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As court nobles

Demo of eighty-eight retainers of Imperial court

In 1858, the imperial court and shogunate had a conflict because of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The shogunate agreed to sign the treaty, but almost the people of the imperial court had the opposite idea. However, Hisatada Kujō, and authority of the imperial court, supported the shogunate’s idea. Iwakura wanted to prevent the treaty of Amity and Commerce, so he decided to use an unusual method. In particular, he planned to have a direct talk with the Kanpaku by leading a lot of nobles. As a result of this, the Kanpaku agreed to prevent to sign the treaty. This incident is called the demo of eighty-eight retainers of the Imperial court, and it made Iwakura famous.

Kazunomiya

After Naosuke, Ii was killed, Andō and Kuze became rōjū and began to have power, and they suggested that Kazunomiya should marry Ieshige, shōgun, for the Kōbu gattai, the settlement of the imperial court and the shogunate. Although the shogunate ordered marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige, the emperor Kōmei opposed to this request, because Kazunomiya and Arisugawanomiya had been already engaged and he could not understand about Kōbu gattai. At that time, the emperor Kōmei demanded an opinion of Iwakura, because he knew that Iwakura was a talented person. Iwakura suggested that the emperor should let the shogunate promise the executing of the treaty withdrawal and allow the marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige. The emperor accepted Iwakura’s opinion, and the marriage of Kazunomiya and Ieshige was officially decided.

In exile

During exile, he had some connections with people who are familiar with politics. In 1865, Iwakura showed 'Sōrimeichū ', a written opinion, to Ōkubo Toshimichi and Komatsu Tatewaki from Satsuma clans. He used this title to compare himself to an insect in the grasses. Moreover, he sent ‘Zoku：Sōrimeichū’ to Ōkubo and Komatsu. He claimed the importance of national unity for external crises. He relied on Satsuma clans because he found that they were capable people. Also, people from Satsuma clans had connections with the imperial court, so Iwakura tried to get them to send his written opinions to the imperial court. Responses of Nijō Nariyuki, a Kanpaku, and Satsuma clans were subtle. Iwakura was away from politics because of the penalty, so there was a difference between the Iwakura’s thoughts and the actual political situation.

The restoration of imperial rule

On October 15th in 1867, the shogunate, Yoshinobu returned his power to the imperial court. Yoshinobu worried about the external crisis and recognized the importance of national unity. In this situation, Ōkubo planned the coup. Because of this coup, the shogunate system and the sekkan system were abolished. On December 8th, 1867, Iwakura participated in the kogosho meeting and talked about the disposal of Yoshinobu. During this meeting, Yamauchi Yōdō suddenly shouted. Yamauchi claimed that they should let Yoshinobu participate in this meeting and blamed for a coup. It is a famous episode that Iwakura scolded Yamauchi because his attitude was rude, but this episode is fiction. In fact, Iwakura could not easily convince Yamauchi, and their discussion was continued for the long term. Finally, Iwakura and Ōkubo could convince those who opposed to disposing of Yoshinobu.

Meiji bureaucrat

After the restoration of imperial rule, he became a member of a new government. He put forward the emperor's directly ruled government. In 1868, he spared the Five-Point Imperial Covenant and established Dajō-kan. Also, he planned to move the emperor from Kyoto to Tokyo to make a new political environment. Some court nobles in Kyoto criticized about these reforms, but he promoted these restorations with Sanjō despite their opposition.

Seikanron

Before the return of the Iwakura mission, the dispatch of Saigō to Korea was decided in a cabinet meeting. Generally, the dispatch of Sigō was too dangerous, so his desire was really strong. Iwakura opposed the dispatch because he thought Japan needed to see not only the Korean problem but also other foreign issues such as Karafuto and Taiwan. Also, Iwakura wanted to prevent the dispatch of Saigō to avoid foreign wars. Ōkubo supported Iwakura’s idea. In the next meeting, Saigō was absent to imply his disposal. Sanjō, the prime minister was surprised about it and suddenly changed his opinion from the opposition of dispatch to the acceptance of dispatch. A lot of members include Iwakura criticized the sudden change of Sanjō, and they requested their disposal. Sanjō was panicked and he was unable to work because he wanted to avoid every member’s disposal. Iwakura became the substitute of the prime minister, and he prevented the dispatch of Saigō,

Death

He wanted to make the national system centered on the emperor, so he worried about Itō’s thoughts. Iwakura thought that Itō wanted to imitate the Germany system. In 1882, He established an Internal regulation interrogation station to investigate imperial ceremonies and Japanese tradition. In 1883, he offered the install of the National history compilation stations. This station aimed to translate Japanese history into English.

He was buried in Asamadai, Minami-shinagawa.