ABSTRACT
On 12th November 1871, a large mission consisting of Iwakura Tomomi as Ambassador Plenipotentiary, Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Koin, Ito Hirobumi and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi as Deputy Ambassadors Plenipotentiary, together with 48 delegates of vice-minister or director rank from various ministries, as well as six male and female visiting students, left Yokohama by ship, bound for San Francisco. The victory in the Seinan war made the government centred on Okubo Toshimichi, following the 'assembly faction' and the 'constitution faction', had succeeded in suppressing the 'strong military' faction. The age of 'prosperous country', in its full flowering, had arrived, centred on 'investment and industry'. The greater part of this 10 million yen was used for railway building under the jurisdiction of the Manufacturing Ministry, and for the construction and repair of roads and harbours under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
