the iwakura mission or iwakura embassy (岩倉使節団, iwakura shisetsudan) was a japanese diplomatic voyage to the united states and europe conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statesmen and scholars of the meiji period. although it was not the only such mission, it is the most well-known and possibly most significant in terms of its impact on the modernization of japan after a long period of isolation from the west. the mission was first proposed by the influential dutch missionary and engineer guido verbeck.