was a Japanese statesman during the Bakumatsu and Meiji period.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iwakura Tomomi" in . He was one of the leading figures of the Meiji Restoration, which saw the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the restoration of Japan's monarchy, and the abolition of feudalism, the domain system, and the samurai class.
Born to a lesser noble family, he was adopted by leading court noble Tomoyasu Iwakura (岩倉 具康) in 1838. In 1854, he became Imperial Chamberlain. Intending to bridge the divide between the shogunate and the imperial court, Iwakura openly supported marriage between Tokugawa Iemochi and Emperor Komei’s younger sister Princess Kazunomiya. This earned him derision as a shogunate supporter and in 1862, he was exiled. Iwakura returned to the court in 1867. He became the liaison between the court and the anti-Tokugawa movement and played a central role in the new Meiji government. He successfully opposed aggressive policies in Korea in the crisis of 1873, and was nearly assassinated by his enemies.
From 1871 to 1873, he led the 50-member Iwakura Mission for 18 months in Europe and America, studying modern institutions, technology, and diplomacy. The Mission promoted many key reforms that quickly modernized Japan. He promoted a strong imperial system along Western lines, and played a central role in creating financial institutions for the nation.
The discontinued 500 Yen banknote issued by the Bank of Japan carried his portrait. The note was first issued in 1951 and was circulated until 1994.
Early life Iwakura was born in Kyoto, the second son of low-ranking courtier and nobleman, . Through his mother, he was a first cousin of Emperor Ninkō and descended from the 10th-century Emperor Murakami. His childhood name was Kanemaru but fellow court nobles called him Iwakichi (typically thought of as a commoner's name). Confucian scholar Fusehara Nobuharu taught him Confucianism from childhood and suggested that adopt Kanemaru as his child. Tomoyasu did this In 1836, giving Kanemaru his own family name. In 1838, the boy changed his name from Kanemaru to Tomomi. In bakumatsu, most of the 137 court nobles had a long tradition. In contrast, the Iwakura house had only become independent from the Koga house in the early Edo period. This newness gave the Iwakura house lower status. It did not have a family business, so they also had little money. Iwakura once showed his daring and disregard for the old customs of the nobility by making his home available as a gambling house in order to earn money. In 1839, when he was 14 years old, he had a coming-of-age ceremony and started to get involved in politics. He was trained by the kampaku Takatsukasa Masamichi and wrote the opinion for the imperial court reformation, arguing that the reserve fund should be used to expand and reform Gakushūin, and that promotion should be based on merit. In 1854 he became a chamberlain to Emperor Kōmei, his first cousin once removed.
As court noble As with most other courtiers in Kyoto, Iwakura opposed the Tokugawa shogunate's plans to end Japan's national isolation policy and to open Japan to foreign countries. When Hotta Masayoshi, a high ranking official of the Tokugawa government came to Kyoto to obtain imperial permission to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan) in 1858, Iwakura was among 88 courtiers who opposed the treaty and attempted to hinder negotiations between the court and the shogunate.
Kujō Hisatada, the Kampaku, or chief minister to the emperor, supported the shogunate's decision to sign the treaty. In order to prevent the signing, the 88 courtiers forced an audience with the Kampaku. The Kampaku acquiesced. This incident is called the demonstration of 88 retainers of the Imperial court. Following this incident, Iwakura published his opinion, expressing his concern that before any treaty could be signed, Japan needed to learn about the situation and customs of foreign countries. In 1858, Ii Naosuke took power over the shogunate as Tairō in a bid to squander the political aspirations of the Mito Tokugawa faction. He signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce without asking Emperor Kōmei, angering the emperor, and souring relations between the shogunate and the court.
Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860. His rule had lasted only 20 months and served to alienate not only the imperial court, but a number of key figures whose cooperation was essential to maintaining the Tokugawa system of governance. His death necessitated rapprochement between the court and the shogunate, giving form to the Kōbu gattai movement. Following Ii's assassination, two Senior Councilors, Andō Nobumasa and Kuze Hirochika, came to power within the shogunate, determined to reach conciliation with the court. Conciliation was to be achieved through the marriage of the Shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazu-no-Miya Chikako, the younger half sister of the Emperor Kōmei.Lee, Edwin B. “The Kazunomiya Marriage. Alliance Between the Court and the Bakufu.” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 22, no. 3/4, 1967, pp. 290–304. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2383071. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025. The idea for this arrangement had originated with the Kanpaku, Kujō Hisatada in 1858 and was heavily negotiated until it was formally proposed to the imperial court by Kujō on 19 June 1860.
Emperor Kōmei was opposed to this request as Kazunomiya was already engaged to Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. However, engagement presents had not yet been exchanged, and, the shogunate argued, the court could easily request that the prince rescind his claim. Presented with this suggestion on 21 July 1860, the emperor called on Iwakura as a confidant and requested his opinion. Iwakura suggested that the emperor allow the marriage with the condition that the shogunate take steps to rescind all treaties with foreign powers, thereby recognizing the dominance of the court in diplomatic affairs.
Emperor Kōmei announced his sister's engagement to the shogun on 30 November. Having influenced the emperor's decision to go forward with the marriage, Iwakura was among the courtiers who traveled with the princess from Kyoto to Edo. On 22 December 1861, Iwakura met with Senior Councilors Andō Nobumasa and Kuze Hirochika. He delivered a letter from the emperor criticizing the shogun's hesitation in dealing with the foreign threat.
Iwakura's purpose in this meeting was twofold: Primarily, he was to push for action to be taken towards the eventual expulsion of the foreigners. He was also tasked with obtaining the rescission of punishments meted out against courtiers during Ii Naosuke's 1858-59 purge. To gain capitulation on both of these issues, Iwakura leveraged a third; the rumors of a coup against Emperor Kōmei. Ando and Kuze, among other high ranking officials of the new shogunate, were unknown entities outside of Edo, and were widely believed by imperial courtiers to be capable of the authoritarianism that characterized Ii Naosuke's governance. The shogunate officials on the other hand, did not find themselves capable of a coup, as evinced by their insistence on the union in the first place. Iwakura himself may or may not have found the rumors convincing. Regardless, when Ando and Kuze denied any conspiracy against the emperor, Iwakura pushed for a signed note from the shogun himself, corroborating their claim. Ando and Kuze would not acquiesce to this, but offered their cooperation on the issue of remitting the punishments of the courtiers.
Iwakura arrived back in Kyoto on 24 January 1862 and immediately entered mourning for his mother, whose death he learned of during his return journey. As such, he was unable to deliver the news of his victory directly to the emperor but was nevertheless, amply rewarded.
Those who supported the more radical Sonnō jōi movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and reinstate the power of the emperor saw Iwakura as a supporter of the Shogunate, and put pressure on the court to expel him. Emperor Kōmei insisted that Iwakura was innocent, but could not stop those who would threaten him, including Takechi Hanpeita. Iwakura was forced to resign from the imperial court and go into hiding.
In exile
Iwakura's exile lasted from 1862 to 1867. Initially, he left for the Nishigamo district’s Reigen Temple, before moving on to Saiho Temple. Ultimately, he borrowed the abandoned home of a man by the name of Fujiya Togoro in Northern Kyoto's Iwakura Village until 1867.
During his exile, Iwakura wrote many opinions and sent them to the Court or his political companions in Satsuma Domain. For example, in 1865, Iwakura showed 'Sōrimeichū'(叢裡鳴虫), a written opinion, to Ōkubo Toshimichi and Komatsu Tatewaki from Satsuma clans. He used this title to compare himself to an insect in the grasses. Moreover, he sent 'Zoku：Sōrimeichū'''(続・叢裡鳴虫) to Ōkubo and Komatsu. He claimed the importance of national unity for external crises. He relied on Satsuma clans because he found that they were capable people. Also, people from Satsuma clans had connections with the imperial court, so Iwakura tried to get them to send his written opinions to the imperial court. Responses of Nijō Nariyuki, a Kanpaku, and Satsuma clans were subtle. Iwakura was away from politics because of the penalty, so there was a difference between the Iwakura's thoughts and the actual political situation. In 1866 when Shōgun Iemochi died, Iwakura attempted to have the Court seize political initiative. He tried to gather daimyō under the name of the Court but failed. When the Emperor Kōmei died the next year, there was a rumor Iwakura had plotted to murder the emperor with poison, but he escaped arrest. After the Kinmon incident, he returned to normal life, and his innocence was proved.
On 15 October 1867, the shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned his power to the imperial court. Yoshinobu worried about the external crisis and recognized the importance of national unity. In this situation, Ōkubo planned the coup that abolished the shogunate and sekkan systems. On December 8th, Iwakura participated in the kogosho meeting and talked about the disposal of Yoshinobu. During this meeting, Yamauchi Yōdō shouted, claiming that they should let Yoshinobu participate in this meeting and criticized a coup. It is a famous episode that Iwakura scolded Yamauchi because his attitude was rude, but this episode is a fiction. In fact, Iwakura could not easily convince Yamauchi, and their discussion was continued for the long term. Finally, Iwakura and Ōkubo convinced those who opposed the disposal of Yoshinobu.
With Ōkubo Toshimichi and Saigō Takamori, on 3 January 1868, he engineered the seizure of the Kyoto Imperial Palace by forces loyal to Satsuma and Chōshū, thus initiating the Meiji Restoration. He commissioned Imperial banners with the sun and moon on a red field, which helped ensure that the encounters of the Meiji Restoration were generally bloodless affairs.
Meiji bureaucrat After the establishment of the Meiji government, Iwakura played an important role due to the influence and trust he had with Emperor Meiji. He put forward the emperor's directly ruled government. After the establishment of the Meiji government, Iwakura played an important role due to the influence and trust he had with Emperor Meiji. He was largely responsible for the promulgation of the Five Charter Oath of 1868, the subject abolition of the han system and the establishment of Dajō-kan. Moreover, he planned to move the emperor from Kyoto to Tokyo to make a new political environment. Some court nobles in Kyoto criticized these reforms, but he promoted these restorations with Sanjō Sanetomi despite their opposition.