A JAPANESE ENVOY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20405, 6 November 1929, Page 8

A JAPANESE ENVOY.

.MINISTER; JO JDANAOAv 1 AN INTERESTING CAREER. - • .. : 'j i ' [most otjb own correspondent.] VANCOUVER, Oct. 16.- ; Bis Excellency Iyemasa Tokugaiva,. first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenit pptentiary to Canada, and forser ConsulGeneral in Ausitraliasgnd New Zealand, has arrived to take up duty at Ottawa. The Tokugaivas ruled Japan as Shoguns in the name of the Emperor as far back as .1598, and their rule continued' until 1867'. It was a. Tokugawa Shogun, the third of the line, who shut Japan against all. foreign trade except that of ths Dutch.' Tokugawa Shoguns kept the ports of the nation closed and forbade the . building of ships that could reach foreign shores. Finally it", was a Tokugawa who retired in 1867 and made way for the restoration of real power -to tha Emperor. , . Were the. Shogunate still a power in the land : the Shogun to-day would, be Prince Tokugawa, the new Minister's father. But, instead of striving to be an absolute ruler, the Prince is content to be a democratic statesman. He was head of the Japanese delegation to Washington at the time of the negotiation of the Washington Treaty, and is tha present President of the House of Peers* For all his youthful appearance tha new Minister has had a ' varied and interesting career in the diplomatic - service. Twenty years ago he was aU tached to the Embassy in London. Then, for several years he was. private secretary to the Foreign Minister. in Tokyo.In 1921, he went with his father to tha Washington Conference and went from there to the Embassy in London. After a period of duty in China, he was despatched to Sydney as Consul : General fot Australia and New Zealand.