Emperor of Japan

by Donald Keene

  41. Meiji tennō ki, 1, pp. 792–93. For a more detailed account of Asahiko’s plot, see Shibusawa, Tokugawa, 4, pp. 268–69.

  42. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 623.

  43. Ibid., 1, p. 927.

  44. For an account of the creation, international relations, and fall of Enomoto’s government, see Ishii, Ishin, pp. 204–49.

  45. William Elliot Griffis, The Mikado, p. 182. I have not identified the protagonists of this attempt.

  46. Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 422–24.

  47. Griffis, Mikado, p. 184.

  48. Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 603–4.

  49. Ishii, Boshin, p. 149.

  50. Ishii says that if the peasant revolts in the northeast had been directed against the government, the result of the war between the government and the rebels of the Nagaoka Domain would have been hard to predict, but they were directed against the shōya instead (Ishin, p. 149).

  51. For example, on August 12, 1868, he personally presented Prince Yoshiaki, who was about to leave for Aizu, as commanding general of the punitive expeditionary force, with the brocade pennant that symbolized imperial authorization (Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 754). Again, on August 22 he sent an envoy to the north with a personal message meant to comfort the troops and ordinary people suffering because of the fighting. Saké and food were also sent to the military as a gift of the emperor (p. 757). Similar gifts intended to “comfort” the troops continued as long as the fighting lasted.

  Chapter 18

  1. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 794.

  2. The globe in fact figured prominently in the coronation ceremonies (Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 805).

  3. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 796. The prayers were not answered, for it rained heavily during the ceremonies.

  4. The imperial regalia consisted of a sword, a mirror, and a magatama jewel. The mirror was normally enshrined at Ise, but the other two treasures were in the emperor’s possession.

  5. A wooden stick to which were attached strips of paper or cloth. A priest waved the stick before a person in order to drive off baleful influences.

  6. Literally, a reader of the senmyō. A senmyō was an imperial command, written in words of purely Japanese origins. The senmyō-shi on this occasion was Reizei Tametada.

  7. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 812. This poem of felicitation is number 344 in the Kokinshū.

  8. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 812.

  9. Ibid., 1, p. 804. The term tenchō was part of the formula tenchō chikyū, wishing the emperor life as long as the heavens and as lasting as the earth. After the adoption of the solar calendar in 1873, Tenchō-setsu came to be celebrated on November 3, converting the day of Meiji’s birth in 1852 from the lunar to the solar calendar. However, in 1868 the birthday according to the solar calendar was No-vember 6. Sir Ernest Satow wrote, “November 6th was celebrated with much pomp and ceremony as being the Mikado’s birthday” (A Diplomat in Japan, p. 386).

  10. The reasons for this decision were not stated. Probably, as Japanese became familiar with the Western system of designating years, the Japanese system of frequently changed nengō came to seem inefficient.

  11. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 787.

  12. Ibid., 1, p. 814.

  13. Satow wrote in his diary, “On the 23rd [of August 1868] I dined with Komatsu [Tatewaki] and Nakai [Hiroshi] to meet Okubo, the Satsuma statesman who had suggested the removal of the Capital from Kiōto to Ozaka earlier in the year. I have no doubt that the final decision to make Yedo the centre of government, and to change its name to Tōkiō or Eastern Capital was largely his work” (A Diplomat, p. 380). In February 1868, Ōkubo stated his reasons for advocating a move of the capital to Ōsaka. He later came to prefer Tōkyō (Tōyama Shigeki, Tennō to kazoku, pp. 6–8).

  14. Satow, A Diplomat, p. 366.

  15. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 838.

  16. Ibid., 1, p. 839.

  17. Ibid., 1, p. 847. Tada Kōmon gives another anecdote strikingly similar in content (Iwakura-kō jikki, 2, p. 570). On November 6, when the emperor’s palanquin reached Ishibe, a station on the Tōkaidō, Date Munenari, going to a rice field by the side of the road, picked five stalks and offered them to the emperor with the following poem: kimi mimase / itsuki no ame no / furisugite / kariho no ine no / torimi sukunaki. Both anecdotes and poems have the same meaning: they were intended to inform the emperor, who had never before seen peasants toiling in the fields, of the hardships they suffered because of the poor harvest.

  18. Tada, ed., Iwakura, 2, p. 572.

  19. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 852. The point of the poem is the pun on Arai, the name of a nearby town, and arai, meaning “rough.” Although the name suggests a rough crossing, it was actually smooth.

  20. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 865.

  21. Ibid., 1, pp. 865–66.

  22. This was the opinion of Iwakura Tomomi (Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 906).

  23. Kinoshita Hyō, Meiji shiwa, p. 3.

  24. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 906.

  25. Ibid., 1, pp. 905, 913. On February 20, 1869, the dispatch of Akitake to the north was called off, on the grounds that rebel forces had suffered such severe setbacks that their submission was imminent; but plans for his going to Hokkaidō had advanced so far that Akitake petitioned to be allowed to leave as planned. He in fact left early the next month (Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 11).

  26. Kinoshita, Meiji shiwa, p. 12.

  27. Satow, A Diplomat, p. 404.

  28. Meiji tennō ki, 1, p. 915.

  29. Ibid., 1, pp. 917–19.

  30. Taki Kōji’s Tennō no shōzō, an extremely interesting account of how the image of the emperor was presented to the people, describes the variety of colored prints (nishikie) produced in conjunction with the emperor’s journey to the east. These prints sold quite well, especially those showing the emperor entering Tōkyō, and provided the common people with a kind of political experience (pp. 9–11).

  Chapter 19

  1. It would be more accurate to say “the second year of Meiji” rather than 1869. The discrepancy between the lunar and the solar calendar is particularly noticeable at New Year, for the first day of the lunar calendar was February 11 by the solar calendar.

  2. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 4.

  3. At this time most imperial pronouncements were written by Tamamatsu Misao (1810–1872) (Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 19).

  4. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 7. The text of their charges against Yokoi is in Morikawa Tetsurō, Meiji ansatsu shi, p. 29. One of the assassins, Ueda Tatsuo, was particularly incensed because Yokoi had been seen wandering around the Tsukiji foreign quarter wearing Western clothes and a foreign-style hat.

  5. For the development of practical learning in China and Japan, see Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, Principle and Practicality, pp. 189–511.

  6. H. D. Harootunian, Toward Restoration, p. 335.

  7. George B. Sansom, The Western World and Japan, p. 283.

  8. Translated by Paul Varley as A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.

  9. Diary entry, October 9, 1868, in Sidney DeVere Brown and Akiko Hirota, trans., The Diary of Kido Takayoshi, p. 105.

  10. The gijō Nakamikado Tsuneyuki sent a message to this effect to Iwakura Tomomi on May 10, 1869. He stated that the emperor was now riding every other day and urged that he confine his riding to the prescribed six days a month (Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 109).

  11. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 30.

  12. German (rather than English or French) was chosen presumably because of the close influence of German law on the evolving new Japanese law. Katō Hiroyuki, one of the emperor’s mentors, had studied German and become fluent in that language (“Yo ga jidoku ni measarishi koro,” p. 38 [Taiyō 18, p. 13]).

  13. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 27.

  14. Ibid., 2, p. 44.

  15. For details, see Katō Hitoshi, “Meiji tennō o-tsubone go-rakuin den.”

  16. In “Meiji,” Katō discussed the claims made by various persons who believe that they are Meiji’s illegitimate descendants, but he was reluctant to a
dmit the validity of these claims.

  17. Diary entry, May 19, 1874, in Brown and Hirota, trans., Diary, 3, p. 32.

  18. Diary entry, August 20, 1875, in ibid., p. 199.

  19. Diary entry, October 13, 1876, in ibid., p. 375.

  20. Takashima Tomonosuke, “Jimmu irai no eishu,” p. 33, quoted in Asukai Masamichi, Meiji taitei, p. 148.

  21. Quoted in Katō, “Meiji,” p. 60.

  22. Hinonishi Sukehiro, Meiji tennō no go-nichijō, p. 81. Hinonishi also described how after the emperor had been drinking at Count Hijikata’s house, he had trouble walking and had to lean on Hinonishi. Unfortunately, Hinonishi was not very tall, and he found it extremely difficult to keep the heavy emperor under control. They had almost reached their destination when both men fell down (p. 83).

  23. Charles Lanman, Leading Men of Japan, p. 18.

  24. Bōjō Toshinaga, Kyūchū gojūnen, pp. 14, 16.

  25. Takatsuji Osanaga, “Go-yōji no shinkō,” p. 30.

  26. Katō, “Yo ga jidoku no measareshi koro,” p. 38.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Ariji Shinanonojō, “Yū sō, kattatsu, saishin, kiken no wataraseraru,” p. 52.

  Chapter 20

  1. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 10.

  2. Tada Kōmon, ed., Iwakura-kō jikki, 2, pp. 688–89; Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 31.

  3. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 53.

  4. Ibid., 2, p. 55.

  5. John R. Black, Young Japan, 2, pp. 254–55.

  6. It may have been a coincidence, but years later (about 1875) when his tutor, Motoda Nagazane, asked Meiji who of the emperors of most ancient time he most admired, he replied, “Jimmu and Keikō.” Both emperors were associated with the foundation and unification of Japan (Yasuba Sueki, “Junchū shisei no taiju Mo-toda Nagazane sensei,” p. 9).

  7. Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 77–78.

  8. Ibid., 2, p. 79.

  9. As late as May it was reported that the rebels’ “craftiness” had prevented the government forces from making headway; but on May 28 they launched a successful land and sea attack.

  10. True Records of Three Reigns, the last of the six imperially sponsored histories of Japan, compiled in 901.

  11. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 95.

  12. Ibid., 2, pp. 97, 109–10. It was reported on July 14 that outside the three main cities (Kyōto, Tōkyō, and Ōsaka) the people still did not trust paper money, and in these cities there was sharp inflation, causing hardship (p. 135).

  13. Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 100–101.

  14. Ibid., 2, p. 112.

  15. Ibid., 2, p. 108.

  16. For his studies, see ibid., 2, pp. 119, 124, 131–32, etc.

  17. Ibid., 2, p. 140.

  18. Black, Young Japan, 2, p. 267.

  19. Ibid., 2, pp. 266, 267.

  20. F. V. Dickins and S. Lane-Poole, The Life of Sir Harry Parkes, 2, pp. 121, 142. The same wording is in Black, Young Japan, 2, pp. 267–68. Black seems to have had access to Parkes’s letter to the earl of Clarendon, dated August 23, 1869, in which this statement appears. Iwakura’s detailed account of the formalities that were to be observed during the duke’s visit is in Tada, ed., Iwakura, 2, pp. 768–73.

  21. Black, Young Japan, 2, pp. 268–69.

  22. Parkes explained this ceremony: “Kan-jin, literally the God of China. This is the revival of an extremely ancient ceremonial which dates from a time when there was no intercourse with abroad, excepting with China through Korea. Kan-jin is, therefore, the patron saint of foreigners, who are all united under his protection with the generic name of Tōjin, or ‘men of the Tang Dynasty of China’” (Dickins and Lane-Poole, Life of Parkes, 2, p. 143). A. B. Mitford, who presumably was Parkes’s source, uses the identical wording (Redesdale, Memories of Lord Redes-dale, 2, p. 496). Japanese sources say little about this ceremony and do not explain the term, but Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 159, mentions the kanjin-sai performed on the twenty-third of the seventh month; on this occasion, Nakayama Tadayasu read a norito. Tada stated that the kanjin-sai would be performed several days before the duke arrived (Iwakura, 2, p. 768).

  23. Redesdale, Memories, 2, p. 496. In addition, A Guide to the Works states that “by order of the Japanese government, the same mark of respect was paid to His Royal Highness that is observed when an Imperial Progress takes place. The windows of the upper stories of the houses were all sealed with paper, that none might look down upon the Queen’s Son” (p. 45).

  24. Dickins and Lane-Poole, Life of Parkes, 2, p. 143.

  25. Redesdale, Memories, 2, p. 497.

  26. Fukuzawa Yukichi explained the title (and text) in terms of Portman’s desire to attract the attention of the president, who was “not in the habit of personally reading the reports of the ministers in foreign lands unless they contained very pertinent or unusual matters” (Kiyooka Eiichi, trans., The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, pp. 205–6).

  27. Watanabe Ikujirō, Meiji tennō, 1, p. 104. According to William Elliot Griffis, “At a convenient distance from the hall of audience, rites with wands of gohéi and other Shinto appliances were performed by the white robed and black capped priests, in order to exorcise any evil spirits or influences which might have accompanied representatives from such outlandish countries as England and Scotland, which orthodox Shinto commentators taught had been made from the sea foam and mud left over after the creation of the Heavenly Country, Japan, by the ancestors of the Mikado” (The Mikado, p. 159).

  28. Redesdale, Memories, 2, p. 499.

  29. Dickins and Lane-Poole, Life of Parkes, 2, p. 147.

  30. Sir Henry Keppel, A Sailor’s Life Under Four Sovereigns, 3, pp. 289, 292. Keppel wrote, “Tomorrow we are to have a procession and the Prince’s visit to the Mikado, which we look forward to as rather a bore” (p. 289).

  31. The gifts included “lacquerware, wakizashi, netsuke, bronzes, pottery, enamels” (Guide to the Works, p. 45).

  32. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 168.

  33. The entertainment included a Japanese meal (probably more authentic than the food served to visiting dignitaries at present!), sumo, displays of swordsmanship, acrobatics, juggling, and (in a more somber mood) a program of nō and kyōgen (Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 165). This was said to be the first time nō had been witnessed by foreigners (Redesdale, Memories, 2, p. 498). The program consisted of four nō (Yumi Yawata, Hagoromo, Kokaji, and Tsunemasa) and two kyōgen (Suminuri and Tachiubai) (Nakayama Yasumasa, Meiji hennenshi, 1, p. 303). Mitford prepared outlines of the plays to help the duke and his entourage understand them, but it is hard to believe that they sat through these plays in entirety; this would have taken close to ten hours. Perhaps only excerpts were performed. The great actor Hōshō Kurō appeared in Hagoromo.

  34. Dickins and Lane-Poole, Life of Parkes, 2, p. 151. Black commented about the piano, “Whether it has done anything towards reconciling the Imperial ear to foreign music is very doubtful. I have heard it reported more than once that the Empress was taking lessons on the piano—but I gave no credence to the statements” (Young Japan, 2, p. 273).

  35. Black, Young Japan, 2, p. 274. However, the two letters sent by Meiji to the Austrian emperor do not contain any word for “brother” (Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 190–93). Although it was customary among European monarchs to address one another as “brother” or “cousin,” this was not the practice in Japan. Meiji referred to Franz Josef as kōtei heika, “His Majesty, the emperor,” the same title that would have been applied to the emperor of China.

  Chapter 21

  1. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 224.

  2. Ibid., 2, p. 221.

  3. A highly important ritual, performed by an emperor once in his lifetime, generally in the early winter following his coronation.

  4. Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 277–78, 445.

  5. Asukai Masamichi, Meiji taitei, p. 137.

  6. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 109. He suggested that Meiji ride only on the third, thirteenth, twenty-third, eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth of each month.

  7. The most
detailed description of his studies is given for the sixth month of the second year of Meiji, when he had lessons every day except for the first, sixth, eleventh, sixteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-sixth. In addition to reading texts, he had lectures on Japanese history from Fukuba Bisei, and he took part in the reading by turns (rindoku) of Jōgan seiyō, an eighth-century Chinese study of politics that had long formed a part of the education of Japanese emperors (Meiji tennō ki, 2, pp. 131–32; also pp. 299–300). His teachers included Nakanuma Ryōzō, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, and Akizuki Tanetatsu.

  8. Motoda Takehiko and Kaigo Motoomi, eds., Motoda Nagazane monjo, p. 45. In this section of Kanreki no ki, his autobiography, Motoda related how his father, anxious for Nagazane’s future career, suggested that he temporarily give up his study of jitsugaku and no longer attend lectures on the subject by Nagaoka Korekata, a former karō who had fallen out of favor with the Kumamoto daimyo. The preceding passage was Nagazane’s response to his father’s suggestion. See also Kose Susumu and Nakamura Hiroshi, Motoda Tōya, Soejima Sōkai, p. 27.

  9. Yagi Kiyoharu, “Keikenteki jitsugaku no tenkai,” p. 176. Yagi quotes in his essay several works by Minamoto Ryōen, an outstanding authority on the subject. The jitsugaku of Yokoi Shōnan, Motoda’s teacher, was mentioned in chapter 19.

  10. Shortly after his disagreement with his father, Motoda began to suffer from an eye ailment, and his doctor forbade him to engage in research. This accident had the effect of causing Motoda to discontinue his studies of jitsugaku under Nagaoka Korekata (Kose and Nakamura, Motoda, pp. 28, 33).

  11. Kose and Nakamura, Motoda, p. 45.

  12. Yasuba Seika, “Junchū shisei no taiju Motoda Nagazane sensei,” p. 6. The author of this article was the adopted son of Yasuba Yasukazu (1835–1899), a close friend of Motoda’s and, like him, a disciple of Yokoi Shōnan.

  13. Motoda and Kaigo, eds., Motoda, pp. 118–19. See also Kose and Nakamura, Mo-toda, p. 46.

  14. Meiji tennō ki, 2, p. 475. The texts of lectures delivered by Motoda in the presence of the emperor beginning on the seventh day of the first month of the fifth year of Meiji are in Motoda and Kaigo, eds., Motoda. They are composed in easily understood classical Japanese.