Iwakura Mission
Brunton returned to London on a leave of absence in July 1872, and was enlisted to assist the Iwakura Mission during its visit. In September, Brunton took Itō Hirobumi and a group of his assistants to visit 28 factories around London making a variety of manufactured goods, and continued on to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool before rejoining the main group of the Iwakura Mission in Edinburgh in early October.