or Kido Kōin
born Aug. 11, 1833, Chōshū, Nagato province, Japan
died May 26, 1877, Tokyo
With Saigō Takamori and Ōkubo Toshimichi , one of the three giants of the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
He became head of the government of the han (domain) of Chōshū and in that capacity plotted with Saigō and Ōkubo of Satsuma to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. In the new government, Kido was responsible for transferring the capital from Kyōto to Edo (renamed Tokyo) and for persuading the heads of the large han to return their domains to the emperor. He visited Europe in 1871 and on returning helped block a plan to invade Korea. In the late 1870s he worked for establishing a Western-style constitution.