December 21st, 1871. Winter solstice.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Europe and the United States Iwakura Tomomi and Vice-Ambassadors Kido Takayoshi, Ōkubo Toshimichi, Itō Hirobumi and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi, with a retinue of councillors and officials from various ministries, totalling forty-eight in all, left Tokyo for Yokohama, where they stayed at several inns.

December 22nd. Fine.

On this day relatives and friends who lived in the capital came to attend farewell parties before the long voyage. At six in the evening a dinner was given at the Yokohama Court House for the consuls and ministers representing various foreign countries.

December 23rd. Fine; rain at night.

The recent fine weather has continued and the cold is not unduly severe. At dawn this morning the frost was especially heavy, and the sun rising over Japan seemed extremely bright. At eight o'clock everyone gathered in the Prefectural Office. We left there at ten and went by carriage to the harbour, where we boarded steam-launches.

At that moment a nineteen-gun salute was fired from the shore battery in honour of the Embassy. That was followed by a fifteen-gun salute to mark the return to the United States of the American minister in Japan, Mr. [Charles E.] DeLong. Smoke from the cannon drifted over the bay and the echoes of the salvos resounded over the waves, with the reverberations continuing for some time.