gift of cherry blossom trees. This 1910 news article also stated that as part of Prince Tokugawa's visit to New York City, Prince Tokugawa expressed his desire to see the immense development that had occurred in the United States since his last visit. Prince Tokugawa and five of his Japanese companions toured the city; this included a visit to the American Stock Exchange on Wall Street; they also marveled at the construction of the Holland Tunnel. Prince Tokugawa was also invited to a small private dinner in honor of his visit to New York City, given by Kokichi Midzuno, Consul General of Japan. (Midzuno is the Japanese official who first contacted Japan's central government in 1910, asking for their advice on how best to proceed with the Japanese gift of cherry trees to Washington, D.C.) Of the eighteen guests at the above dinner, several were prominent leaders from New York City's Japanese-American community. Rather than wishing to receive a recognition for facilitating the Japanese gifting of cherry trees, Prince Iyesato Tokugawa preferred that the gift be seen as a token of goodwill coming directly from Japan and its capital city of Tokyo to the United States and its capital city of Washington, D.C. During his visit to the U.S., Tokugawa introduced the mayor of Tokyo to many influential Japanese Americans and to U.S. officials, so as to promote this Japanese gift, which in coming decades would be commemorated and grow into one of Washington, D.C.'s largest celebrations. During his long career, Prince Tokugawa creatively promoted a friendship and alliance with six U.S. presidents and other world leaders during his extensive travels abroad. He was in many ways the diplomatic face of Japan when it came to international relations during the first 40 years of the twentieth century. Those years were often politically and socially turbulent, requiring Prince Tokugawa to take a leading role in encouraging respectful international diplomacy and military arms limitation at the Washington Naval Arms Conference. He strongly promoted an appreciation for democracy and during the 1920s took a leading stance against racism by introducing Abraham Lincoln's principles of equality into all of Japan's public schools and universities through Lincoln essay writing contests, where the winning students were given bronze commemorative coins with the face of President Lincoln. One of Prince Tokugawa's closest and most influential Japanese allies was Baron Shibusawa Eiichi (aka Baron Eiichi Shibusawa). The combination