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Okubo Toshimichi

1830–1878 · One of the Three Great Heroes of the Restoration · Satsuma

The de facto helmsman of the Meiji government, the "Bismarck of the East" who promoted industry.

Life

Satsuma samurai

Okubo Toshimichi, like Saigo Takamori, was a low-ranking samurai of the Satsuma Domain, and the two grew up together. He was one of the chief architects of the movement to overthrow the shogunate.

Iwakura Mission

After the Restoration he oversaw the return of domain registers to the emperor and the abolition of the han system, and in 1871 he toured Europe and the United States with the Iwakura Mission, coming deeply under Germany's influence. On returning to Japan he opposed Saigo's "Seikanron" and argued for putting domestic affairs in order first; he established the Home Ministry, carried out land tax reform, promoted industry, and set up state-run factories. In 1874 he led the expedition to Taiwan and then went to Beijing to negotiate with the Qing government.

Home Minister

In 1877 he directed the government forces that crushed the Satsuma Rebellion launched by Saigo. The following year he was assassinated by disaffected samurai at Kioizaka in Tokyo.

Legacy

Okubo Toshimichi laid the foundations of the Meiji government's bureaucracy and its course of modernization, and was called "the Bismarck of the East."

Did you know? When he was assassinated, he was carrying letters that Saigo Takamori had written to him while still alive.

Key dates

See the world in 1873 on the map →

Contemporaries

Battles during their lifetime