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

Ijūin Hikokichi (伊集院彦吉, ''Ijūin Hikokichi''; 22 July 1864 – 26 April 1924) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as

minister of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and Japanese ambassador to the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

Early life

Ijūin was born on 22 July 1864, in Kōrai,

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a Han system, domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of ...

, the eldest son of

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

Ijūin Kichitsugu.

Career

Ijūin was appointed consul at

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

in China in 1893. He served again in China as consul general at

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

from 1901 to 1907. He was appointed ambassador to Beijing in 1908. On 4 September 1909, he signed the Japan–China Agreement concerning Kando as the Japanese ambassador to the

in Beijing. During the Chinese Revolution broke out in October 1911, together with then Foreign Minister

Uchida Yasuya Uchida (written: 内田 lit. "within ricefield") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Aguri Uchida (born 1949), a Japanese watercolour painter * Akiko Uchida (born 1985), a Japanese volleyball player * Asahi Uchida (born ...

, he argued for the provision of support to the Qing government. His term as ambassador to China lasted until 1913. Then, Ijūin was appointed the Japanese ambassador to Italy in 1916 and was in office until 1920. During his tenure, he was one of the leading members of Japanese delegation at the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

in 1919. Ijūin is described as a conservative ambassador. Japanese peace delegates in 1919 with Makino Nobuaki

Prime Minister

Hara Takashi was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 until his assassination. Hara held several minor ambassadorial roles before rising through the ranks of the Rikken Seiyūkai and being elected to the House of Repr ...

wanted Ijūin to search for European institutions of public information when the latter was ambassador and a Versailles delegate. Ijūin reported that the best way to create an influential information bureau was to coordinate all information sources, including army, navy and finance ministry. Eventually, a public information office, Gaimu-shō Jōhō-bu, in the ministry of foreign affairs was established on 13 August 1921, and Ijūin was appointed its head. Then he served as governor-general of

Kwantung Leased Territory The Kwantung Leased Territory () was a Concessions in China, leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945. Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing dynasty, Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Tre ...

in northeastern China for one year. He was appointed to the post on 8 September 1922, replacing Isaburō Yamagata. Ijūin was in office until 19 September 1923. Ijūin was appointed minister of foreign affairs on 19 September 1923 to the second cabinet of Yamamoto Gombee, replacing him who also assumed the role of foreign minister briefly from 2 to 19 September. Ijūin was replaced by Keishirō Matsui on 7 January 1924 when a new cabinet was formed by

Kiyoura Keigo Count was a Japanese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Japan in 1924, during the period which historians have called the "Taishō Democracy". Early life and education Kiyoura was born Ōkubo Fujaku in Kamoto District, Kumamoto, Kamoto, ...

Personal life and death

Ijūin was married to

Ōkubo Toshimichi Ōkubo Toshimichi (; 26 September 1830 – 14 May 1878) was a Japanese statesman and samurai of the Satsuma Domain who played a central role in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the Three Great Nobles of the Restoration (維新の� ...

's daughter, Yoshiko. Thus, he was the brother-in-law of

Makino Nobuaki Count , was a Japanese politician and imperial court official. As Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan, Makino served as Emperor Hirohito's chief counselor on the monarch's position in Japanese society and policymaking. After victory in W ...

. Shortly after his removal from the office, Ijūin died of

neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves, as in intercostal nerve, intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal nerve, glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classifica ...

in Tokyo in April 1924.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ijuin, Hikokichi 20th-century Japanese diplomats 20th-century Japanese politicians Kazoku 1864 births 1924 deaths Ambassadors of Japan to China Ambassadors of Japan to Italy Ministers for foreign affairs of Japan Japanese colonial governors and administrators People of the Kwantung Leased Territory