Robert Walker Irwin (January 4, 1844 – January 5, 1925) was an American businessman and the Kingdom of Hawaii's Minister to Japan. Irwin's most significant accomplishment as Hawaii's top representative to Japan was the 1886 immigration treaty between the two nations that led to significant migration of Japanese nationals to Hawaii.

Early life

Irwin was born in Copenhagen to former Pennsylvania politician and United States Chargé d'affaires to Denmark William W. Irwin. His father had previously served as the

Mayor of Pittsburgh The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh. This article is a listing of past (and present) mayors of Pittsburgh. ...

(1840–1841) and had served as a Whig member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. His mother, Sophia Arabella Bache, was the daughter of Richard Bache Jr. and Sophia Burrell Dallas. She was also the granddaughter of

Sarah Franklin Bache Sarah Franklin Bache (September 11, 1743 – October 5, 1808), sometimes known as Sally Bache, was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read. She was a leader in relief work during the American Revolutionary War and frequently served as ...

and

Richard Bache Richard Bache (September 12, 1737 – April 17, 1811), born in Settle, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, immigrated to Philadelphia, in the colony of Pennsylvania, where he was a businessman, a marine insurance underwriter, and later served as ...

and a great-granddaughter of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, as well as a niece of

George Mifflin Dallas George Mifflin Dallas (July 10, 1792 – December 31, 1864) was an American politician and diplomat who served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1828 to 1829, the 11th vice president of the United States from 1845 to 1849, and U.S. Minister to the ...

, the 11th Vice President of the United States, serving under

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

. In 1866, at the age of 22, Robert Irwin arrived in Japan to head the Yokohama office of the

Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...

. In 1867, the company launched the first regular trans-Pacific steamship service fulfilling a contract with the United States government to provide monthly mail service between San Francisco and Hong Kong via Yokohama.

''Kanyaku Imin'' Immigration

By the 1870s, Hawaii had suffered significant population declines due to the introduction of diseases to which Hawaiian natives had no immunity. In 1880 Irwin took a position as Kingdom of Hawai'i's Consul-General in Japan. In March 1881 Hawaii's King Kalakaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaii's desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaii. At that time King Kalakaua appointed Irwin the Hawaiian Minister to Japan. Irwin arranged for and accompanied the first 943 government-contracted ''Kanyaku Imin'', or Japanese laborers, who arrived in Honolulu aboard the

''City of Tokio'' on February 8, 1885. After returning to Japan, Irwin received government approval for a second set of 930 government contract laborers who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885. With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, Irwin was able to conclude a formal immigration treaty between Hawaii and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaii government would be held responsible for employers' treatment of Japanese immigrants. The ''Kanyaku Imin'' immigration system that Irwin negotiated concluded in June 1894 with 29,339 Japanese nationals having immigrated to Hawaii. This government-sponsored immigration was quickly replaced with private immigration. In 1900, Hawaii's population had reached approximately 154,000 with Japanese immigrants and their descendants representing over 61,000 of that total. Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race

Involvement with Mitsui Zaibatsu

Irwin cultivated a number of business and government contacts in Japan becoming acquainted with Japanese Finance Minister

Masuda Takashi Baron , was a Japanese industrialist, investor, and art collector. He was a prominent entrepreneur in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan, responsible for transforming Mitsui into a ''zaibatsu'' through the creation of a general ...

in 1872. He also became good friends with Japanese Count

Inoue Kaoru Marquess Inoue Kaoru (井上馨, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen ('' Genrō'') in J ...

, who had toured the United States with Irwin in 1876 and became a major force for modernization within Japan. Inoue and Masuda founded the trading company Mitsui Bussan in 1876 with Irwin as an employee at founding. Mitsui Bussan had grown out of earlier trading enterprises of Inoue's that Irwin had helped the Count start in 1873. In 1900 Irwin and Masuda Takashi together founded Taiwan Sugar Company. Taiwan Sugar Company and Mitsui Bussan were later folded into the

Mitsui zaibatsu is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Indust ...

as Masuda began the transformation of Mitsui into one of Japan's four

zaibatsu is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period unt ...

. Irwin stayed on as an adviser at Taiwan Sugar Company until 1916.

Family

Irwin was married to Takechi Iki on March 15, 1882. This was the first legal marriage between an American and Japanese citizen and was arranged by Inoue Kaoru, then the Japanese Foreign Minister. Irwin had six children. The eldest, Bella, founded the Irwin Gakuen School in Tokyo. Another daughter, Marian Irwin Osterhout, was a plant physiologist. In 1891, Irwin purchased a summer home in Ikaho. That residence is a designated Historic Place and is open to the public as a small museum to the Irwin family and Japanese emigration to Hawaii.

References

External links

Robert Walker Irwin
at photoguide.jp
Japan America Society of Philadelphia

Irwin Gakuen School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Robert Walker 1844 births 1925 deaths Hawaiian Kingdom politicians Franklin family