurai.

Ministries overseeing industry and finance drew on European models, while the justice ministry adapted its laws accordingly.

The new army adopted Prussian drill and discipline. The navy purchased British-built warships and recruited foreign instructors.

Civil codes and criminal procedures were rewritten based on the Napoleonic model, while banks and postal services were similar to those in Germany and Britain. 

The students who had travelled with the delegation became valuable assets to the state.

Several took on leadership roles in education and diplomacy, extending their work into private enterprise.

Tsuda Umeko, for example, returned to Japan and founded an academy for girls' education.

Others assisted in the drafting of laws or taught at newly formed universities. The ideas planted during the mission produced a generation of leaders capable of sustaining Japan’s modern transformation. 

By the 1890s, Japan had become a constitutional monarchy with a standing army, industrial production, modern infrastructure, and a national education system.

The Iwakura Mission did not directly produce these achievements; the journey served as a catalyst for coordinated reform.

Rather than copy Western systems without thought, the mission’s leaders filtered what they saw through their own priorities.

The Iwakura Mission did not simply observe foreign societies. It equipped Japan with the knowledge required to compete as an independent country in the modern world.