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 ...

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 The was an intellectual society in Meiji period Japan that published social-criticism journal . Proposed by statesman Mori Arinori in 1873 (six years after the Meiji Restoration) and officially formed on 1 February 1874, the Meirokusha was i ...

with

Mori Arinori Viscount was a Meiji period Japanese statesman, diplomat, and founder of Japan's modern educational system. Early life Mori was born in the Satsuma domain (modern Kagoshima prefecture) from a ''samurai'' family, and educated in the ''Kaisenjo' ...

Nishimura Shigeki was a Japanese educator and leader of the Meiji Enlightenment during the Meiji period. He also went by his pen-name of Nishimura Hakuo. He wrote more than 130 books and over 200 articles in his long literary career. Born to the family of the ...

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

, Kato Hiroyuki,

Nakamura Masanao was a Japanese educator and leading figure during the Meiji period. He also went by his pen name . Biography Born to a samurai family in Edo, Nakamura was originally a Confucian scholar. In 1866, as an academic supervisor, he accompanied a ...

, and

Nishi Amane was a philosopher in Meiji period Japan who helped introduce Western philosophy into mainstream Japanese education. Early life Nishi was born in Tsuwano Domain of Iwami Province (present day Tsuwano town, Shimane Prefecture) as the son of a ...

Early life

Tsuda was born into a local ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

'' household in

Tsuyama Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Mimasaka Province in modern-day Okayama Prefecture.Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

). 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 Wester ...

'' under Mitsukuri Gempo and military science under Sakuma Shozan. He became an instructor at the ''

Bansho Shirabesho The ', or "Institute for the Study of Barbarian Books," was the Japanese institute charged with the translation and study of foreign books and publications in the late Edo Period. Origin The institute was founded in 1856 that catered to the sa ...

'' institute run by the

Tokugawa bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

to study western books and science. In 1862, he was selected, together with

, 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 la ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

, and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. They departed in 1863 with a Dutch physician Dr.

J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort Johannes Lijdius Catharinus Pompe van Meerdervoort (5 May 1829, Bruges – 7 October 1908, Brussels) was a Dutch physician based at Nagasaki, in Bakumatsu period Japan. While in Japan, he briefly taught medicine, chemistry and photography at ...

, who had set up the first teaching hospital for

western medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

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 the ...

. The two Japanese students were put in the care of Professor Simon Vissering, 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, it ...

. 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 Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

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 Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 o ...

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 extrac ...

, 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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and accompanied Date Munenori to

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 The was a national assembly in early Meiji Japan, established after the Osaka Conference of 1875. It is also referred to as the Senate of Japan, being the word used to describe the Roman Senate, and other western legislatures named after it. ...

'' 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 paralle ...

after the 1890 Japanese general election. Tsuda was also an active member of the ''

'', 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