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In his youth, prior to the [[Meiji Restoration|fall of the Tokugawa shogunate]], Itô was a follower or student of ''[[sonno|sonnô]] [[joi|jôi]]'' activist [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]].

In his youth, prior to the [[Meiji Restoration|fall of the Tokugawa shogunate]], Itô was a follower or student of ''[[sonno|sonnô]] [[joi|jôi]]'' activist [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]].

Itô was named [[Ministry of the Interior|Minister of the Interior]] in [[1878]], succeeding [[Okubo Toshimichi|Ôkubo Toshimichi]] to that post. He became the first prime minister of the modern state of Japan in [[1885]], when the cabinet system was established. Among his many activities in that position was participation in diplomatic negotiations with [[Li Hongzhang]] which managed, in the end, to avoid war with China in the 1880s, or depending on one's perspective, to at least delay the outbreak of conflict until the mid-1890s.

After taking part in the [[Iwakura Mission]] in [[1871]]-[[1873]], Itô was named [[Ministry of the Interior|Minister of the Interior]] in [[1878]], succeeding [[Okubo Toshimichi|Ôkubo Toshimichi]] to that post. In debates over the structure of government in the late 1870s to early 1880s, Itô was among the leading proponents of a gradualist approach, arguing in an [[1880]] memorial to the throne that the common people were not ready to take on the responsibilities of electing a popular legislature in an informed, educated and responsible manner; rather, he argued that the nobility (''[[kazoku]]'') and former samurai (''[[shizoku]]'') were the ones who had the education and virtue to be entrusted with running the government, and that at least initially the popular role in government should be restricted to a Board of Auditors, who could represent the people in observing that the nation's finances are managed responsibly. Further, his memorial emphasizes the concept of the national polity, or ''[[kokutai]]'', associating the Nation with the Emperor, rather than with the people, arguing that a powerful Upper House (a House of Lords, or ''Genrôin'') is essential to defending and maintaining that nation (i.e. in its monarchical nature). The attitudes and approaches expressed in this memorial are quite evident in the [[Meiji Constitution]] of [[1889]], and of the character of pre-1945 Japanese government more broadly. The Emperor was equated with the Nation, and emphasis was placed on subjects' duty to the Nation (and to the Emperor), rather than on the government's duty to the people, and the Lower House of the [[National Diet]] was largely restricted to approving the national budget, wielding little influence on policy decisions.<ref>David Lu, ''Japan: A Documentary History'', ME Sharpe (1997), 333-338.</ref>

 

Itô became the first prime minister of the modern state of Japan in [[1885]], when the cabinet system was established. Among his many activities in that position was participation in diplomatic negotiations with [[Li Hongzhang]] which managed, in the end, to avoid war with China in the 1880s, or depending on one's perspective, to at least delay the outbreak of conflict until the mid-1890s.

In [[1895]], he was among the main Japanese representatives at the negotiation and signing of the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] which ended the [[Sino-Japanese War]].

In [[1895]], he was among the main Japanese representatives at the negotiation and signing of the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] which ended the [[Sino-Japanese War]].