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Iwakura Tomomi was a prominent top-level official in the [[Meiji government]]. Though most known for leading the [[Iwakura Mission]] which traveled the world observing foreign governments, industry, and society in [[1871]]-[[1873]] in order to inform Japan's modernization, Iwakura was also significantly influential in a variety of other decisions and developments of the [[Meiji period]] as well.

Iwakura Tomomi was a prominent top-level official in the [[Meiji government]]. Though most known for leading the [[Iwakura Mission]] which traveled the world observing foreign governments, industry, and society in [[1871]]-[[1873]] in order to inform Japan's modernization, Iwakura was also significantly influential in a variety of other decisions and developments of the [[Meiji period]] as well.

He was named [[Minister of the Right]] (''Udaijin'') in 1871, and left for the United States the same year. He was accompanied on the Mission by many of the most prominent officials and bureaucrats of the time, and met with heads of state in the United States and numerous European countries, as well as touring factories, schools, and a variety of other modern institutions.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 171.</ref>

Born into a Kyoto [[kuge|court noble]] family,<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 59.</ref> he was named [[Minister of the Right]] (''Udaijin'') in 1871, and left for the United States the same year. He was accompanied on the Mission by many of the most prominent officials and bureaucrats of the time, and met with heads of state in the United States and numerous European countries, as well as touring factories, schools, and a variety of other modern institutions.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 171.</ref>

In [[1879]], Iwakura played a prominent role in the reception of [[Ulysses S. Grant]], who visited Japan for about three months in that year.<ref>Richard Chang, "General Grant's 1879 Visit to Japan." ''Monumenta Nipponica'' 24:4 (1969). pp373-392.</ref>

In [[1879]], Iwakura played a prominent role in the reception of [[Ulysses S. Grant]], who visited Japan for about three months in that year.<ref>Richard Chang, "General Grant's 1879 Visit to Japan." ''Monumenta Nipponica'' 24:4 (1969). pp373-392.</ref>

Iwakura was also active and vocal in the late 1870s and early 1880s in debates and proposals as to national and Imperial memory, and in particular in efforts to maintain Kyoto as a center of traditional culture and symbolic Imperial importance. In discussions as to moving the Imperial capital to [[Tokyo]], Iwakura advocated retaining Kyoto as an imperial capital alongside Tokyo (as well as, potentially, other sites), and establishing imperial mausolea in both cities. He was also active in efforts to fund the preservation of the city, which began to fall into decline once the Emperor left the city in [[1868]].<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 56-57.</ref> Proposals for recovering the history of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] included a proposal in [[1878]] for the compilation of records of shogunate ritual; the resulting ''[[Tokugawa reiten roku]]'' was then presented by Iwakura to the Emperor in [[1881]].<ref>Fukai Masaumi, "Tokugawa reiten roku," ''Kokushi daijiten'' 国史大辞典, Yoshikawa kobunkan.; ''Tokugawa Reiten Roku'' 徳川禮典録, vol 1., Tokyo: Owari Tokugawa Reimeikai (1942), 1-2.</ref>

Iwakura was also active and vocal in the late 1870s and early 1880s in debates and proposals as to national and Imperial memory, and in particular in efforts to maintain Kyoto as a center of traditional culture and symbolic Imperial importance. In discussions as to moving the Imperial capital to [[Tokyo]], Iwakura advocated retaining Kyoto as an imperial capital alongside Tokyo (as well as, potentially, other sites), and establishing imperial mausolea in both cities. Iwakura's passion for the importance of the Imperial institution, and of active representations of connection to the past, extended into numerous proposals for the continuation of Imperial rites in Kyoto, the establishment of branch shrines or altars for the worship of imperial mausolea and other sites from a distance (i.e. from Tokyo), and the enshrinement of [[Emperor Kammu]] (founder of [[Heian-kyo|Heian-kyô]]) within the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace]]. His suggestions in this vein also included incorporating [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] sites such as [[Nijo castle|Nijô castle]] under the management of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, completing (re)construction of various buildings within the [[Edo castle]]/[[Tokyo Imperial Palace]] compound (which had burned down in [[1873]], and would not be completed until [[1889]]), constructing Western-style lodgings for eminent foreign visitors just outside the palace grounds, and establishing an office in Kyoto for managing the [[Shinto shrines]] and [[Buddhist temples]] of western Japan.<ref name=fujitani56>Fujitani, 56-58.</ref>

 

He was also active in efforts to fund the preservation of the city of Kyoto, which began to fall into decline once the Emperor left the city in [[1868]], for more purely historical and cultural reasons, citing Kyoto's beauty and customs.<ref name=fujitani56/> Proposals from Iwakura for recovering the history of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] included one in [[1878]] for the compilation of records of shogunate ritual; the resulting ''[[Tokugawa reiten roku]]'' was then presented by Iwakura to the Emperor in [[1881]].<ref>Fukai Masaumi, "Tokugawa reiten roku," ''Kokushi daijiten'' 国史大辞典, Yoshikawa kobunkan.; ''Tokugawa Reiten Roku'' 徳川禮典録, vol 1., Tokyo: Owari Tokugawa Reimeikai (1942), 1-2.</ref>

 

Following his death in [[1883]], Iwakura's life and career were recorded in a formal set of handscroll paintings commissioned by the Imperial Court and painted by [[Tanaka Yubi|Tanaka Yûbi]]. They remain in the [[Sannomaru Shozokan|Imperial Collections]] today.<ref>Gallery labels, "[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/event/sannomaru/tenrankai66.html The two people who supported Emperor Meiji - Sanjo Sanetomi and Iwakura Tomomi - an account of the late Edo period to the Meiji Restoration in biographical picture scrolls]," The Museum of the Imperial Collections, [[Sannomaru Shozokan|Sannomaru Shôzôkan]], September 2014.</ref>

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