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lead=yes was a Japanese soldier and adventurer.
In 1879, Iwamoto graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and eventually achieved the rank of chūi. In 1887, he was discharged from the Army on account of his association with members of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement including Inukai Tsuyoshi.
In 1892, he moved to Siam and devoted himself to encouraging economic and cultural ties between Japan and Siam. He also visited Luang Phrabang.
Iwamoto and the pan-Asianist founded the Shamu Shokumin Kyōkai with financial support from the fervently pro-Japanese Chaophraya Surasakmontri. The society was later reorganized as the Shamu Shokumin Kaisha. According to Ishibashi, the long-term goals of the company included, among other things, "establishing a latent Japanese influence in" and "installing Japanese in the Siamese government".
Before Iwamoto returned home to recruit Japanese for the colonization project, Surasakmontri gave him a golden sword to be sharpened in Japan. The Siam Colonization Company ended in disaster with many of the Japanese immigrants winding up dead or enslaved as . In large part, the failure of the colonization project has been attributed to Iwamoto's inept and irresponsible leadership.
In 1897, Iwamoto published a book about his travels — Shamu-Raosu-An'nan Sangoku Tanken Jikki. He died in 1920.
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