In 1880, Komura joined the
Ministry of Justice and, after serving as a judge of the
Supreme Court of Japan, transferred in 1884 to the Translation Bureau in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. . Left, from left to right: F.M Knobel from Netherland (only his hands are visible); K. Jutaro from Japan; G. S. Raggi from Italy; Joostens from Belgium; C. von Walhborn from Austria-Hungary; B. J. Cologán from Spain; M. von Giers from Russia; A. Mumm for German Empire; E. M. Satow from United Kingdom; W. W. Rockhill from United States; P. Beau from France; I-Kuang; Li Hongzhang; Prince Qing In 1893, Komura was the
chargé d'affaires at the Japanese legation in
Beijing, in
Qing dynasty China. In that position, he conveyed to the Chinese government Japan's intention of dispatching troops to
Korea under the provisions of the
Treaty of Tientsin to subdue the
Tonghak Rebellion, which led to the
First Sino-Japanese War. During the war, Komura was appointed as civilian administrator for territories Japan had captured in
Manchuria. He was also a key figure in the negotiations to end the war, culminating in the
Treaty of Shimonoseki, which he helped to draft. Following the assassination of
Queen Min of Korea, Komura was dispatched to replace
Miura Gorō as the Japanese minister to Korea. In his position as resident minister in Korea, he negotiated the Komura-Weber Memorandum in May 1896 with his Russian counterpart,
Karl Ivanovich Weber, to allow joint interference in Korean internal affairs by the Japanese and the
Russian Empires. Komura served as Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs until September 1898, when he was named ambassador to
Washington, D.C. In September 1901, Komura became
Minister for Foreign Affairs under the first
Katsura administration, and he signed the
Boxer Protocol on behalf of Japan. He was elevated into the
kazoku peerage with the title of
baron (
danshaku) in 1902 and decorated with the 1st class of the
Order of the Rising Sun. In 1902, Komura helped to conclude the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. His tenure as foreign minister was marked with increasing tension between Japan and Russia over Korea and Manchuria, which cumulated in the
Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905. ,
Rosen, Plancon, and the Japanese at the near side of table are
Adachi,
Ochiai, Komura,
Takahira,
Satō. The large conference table is now preserved at the Museum
Meiji Mura in
Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After the withdrawal of Russian forces in the region, Russian diplomats
Witte and
Rosen and their Japanese colleagues
Takahira Ochiai, Komura, and others met in Portsmouth to sign the peace treaty. During the negotiations, Witte tried to keep Russia's rights on the southern part of Sakhalin island, referring to the
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), which gave the Kuril Islands to Japan in exchange for Russian rights in Sakhalin, but Komura declared that "war cancels all treaties." The war was ended with Komura's signature on behalf of the Japanese government of the
Treaty of Portsmouth, which was highly unpopular in Japan and led to the
Hibiya incendiary incident. Komura also met with
E. H. Harriman, the American railway magnate, to propose a joint venture between Harriman's conglomerate and Japan towards the development of the
South Manchuria Railway. On his return to Japan, he found that the agreement was opposed by the
genrō and so it was not implemented. Komura also met with Chinese representatives in Beijing and signed the
Peking Treaty of December 1905, which transferred the former Russian rights in southern Manchuria to Japan. For those services, Komura was awarded the
Order of the Paulownia Flowers in 1906 and was appointed to become a member of the
Privy Council. From June 1906 to August 1908, Komura served as ambassador to Britain and was made a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by King
Edward VII and a member of the
Royal Victorian Order. On his return to Tokyo, he resumed the post of foreign minister in the second Katsura administration and signed the
Root–Takahira Agreement with the United States. His peerage title was also elevated to that of
Count ("hakushaku") in 1907. Komura also played a key role in the
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910 and in concluding various international agreements in 1911 to restore Japan's tariff autonomy. He was elevated to the title of
Marquis ("koshaku") on April 21, 1911. Suffering from
tuberculosis in his final years, Komura moved to the seaside resort of
Hayama in
Kanagawa Prefecture, but he died of the disease on November 26, 1911. His grave is at
Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo. ==In popular culture==