Prince Saionji

"a wealth of much needed detail"
-- Literary Review

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This book is part of Makers of the Modern World, Haus Publishing's ambitious series of biographies of all the major delegates at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

Prince Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940), was the dashing 'kingmaker' of early 20th century Japan. He was born shortly before the arrival of American gunboats dragged an unwilling Japan from centuries of self-imposed isolation, and grew up in the last days of the Shogun. His adult life encompassed the Japanese civil war, the Meiji Restoration, wars with China, Russia and Germany, the Treaty of Versailles, and the rise of Japanese militarism. Unlike many of the conservatives of his day, Saionji was a man with experience of international diplomacy and admiration for European culture. He was sent to France for nine years to investigate Western technology and philosophy, and served for a decade as a Japanese ambassador in Europe. He led the Japanese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and ended his days in a prolonged battle against the rise of Japanese militarism.