Background
Hirobumi was born Hayashi Risuke on October 16, 1841, in Hikari, Japan. His father, Hayashi Jūzō was a farmer in the Japan's feudal province of Choshu. There is no information on who the mother of Hirobumi was.
Prince Itō and the Crown Prince of Korea Yi Un
伊藤 博文
politician prime minister statesman
Hirobumi was born Hayashi Risuke on October 16, 1841, in Hikari, Japan. His father, Hayashi Jūzō was a farmer in the Japan's feudal province of Choshu. There is no information on who the mother of Hirobumi was.
At the age of 14 Hirobumi began receiving formal education as a youth of the Samurai class and he soon earned himself an established reputation as one of the most promising young men of the Choshu clan. At the age of 16 at Uraga town he was taken into special confidence by Ryozo ifurushima, one of the leading clansmen of the Choshu clan, who gave the young Hirobumi instructions in martial arts and literature.
It also was through the introduction of Kurushima that Hirobumi, after finishing the said assignment, was allowed to enter the Shokasonjuku, the famous private school at Hagi run by Snom Yoshida, the renowned advocate of the cause of Emperor worship. There he was counted as one of the most brilliant of the pupils of Shoin.
In 1862 Ito, with four other fellow clansmen, including Kaoru Inoue, and with connivance of the lord of Choshu, secretly left Japan on a British cargo ship. For about one year he studied in London where taking a first-hand look at the magnificence of Western civilization he undoubtedly had his lofty ideal of Joi (Expel the Barbarians) shattered to pieces. He was fascinated by the Englands govermental policy and lifestyle in general. He studied science at the University College of London. In 1864, Hirobumi returned to Japan.
In 1859 Hirobumi went to the capital, Edo (modern Tokyo), where he came into contact with many other young samurai loyalists and participated in such anti-foreign demonstrations as an incendiary attack on the British legation. He soon realized that crude anti-foreign acts were not a rational policy and that it would be necessary for Japan to adopt the weapons and technology of the West in order to survive. In 1863, under orders from the lord of Chōshū, he sailed for Europe and stayed for nearly a year in London, studying the West at firsthand. In 1864 he received news of Western intentions to send an expedition against Chōshū, which had defied the treaties signed by the bakufu. Hirobumi rushed back to Japan in a vain attempt to mediate the dispute and to dissuade the Chōshū leadership from foolish attempts to defy the foreigners. Although he roused the ire of more xenophobic loyalists by his efforts, in 1865 he advocated armed resistance to a bakufu expedition against Chōshū. He also helped to promote the Satsuma-Chōshū alliance, which led to the Meiji restoration of 1868.
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Itō was appointed governor of Hyōgo Prefecture, junior councilor for Foreign Affairs, and sent to the United States in 1870 to study Western currency systems. Returning to Japan in 1871, he established Japan's taxation system. Later that year, he was sent on the Iwakura Mission around the world as vice-envoy extraordinary, during which he won the confidence of Ōkubo Toshimichi, one of the leaders of the Meiji government.
In 1873, Itō was made a full councilor, Minister of Public Works, and in 1875 chairman of the first Assembly of Prefectural Governors. He participated in the Osaka Conference of 1875. After Ōkubo's assassination, he took over the post of Home Minister and secured a central position in the Meiji government. In 1881 he urged Ōkuma Shigenobu to resign, leaving himself in unchallenged control.
After the dajōkan governmenty policy system was put to abolishment, a modern cabinet to the Japan's government was introduced - the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Japan. On 22 December 1885, Itō Hirobumi became the first Prime Minister of Japan. In the same year, he negotiated the Convention of Tientsin with Li Hongzhang, normalizing Japan's diplomatic relations with Qing Dynasty China.
In August 1892, Itō again became prime minister and it was during this second premiership of his that Japan was engaged m the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). In December 1905, he was appointed Resident-General in Korea which post he held until June, 1909.
Itō was assassinated by a Korean nationalist and independence activist on October 26, 1909, in Harbin, China. His body was returned to Japan on the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Akitsushima, and he was accorded a state funeral.
Hirobumi was, like many people from Japan, a Shintoist.
Hirobumi had to travel to various countries so he could find the best solution what the constitutional system of Japan should be like. Looking to the West for legal inspiration, Itō rejected the United States Constitution as too liberal and the Spanish Restoration as too despotic. He predominantly liked Germany's constitutional system where the monarch has absolute power over the government. He later introduced the absolute monarchy to Japan and gave the Emperor of Japan full right to run the country.
Hirobumi was very innovative and intelligent. He remained a strong character despite the fact that he had many political and personal enemies.
Physical Characteristics:
The physical trademark of Itō was his medium-size beard and bushy eyebrows. He had two birthmarks on his face, which were considered to bring person luck throughout his life. His eyes were brown with a dose of both domination and mental stability in them.
Hirobumi married only once to Itō Umeko. The couple had 3 sons and 2 daughters.