Born into a low-ranking samurai family of the Obi domain in Hyūga (Nichinan, Miyazaki).
Selected by his domain, he studied at the Daigaku Nankō in Tokyo.
As a government scholar he studied law at Harvard University in the United States.
After serving in the Justice Ministry, he joined the Foreign Ministry.
He served as a diplomat posted to Qing China.
He became Foreign Minister in Katsura Tarō's cabinet.
He concluded the Anglo-Japanese Alliance with Britain.
After the Russo-Japanese War he signed the peace treaty with Russia at Portsmouth, USA; the lack of an indemnity caused fierce discontent at home.
He pushed forward the annexation of Korea.
By revising the treaty with the United States he recovered tariff autonomy, completing the revision of the unequal treaties, and died of illness that same year.
Kitasato ShibasaburōErnest FenollosaTakamine JōkichiShimoda UtakoUeki EmoriMikimoto KōkichiTsubouchi ShōyōKanō Jigorō
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.