II NAOSUKE

born Nov. 29, 1815, Hikone, Japan died March 24, 1860, Edo [now Tokyo] Japanese feudal lord and statesman who was responsible for Japan's signing the first treaty of commerce with the United States (1858), opening the country to Western influence, and for the last attempt at reasserting the traditional political role of the Tokugawa (the dynasty of Japan's military rulers) before its fall in 1867. Additional reading Two older books, Katsumaro Nakamura, Lord Ii Naosuk and the New Japan (1909); and H. Satoh, Agitated Japan: The Life of Baron Ii Kamon-ko-kami Naosuk (1896), both based on Japanese accounts, have not been superseded by more recent studies.