| Robert Walker Irwin was a prominent figure in relations between Japan, the United States, and [[Hawaii]] in the 1880s, serving for a time as acting Hawaiian Consul in Japan.<ref>[[Kalakaua|David Kalakaua]], in a letter to John Owen Dominis, governor of Oahu, May 12 1881, as reproduced in Richard Greer (ed.), "The Royal Tourist - Kalakaua's Letters Home from Tokio to London," ''Hawaiian Journal of History'' 5 (1971), 82.</ref>, succeeding [[Harlan P. Lillebridge]] in that position.<ref>Ralph Kuykendall, ''The Hawaiian Kingdom 1874 - 1893: The Kalakaua Dynasty'', University of Hawaii Press (1967), 155.</ref> He played a prominent role in the early 1880s (especially [[1884]]) in negotiating agreements and organizing arrangements related to the beginning of [[Japanese immigration to Hawaii]]. He was one of the first Americans to become a naturalized Japanese citizen, marrying a Japanese woman named Takechi Iki, and living in Japan from the 1880s until his death in 1924. | | Robert Walker Irwin was a prominent figure in relations between Japan, the United States, and [[Hawaii]] in the 1880s, serving for a time as acting Hawaiian Consul in Japan.<ref>[[Kalakaua|David Kalakaua]], in a letter to John Owen Dominis, governor of Oahu, May 12 1881, as reproduced in Richard Greer (ed.), "The Royal Tourist - Kalakaua's Letters Home from Tokio to London," ''Hawaiian Journal of History'' 5 (1971), 82.</ref>, succeeding [[Harlan P. Lillebridge]] in that position.<ref>Ralph Kuykendall, ''The Hawaiian Kingdom 1874 - 1893: The Kalakaua Dynasty'', University of Hawaii Press (1967), 155.</ref> He played a prominent role in the early 1880s (especially [[1884]]) in negotiating agreements and organizing arrangements related to the beginning of [[Japanese immigration to Hawaii]]. He was one of the first Americans to become a naturalized Japanese citizen, marrying a Japanese woman named Takechi Iki, and living in Japan from the 1880s until his death in 1924. |