Page "Itō Hirobumi" Paragraph 15

Toward the end of August 1901, Itō announced his intention of visiting the United States to recuperate.

This turned into a long journey in the course of which he visited the major cities of the United States and Europe, setting off from Yokohama on September 18, traveling through the U. S. to New York City, from which he sailed to Boulogne, reaching Paris on November 4.

( Itō received an honorary doctorate from Yale University around this time.

) On November 25 he reached Saint Petersburg, having been asked by the new prime minister, Katsura Tarō, to sound out the Russians, entirely unofficially, on their intentions in the Far East.

Japan hoped to achieve what it called Man-Kan kōkan, the exchange of a free hand for Russia in Manchuria for a free hand for Japan in Korea, but Russia, feeling greatly superior to Japan and unwilling to give up its ability to use Korean ports for its navy, was in no mood to compromise ; its foreign minister, Vladimir Lamsdorf, " thought that time was on the side of his country because of the ( Trans-Siberian ) railway and there was no need to make concessions to the Japanese.

" Itō left empty-handed for Berlin ( where he received honors from Kaiser Wilhelm ), Brussels, and London.

Meanwhile, Katsura had decided that Man-Kan kōkan was no longer desirable for Japan, which should not renounce activity in Manchuria.

When Itō reached London, he had talks with Lord Lansdowne which helped lay the groundwork for the Anglo-Japanese Alliance announced early the following year.

The failure of his mission to Russia was " one of the most important events in the run-up to the Russo-Japanese War.