The Iwakura Mission was a Japanese diplomatic voyage to the U.S. and Europe conducted by leading statesmen and scholars of the Meiji period. This photo was taken in San Francisco in 1872, but other stops included Washington, DC, Boston and New York. Tomomi Iwakura, the leader of the Japanese diplomats, is seated in the middle. Also pictured (L to R) are Takayoshi Kido, Masuka Yamaguchi, Hirobumi Itō and Toshimichi Ōkubo.