The Japanese statesman Tomomi Iwakura (1825-1883) played a key role in bringing about the Meiji restoration of 1868 and is best known as the leader of a mission of government leaders to the West.

Tomomi Iwakura was born into the family of a lower-ranking court noble on Sept. 15, 1825, in Kyoto. Adopted into the Iwakura family in 1837, he began his career as a court chamberlain. In the late 1850s he rose to prominence as a leader of the antiforeign element at the court, helping to resist efforts of the bakufu (military government) to secure imperial approval for the commercial treaty negotiated with the United States. In spite of his relatively low rank, Iwakura became a personal confidant and adviser of Emperor Komei because of his devotion to the cause of restoring the Emperor to power. Iwakura favored a moderate policy of "union between court and bakufu," advocating in 1861 a marriage...