Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

, was a Japanese diplomat and cabinet minister in Meiji, Taishō and early

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

Japan. He served as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

between 1915 and 1916.

Biography

Ishii was born in

Mobara is a city located in Chiba Prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 88,330 in 40,869 households and a population density of 880 persons per km². The total area of the city is Geography Mobara is located in an inland area of north-c ...

city,

Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa province ...

(present-day

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

). He graduated from the Law Department of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and joined the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. His first posting was as an attaché to Paris in 1891, and he was later sent to

Chemulpo Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

, Korea in 1896 and to Beijing, China in 1897. During the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

he served as Japanese diplomatic liaison with the various foreign interventionist armies, spending six months on the front with the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

's 5th Infantry Division. Ishii was appointed Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs under the 1st and 2nd Katsura administrations from 1908-1912, and was created a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

(''danshaku'') in the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' (peerage) on 24 August 1911; he had previously been appointed a Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

on 13 June. After a term as Japanese

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to France from 1912–15, he became Minister for Foreign Affairs under the 2nd

Ōkuma Okuma or Ōkuma may refer to: Surname *Ōkuma Shigenobu (大隈重信) (1838 – 1922) 8th and 17th Prime Minister of Japan, founder of Waseda University *Enuka Okuma, Canadian actress of Nigerian descent Other uses *Okuma Corporation, a manufactu ...

administration from 1915–16, playing a major role in the normalization of relations between Japan and Russia. In 1916, Ishii was raised to

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

(''shishaku''), and was appointed to a seat in the House of Peers of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

Ishii is remembered for his efforts to improve

Japan–United States relations International relations between Japan and the United States began in the late 18th and early 19th century with the diplomatic but force-backed missions of U.S. ship captains James Glynn and Matthew C. Perry to the Tokugawa shogunate. Following ...

during a period of increasing tension over China, and the racist treatment of Japanese living in the United States. His approach reflected his strong belief that good relations between the United States and Japan were essential for Japan's future economic and political growth. As special envoy to the United States from 1917–1918, he negotiated the

Lansing–Ishii Agreement The was a diplomatic note signed in Washington between the United States and the Empire of Japan on 2 November 1917 over their disputes with regards to China. Both parties agreed to respect the independence and territorial integrity of China and ...

, which was intended to defuse tension between the two nations, but was limited in its effectiveness due to the reluctance of either government to make any concessions. Ishii stayed on in the United States as ambassador from 1918–1919, attempting to reduce tensions created by the

Siberian Intervention The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian fo ...

of Japanese forces into the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

as part of western support for White Russian forces against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

. Ishii traveled to Europe to take part in the Paris Peace Conference to take the initiative at the demarcation of the German–Polish border, and later served as president of the Council and the Assembly of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

in 1923 and 1926. He was also the leader of the Japanese delegation at the

Geneva Naval Conference The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington Na ...

. After his return to Japan, Ishii served as a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

from 1925–1945 in which he was highly outspoken in his strong opposition to the

Tripartite Pact The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive military ...

between Japan,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and fascist Italy. During the third

firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary ...

of Tokyo on May 25, 1945, Ishii was last seen heading towards

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History Af ...

, which was the designated safe refuge for his

neighborhood association A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues. Some neighborhood associations in the United States ...

during the bombing. He never arrived, and he was presumed killed. His body was never found.

References

* Beasley, W.G. ''Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945''. Oxford University Press. * Buruma, Ian. ''Inventing Japan: 1853-1964''. Modern Library; Reprint edition (2004) * Ishii, Kikujiro. ''Diplomatic commentaries''. Johns Hopkins Press (1936). ASIN: B000866BJA , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishii, Kikujiro 1866 births 1945 deaths Deaths by airstrike during World War II Deaths by American airstrikes Japanese civilians killed in World War II People from Mobara Politicians from Chiba Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Ambassadors of Japan to France Ambassadors of Japan to the United States Foreign ministers of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Kazoku Japanese people of the Boxer Rebellion People of Meiji-period Japan League of Nations people