Aoki Shūzo
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Viscount Aoki Shūzo (青木 周藏? 3 March 1844—16 February 1914) was a Japanese diplomat in the Meiji and Taisho eras.
Aoki was born to a samurai family as son of the Chōshū domain's physician in domain (present day Sanyō Onoda, Yamaguchi Prefecture). He studied western science and medicine (rangaku) at the clan school Meirinkan in Hagi, and in Nagasaki, He was then sent by Chōshū domain to Germany to study western law in 1868. However, while in Germany, his studies ranged over a very wide area, from medicine, to politics, military science, and economics. From his surviving notes, he studied on how to make beer, paper and paper money, carpets and rugs and techniques of western forestry management.
He returned after the Meiji Restoration, and entered the Foreign Ministry of new Meiji government in 1873 as First Secretary to the Japanese legations to Germany, Netherlands and Austria. He then served as Vice Foreign Minister in the 1st Itoh administration and Foreign Minister in the 1st Yamagata Aritomo administration. While Foreign Minister, he strove to revise the unequal treaties, particularly the extraterritoriality clauses, and expressed concern over the eastern expansion of the Russian Empire into east Asia.
He was forced to resign as a consequence of the Otsu Scandal of 1891, but resumed his post as Foreign Minister under the Matsukata Masayoshi cabinet.
In 1894, as ambassador to Great Britain, he worked with Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu towards the revision of the unequal treaties. He signed the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation for Japan in London on 16 July 1894.
Returned to his post as Foreign Minister under the 2nd Yamagata administration, he helped Japan gain recognition as one of the Great Powers by Japan's actions in the Boxer Rebellion.
He was then appointed to the Privy Council and elevated in title to shishaku (viscount).
In 1906, he served as ambassador to the United States.
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[edit] Trivia
- His wife was German.
- Morihisa Aoki, Japanese ambassador to Peru during the Japanese embassy hostage crisis was his great grandson.
[edit] References
- Auslin, Michael R. Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy. Harvard University Press;(2006) ISBN: 0674022270
- Edstrom, Burt. Turning Points in Japanese History. RoutledgeCurzon (2002). ISBN: 1903350050
- Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press; New Ed edition (2002). ISBN: 0674009916
