The Iwakura Mission: From Yokohama to Windsor Castle

On 23 December 1871 the mission set sail from Yokohama on the SS America, bound for San Francisco. Its purpose was to study the political, military, economic and educational institutions of the United States and Europe. The port had opened to foreign trade on 2 June 1859, so the officials left from a harbour that had been open to the West for little more than a decade.

Precisión del lugar: The mission sailed from Yokohama; the pin marks the Port of Yokohama, not a berth.

The group arrived in San Francisco on 15 January 1872, then travelled east by train via Salt Lake City and Chicago. San Francisco's port sits on the western edge of the bay near the Golden Gate. The delegation reached Washington, D.C., on 29 February, where it tried to renegotiate the unequal treaties, without success.

Precisión del lugar: The mission arrived in San Francisco; the pin marks the port's Ferry Building area, not a pier.

On 17 August 1872 the mission arrived at Liverpool on the Cunard steamer Olympus, then travelled to London via Manchester. Lime Street, where the pin sits, is the station complex in Liverpool city centre where the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway terminates.

Precisión del lugar: The mission arrived at Liverpool by ship; the pin marks Lime Street station in the city centre.

Para el visitante: Liverpool Lime Street is an active mainline station in the city centre.

In Yorkshire the group inspected textile manufacturing at Salts Mill in Saltaire and Dean Clough Mill in Halifax. They also toured villages, schools, almshouses, hospitals and parks that Sir Titus Salt and Sir John Crossley had provided for their workers. Salts Mill opened in 1853. Today it is an art gallery with shops and a restaurant in Saltaire, near Bradford.

Para el visitante: Salts Mill is open as a gallery, shops and restaurant.

On 28 October 1872 members of the mission arrived in Sheffield for four days. They stayed at Banner Cross Hall, a historic house owned by George Wilson, a managing director of the iron and railway firm Charles Cammell and Company. From there they visited factories and workshops. The hall is a Grade II listed building on Ecclesall Road South.

Two days after arriving in Sheffield, the mission visited Chatsworth House on 30 October. The visit was followed by Burton-upon-Trent, Birmingham, Worcester, Stoke on Trent and Chester. Chatsworth is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, in the Derbyshire Dales near Bakewell, and has belonged to the Cavendish family since 1549.

The delegation had its official audience with Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 5 December 1872. Windsor's Round Tower stands on a chalk motte 15 metres high. On 9 December the party met the Prince of Wales at Sandringham, and on 16 December it left for France. The mission eventually reached Yokohama on 13 September 1873, almost two years after setting out.

Para el visitante: Windsor Castle is a royal residence that opens to visitors; check opening days before you go.