Itô Hirobumi

Itô Hirobumi (1841-1909) was one of the most significant politicians of Meiji Japan: several times Japanese Prime Minister (amongst others during the Sino-Japanese War of 1984/95), he was also one of the architects of the Meiji constitution. He was deeply involved in Korean politics and was ultimately assassinated by a Korean.

In the series, Itô is portrayed quite ambivalently. On the one hand, he is strongly committed to asserting Japans hegemony in East Asia, votes for the war against China, and shows no mercy in the 1895 Shimonoseki peace negotiations. On the other hand, he cherishes Chinese tradition (such as is embodied in the figure of the old Li Hongzhang), understands himself and Japan as a role model for China, and tries to open up to China the Japanese “road to success”. He is willing to assist the Guangxu emperor as advisor during the 1898 Hundred Days Reform. But when he realises that the opponents are too strong, he helps the reformers escape after Cixi’s coup d’état. In the series, Itô’s figure suggests what China could have achieved had it followed Meiji Japan in choosing a realistic and controlled road to modernization. But it also highlights that able men can only contribute if a reasonable state system allows them to. China, however, wasted its most able men. However, the series suggests to its audience that China actually had much greater potential than Japan. If China only wanted to, it could easily overtake Japan.

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