Abstract
Kume Kunitake (1839–1931), a Japanese historian, traveled to the West in 1871 as a member of the imperial embassy known as the Iwakura Mission. After almost two years of traveling, Kume published a report containing detailed descriptions and statistical information relating to the social situation of the countries visited by the mission, as well as his own deep insights into Western civilization. This monumental work enabled Japanese leaders to perceive that Western civilization was rooted in concepts of power, which contrasted sharply with the Confucian civilization of the East, grounded as it was in concepts of virtue. The report served as a guide to the leaders as they pushed forward with a program of nation‐building based on this new power‐principle of Western civilization.
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