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Ito Hirobumi

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World Leader

The Resume

    (October 16, 1841-October 26, 1909)
    Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
    Birth name was Hayashi Risuke
    Four-time Prime Minister of Japan (1885-88,1892-96,1898,1900-01)
    Named a marquess (1884) and a prince (1908)
    Resident-General of the Japanese Protectorate of Korea (1905-09)
    Assassinated by a Korean nationalist

Why he might be annoying:

    He created Japan’s taxation system (1871).
    He was one of the architects of Japanese imperialism.
    His womanizing was often lampooned by editorial cartoonists.
    He liked to boast, ‘Drunk, I relax with my head on a beauty’s lap. Refreshed, I grasp the reins of power.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was one of the ‘Choshu Five’ secretly sent to study in the West after Commodore Perry ended Japan’s isolation.
    He was the principal author of the Meiji Constitution (1889).
    He renegotiated several treaties, convincing European powers to treat Japan as an equal.
    He is considered one of the fathers of modern Japan.
    He said of his killer, 'He is a fool,' which proved prescient as Japan used the assassination as an excuse to officially annex Korea.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying