Iwamoto Chizuna

Iwamoto Chizuna (岩本 千綱) was a Japanese soldier and adventurer.

Biography
Iwamoto Chizuna was born into a samurai family in 1858.

In 1879, Iwamoto graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and eventually achieved the rank of first lieutenant (中尉). In 1887, he was discharged from the Army on account of his association with members of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement including Inukai Tsuyoshi.

In 1892, he moved to Siam and devoted himself to encouraging economic and cultural ties between Japan and Siam. He also visited Luang Phrabang.

Iwamoto and founded the Siam Colonization Society (暹羅植民協会) with financial support from Chaophraya Surasakmontri. The society was later reorganized as the Siam Colonization Company (暹羅植民会社). According to Ishibashi, the long-term goals of the company included, among other things, "establish[ing] a latent Japanese influence [in Siam]" and "install[ing] Japanese in the Siamese government".

Before Iwamoto returned home to recruit Japanese peasants for the colonization project, Surasakmontri gave him a golden sword to be sharpened in Japan. The Siam Colonization Company ended in disaster with many of the Japanese immigrants winding up dead or enslaved as coolies.

In 1897, Iwamoto published a book about his travels — A True Account of an Expedition to the Three Countries of Siam, Laos, and Annam (暹羅老檛安南三国探検実記). He died in 1920.