Baron was a Japanese statesman and legal scholar in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. He was one of the founding members of the Meirokusha with Mori Arinori, Nishimura Shigeki, Fukuzawa Yukichi,

Kato Hiroyuki Kato or Katō may refer to: Places *Kato, Guyana, a village in Guyana *Katō, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan *Katō District, Hokkaido, a district located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan * Katowice, a city in Southern Poland, ...

, Nakamura Masanao, and Nishi Amane.

Early life

Tsuda was born into a local ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

'' household in Tsuyama Domain (present-day

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

). In his early days, he studied ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Wes ...

'' under Mitsukuri Gempo and military science under Sakuma Shozan. He became an instructor at the '' Bansho Shirabesho'' institute run by the Tokugawa bakufu to study western books and science. In 1862, he was selected, together with Nishi Amane, by the government for training in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in western

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fed ...

, and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

. They departed in 1863 with a Dutch physician Dr. J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort, who had set up the first teaching hospital for western medicine in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in th ...

. The two Japanese students were put in the care of Professor

Simon Vissering Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

, who taught Political Economy, Statistics and Diplomatic History at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. They developed a genuine friendship with Vissering who was conscious of the long-standing friendship between Japan and the Netherlands through

Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, ...

. He felt that the students' desire for knowledge would make them likely future participation in Japan's modernization. Vissering, a member of ''La Vertu'' Lodge No, 7, Leyden introduced them to

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, of which they became the first Japanese adherents on October 20, 1864.

Government career

After his return to Japan in 1868, Tsuda wrote the ''Kaisei Kokuho ron'' (On Western Law), which was the first book in Japanese on the subject. He was recruited by the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

and helped in the first codification of Japanese laws. In 1869, he drafted Japan's first laws prohibiting

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

, and the new national law code was promulgated in 1870. In 1871, he assisted the Foreign Ministry in negotiations with

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

China and accompanied

Date Munenori Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He also served in the '' Genrōin'' and 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 paral ...

after the

1890 Japanese general election General elections were held for the first time in Japan on 1 July 1890. Voters elected 300 members of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan in what was the first example of a popularly elected national assembly in Asia (as the Ottoma ...

. Tsuda was also an active member of the '' Meirokusha'', and contributed numerous articles to its journal, '' Meiroku zasshi''. He was ennobled with the title of ''danshaku'' (baron) under 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 system.

References and further reading

* Auslin, Michael R. ''Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy''. Harvard University Press (2006). *Gordon, Andrew. ''A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present'' Oxford University Press, 2003. *Sims, Richard. ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuda, Mamichi 1829 births 1903 deaths People from Okayama Prefecture Kazoku People of Meiji-period Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Japanese Freemasons