Komura Jutarō

Japanese diplomat
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Also known as: Komura Jutarō, Kōshaku
Quick Facts
In full:
Komura Jutarō, Kōshaku (marquess)
Born:
November 5, 1855, Hyūga, Japan
Died:
November 26, 1911, Hayama
Also Known As:
Komura Jutarō, Kōshaku

Komura Jutarō (born November 5, 1855, Hyūga, Japan—died November 26, 1911, Hayama) was a Japanese diplomat of the Meiji period and negotiator of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Komura returned to Japan and entered the Japanese Ministry of Justice (1880), later transferring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A year before the Sino-Japanese War (1893), he became a chargé d’affaires in Beijing. Subsequently, Komura served in Korea, the United States, Russia, and again in China.

In 1901–05 Komura was minister of foreign affairs and tirelessly negotiated for the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1905), which became a major basis of Japanese diplomacy in the ensuing years. As special envoy, Komura concluded the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905), which settled the Russo-Japanese War. Foreign minister again (1908) in the second Katsura Cabinet, he pursued treaty negotiations with Western nations and saw completion of the annexation of Korea. In 1910 he was created marquess.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.