Hirobumi Ito House
伊藤博文旧宅 itō hirobumi kyūtaku
The former residence of Hirobumi Itō, the aforementioned first Prime Minister of Japan, and himself a former Shoin student. He served four terms as prime minister and drafted the Meiji Constitution. After serving as Prime Minister, he went on to secure the signing of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907, which gave Japan power over Korean affairs, and instated himself as Resident-General of Korea. Although Ito intended to make Korea a protectorate, a vote for annexation and internal pressure from the Imperial Army led him to agree to annex it. It didn't end up mattering, though, because his initial hesitancy was enough to get him ousted from his position by more rabid supporters. A few months after his ousting, he was assassinated on his way to meeting a Russian diplomat by a Korean nationalist. He was featured on the 1000 yen banknote from 1963-1986. Here, you can not only see his childhood home but the residence he built in Tokyo was moved here and placed beside it. Even without knowing his story, his journey to higher status is clear when comparing the houses side-by-side.
- Hours
- Closed · opens 9 am
Weekly hours
Mon 9 am–5 pm Tue 9 am–5 pm Wed 9 am–5 pm Thu 9 am–5 pm Fri 9 am–5 pm Sat 9 am–5 pm Sun 9 am–5 pm - Price
- Free
Listing from Wikivoyage: Hagi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.