Emperor of Japan

by Donald Keene

  29. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 35–36. Ueda Shigeru stressed how unlikely it was that Nakahara and those with him were acting under orders to assassinate Saigō, who was recognized to be a moderating influence (Saigō Takamori no higeki, pp. 157–59). Saigō’s death was likely to stir up a hornet’s nest, as those in the government were well aware. Ueda suggested that the government had deliberately circulated the rumor of a planned assassination in order provoke a reaction.

  30. On this occasion, he saw Okina, Miwa, Hagoromo, Ataka, Shōson, and Sesshōseki (Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 34). If these plays were presented in entirety, they would have taken a full day to perform.

  31. Diary entry, February 5, 1876, in Brown and Hirota, trans., Diary, 3, p. 435. After describing the seizure of army and navy ammunition by Kagoshima samurai on January 30 and 31, Kido commented, “This is a very different situation from the one described by Hayashi Tomoyuki on the basis of his observations early in January. Today the powerful reputation of Satsuma reverberates to all corners of the land; malcontented shizoku in more than ten prefectures are observing the movements of Satsuma.”

  32. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 46. The prefectures mentioned were Kumamoto, Saga, Fukuoka, Kōchi, Okayama, Tottori, Hikone, Kuwana, Aizu, and Shōnai, some of which were subsequently abolished.

  33. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 47.

  34. Ibid., 4, p. 47.

  Chapter 28

  1. Diary entry, February 5, 1876, in Sidney DeVere Brown and Akiko Hirota, trans., The Diary of Kido Takayoshi, 3, p. 434.

  2. This tanka is complicated. Yaso uji means “many clans,” but the kakekotoba leads into Uji River, where soldiers of many clans once fought. The moon is clear in the water, but there is probably a pun on sumu, meaning “to dwell”—the moon dwells in the river. In the light of the moon Asahiyama, whose name means “morning sun,” can be seen, a contrast between moon and sun.

  3. The Komparu school was especially strong in Nara.

  4. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 54.

  5. This day was known as Kigen-setsu. It was proclaimed as a day of celebration in 1873, the year that the solar calendar was adopted.

  6. Diary entry, February 10, 1877, in Brown and Hirota, trans., Diary, 3, p. 441.

  7. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 61. See also Roger F. Hackett, Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan, pp. 77–78.

  8. The text is in Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 77. See also Yamashita Ikuo, Kenkyū seinan no eki, p. 132.

  9. The text is in Yamashita, Kenkyū, p. 133.

  10. This is the figure given in Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 77–78. A breakdown of the component members of the total of some 30,000 men who fought during the war under Saigō is in Yamashita, Kenkyū, p. 137. The main body of troops consisted of the 13,000 “students” of the private schools.

  11. Yamashita, Kenkyū, p. 152. This information is derived from various contemporary documents such as Teichū Dan’u nikki by Kawahigashi Sukegorō, and Kesshi seinan eki by Takeno Masayuki.

  12. The text of the entire song is in Yamashita, Kenkyū, pp. 127–29. The author is unknown. Mention of “shide no tabi” (a journey to the other world) in the last line indicates that it was composed about the time of the move into Kumamoto. Each line of the poem begins with a different syllable, following the order of the i-ro-ha poem.

  13. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 100.

  14. Kido Takayoshi monjo, 7, p. 334, quoted in Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 108. This statement is recorded in the letter Kido sent Itō Hirobumi, probably on March 4, 1877.

  15. Ikai Takaaki, Saigō Takamori, p. 224.

  16. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 121.

  17. Ibid., 4, p. 120. See also Kido’s letter to Shishido Tamaki, March 4, 1877, in Kido Takayoshi monjo, 7, p. 331.

  18. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 119.

  19. Ibid. By an extraordinary coincidence, both the siege of Metz and that of Kumamoto lasted fifty-four days.

  20. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 125. See also diary entry, March 14, 1877, in Brown and Hirota, trans., Diary, 3, p. 463. The battōtai (Drawn Sword Unit) was subsequently immortalized in poetry and song.

  21. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 130–31.

  22. Ibid., 4, p. 134. Kido made this observation on March 22 (Brown and Hirota, trans., Diary, 3, p. 468).

  23. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 146.

  24. For an account of Saigō’s victory at Mitai-mura on August 19, see ibid., 4, pp. 237.

  25. Ibid., 4, p. 181.

  26. Ibid., 4, p. 223.

  27. See also ibid., 4, pp. 247–49. Takasaki became Meiji’s tutor of poetry at the end of August.

  28. This was a building within the compound of the Aoyama Gosho, the empress dowager’s residence.

  Chapter 29

  1. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 269.

  2. Ibid., 4, p. 313. The emperor’s gesture was not intended to cure the wounds, in the manner of the sovereign’s touch in Europe.

  3. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 276. He did not attend meetings on days of rest or religious holidays. He had still not entirely recovered from the beriberi he contracted in Kyoto, and the doctors urged him to devote himself above all to recuperating his health.

  4. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 279. Yen Hui (Gankai in Japanese) was the favorite disciple of Confucius. A gourd was commonly used as a container for saké.

  5. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 291. They read Tsugan Ran’yō (T’ung-chien Lan-yao), a historical work compiled by Yao P’ei-ch’ien and Chang Ching-hsing during the Ch’ing period, on Chinese history from ancient times to the Ming dynasty.

  6. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 292. The empress’s poem was “Unless one mends one’s ways and lets fall the flowers in one’s hair, even the light of the morning sun will not be bright.” The meaning seems to be that a life of indolence (flowers in the hair) destroys true happiness.

  7. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 329. Fukuba Bisei, Nishimura Shigeki, and Nishi Amane were among the lecturers this day. Beginning on January 7, 1878, an even more demanding series of lectures was given in the presence of the emperor and empress, including one by Motoda on the Analects, another by Nishimura Shigeki on a textbook of morals written by an American, and a lecture by Kondō Yoshiki on the Kojiki. These and other lectures were delivered, except when the emperor was indisposed, until he left on his tour of the Hokuriku and Tōkai regions. For more detailed information on the contents of the lectures, see pp. 350–51.

  8. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 316.

  9. The jiho were officers appointed by the emperor to serve him by advising (“remonstrating”) and supplementing his decisions. The position was established in 1877 and abolished in 1879.

  10. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 355–56.

  11. Ibid., 4, p. 330. The letter, sent on December 17, 1877, accepted the invitation extended to Japan to participate in the exposition that would be held in Paris the next year.

  12. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 338. The letter was delivered on December 28 by the new Chinese minister.

  13. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 331–32. The emperor commanded that all documents relating to the war, including the oral testimonies of members of the defeated army, be delivered to a historiographical institute (shūshikan). He also commanded the compilation of a history of the war.

  14. His first attack was while in Kyōto in 1877. Ever since then, he had been prone to attacks at the change from summer to autumn. The attack in 1882 was particularly severe, requiring several months for recovery. Beriberi was common at the time, particularly among the military. It was estimated that more than a third of naval personnel suffered from the disease, seriously reducing the efficiency of ships at sea. A report prepared by the surgeon admiral in response to the emperor’s request attributed beriberi to the poorness of the food served to the men. The food was improved; the number of patients dropped dramatically, and in three years it had virtually disappeared (Meiji tennō ki, 6, pp. 140–41). It is unlikely that the emperor’s beriberi was caused by poor food. Japanese doctors probably did not know about the importance of vitamins, although the Royal Navy h
ad long given lime juice to British sailors to avoid beriberi.

  15. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 368–69.

  16. Somewhat abbreviated from Takashima Tomonosuke, “Jimmu irai no eishu,” p. 33.

  17. Hinonishi Sukehiro, Meiji tennō no go-nichijō, p. 80.

  18. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 372–73.

  19. Ibid., 4, pp. 386–87.

  20. Ibid., 4, pp. 399–400.

  21. Ibid., 4, p. 253.

  22. Tōya Hiroki, Toshimichi ansatsu, p. 27.

  23. Ibid., p. 33. Tōya, to whose brilliant study of the assassination I am indebted, suggested that while in Kagoshima, Chō had come to embrace the ideal of a military dictatorship by the samurai.

  24. The name was derived from the Buddhist temple in Kanazawa where the group met.

  25. Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 80. Tōya’s commentary on the manifesto (zankanjō) is on pp. 81–92.

  26. For an exhaustive account of Kuga Yoshinao’s activities before this time, see Kokuryūkai hombu, ed., Seinan kiden, 3, 1, pp. 407–18, and 3, 2, pp. 1014–17. Kuga spent time in Kagoshima, where he frequently met with Saigō’s lieutenant, Kirino Toshiaki. It was Kuga who introduced Chō Tsurahide to Kirino and arranged for Chō to be “educated” by him (3, 2, p. 411).

  27. Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 66.

  28. Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 2, p. 1004. See also Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 65.

  29. The full text of the zankanjō (in two parts) is in Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 1, pp. 436–57.

  30. Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 1, p. 43; Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 82. For the full explanation of these crimes in the zankanjō, see Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 1, pp. 440–57.

  31. Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 1, p. 438. See also Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 83.

  32. Tōya, Toshimichi, pp. 70, 83.

  33. Kokuryūkai, ed., Seinan, 3, 1, p. 439; Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 84.

  34. Tōya, Toshimichi, p. 94.

  35. Ibid., p. 100. Shimada also said that they would not have the time to tell people their reasons after committing the crime.

  36. Excerpts from these letters are in Tōya, Toshimichi, pp. 102–4.

  37. Ibid., pp. 101–2. This chōka, in alternating lines of seven and five syllables, goes on to list further crimes of Ōkubo and his associates and describes the heroic struggle in Satsuma.

  38. Tōya, Toshimichi, pp. 127–28.

  39. Ibid., p. 138.

  40. An article from the Times (London) is quoted in translation in ibid., pp. 154–55.

  41. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 410–11.

  42. Ibid., 4, pp. 413–14.

  Chapter 30

  1. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 414.

  2. Taki Kōji, Tennō no shōzō, pp. 81–82.

  3. Imperial Household Minister Tokudaiji Sanetsune was of the opinion that there was no objection to the free sale of the photographs. He requested the government’s authorization, but in March 1874 it ruled that permission could not be granted and directed Tōkyō Prefecture to keep under surveillance persons who sold the photographs. In May, Foreign Minister Terashima Munenori appealed this decision. He said that foreigners were disappointed not to be able to obtain photographs of the emperor, even though in the West photographs of monarchs were freely sold. Now that the Japanese had become enlightened, there surely was no danger that selling the emperor’s photograph would encourage disrespect; in fact, photographs would induce feelings of respectful affection. In December an official in Kanagawa Prefecture stated that in the absence of a prohibition, the local police were allowing the sale of photographs of the emperor, empress, and dowager empress. He asked for a ruling. The following March the government prohibited the sale of the photographs (Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 435–36).

  4. He was accompanied by more than 300 ranking officials, chamberlains, physicians, cavalry troops, foot soldiers, grooms, and so on, plus about 400 police (Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 466). This entourage was still much smaller than the customary size of a daimyo’s procession.

  5. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 468.

  6. Ibid., 4, p. 490.

  7. Ibid., 4, p. 503.

  8. Ibid., 4, p. 528.

  9. Ibid., 4, p. 512.

  10. George H. Kerr, Okinawa, p. 374.

  11. Ōta Masahide, Kindai Okinawa no seiji kōzō, p. 92.

  12. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 585. See also Kerr, Okinawa, p. 377.

  13. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 603–4.

  14. For Meiji’s edict, see ibid., 4, p. 628.

  15. Ibid., 4, p. 642.

  16. Ibid., 4, p. 659.

  17. Ibid., 4, pp. 663–64.

  18. Ibid., 4, pp. 665–66.

  19. Hugh Borton, Japan’s Modern Century, pp. 160–61. Borton gives in Chinese the phrase identifying the murdered fishermen as Japanese (p. 169).

  20. The figure is according to Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 690. According to Ōta, there were ninety-six retainers (Kindai, p. 104).

  21. Liliuokalani, the queen of Hawaii, was not nearly as well treated by the Americans, who deposed her in 1893.

  22. One party, known as the Kaika-tō, favored modernization of the country; the other, the Ganko-tō, opposed all change as destructive to tradition. The former tended to favor Japan; the latter, China. For a fuller description of the two parties, see Nakahara Zenchū, Ryūkyū no rekishi, pp. 131–32.

  23. Nakayama Morishige, Ryūkyū shi jiten, p. 419.

  24. Sasamori Gisuke, Nantō taiken, 1, p. 131.

  25. Ibid., 2, p. 123.

  26. Ibid., 2, p. 204. Ōta describes instances of violent opposition to the Japanese occupation of the islands (Kindai, pp. 106–7).

  Chapter 31

  1. William S. McFeely, Grant, p. 450.

  2. Ibid., p. 457.

  3. Ibid., pp. 453, 463, 472.

  4. Li Hung Chang referred to his suppression of the T’ai P’ing Rebellion in the same years that Grant had conquered the rebellion of the southern states (McFeely, Grant, p. 474).

  5. John Russell Young, Around the World with General Grant, 2, p. 411.

  6. Ibid., 2, pp. 443, 447–48.

  7. Ibid., 2, p. 451.

  8. Ibid., 2, p. 533.

  9. This took place at the Hibiya army parade grounds on the morning of July 7 (Young, Around the World, 2, p. 532). For a detailed description, see Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 702–3.

  10. Young, Around the World, 2, p. 477.

  11. Ibid., 2, p. 481.

  12. Ibid., 2, p. 529. It is not clear whether this was true. It is possible that Meiji shook hands with earlier visitors such as Prince Alfred.

  13. Young, Around the World, 2, p. 567.

  14. Ibid., 2, pp. 533, 530.

  15. Ibid., 2, pp. 542, 526, 538, 548.

  16. Ibid., 2, pp. 527–28. An abbreviated version of this account is in Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 698–700.

  17. The formal message of welcome from the emperor to Grant and Grant’s reply are in Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 699–700. Meiji expressed his pleasure at meeting a man whose fame had long preceded him, his gratitude for the friendship Grant had shown Japanese visitors (especially at the time of the Iwakura mission) during his presidency, and his joy that Grant had visited Japan during his round-the-world voyage.

  18. Young, Around the World, 2, p. 534.

  19. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 703.

  20. Ibid., 4, p. 703.

  21. Ibid., 4, p. 704.

  22. Ibid., 4, p. 705.

  23. Shimbun shūsei Meiji hennen shi, 4, p. 75.

  24. Meiji tennō ki, 4, p. 712. Saigō Tsugumichi and Mori Arinori were also sent to Nikkō.

  25. Young, Around the World, 2, pp. 558–59.

  26. Meiji tennō ki, 4, pp. 708–10. A detailed account of the conflicting views of Japan and China on the Ryūkyū question was published by John Russell Young in the August 15 and September 1 issues of the New York Herald. A translation into Japanese, published from October 14 to October 27 in the Hōchi shimbun, may be found in Guranto shōgun to no gotaiwa hikki, pp. 69–95.

  27. Meiji tennō
ki, 4, p. 720.

  28. A page from the original English transcript is reproduced in Guranto shōgun, p. xiii. It is in normal, rather distinguished script, not in shorthand. Some words have been corrected, perhaps because the scribe in his haste made mistakes or because Grant himself, speaking impromptu, had made mistakes of grammar. The corrections seem to be in Grant’s hand. The comments made by the emperor are very much shorter than Grant’s words of advice. Sometimes comments are in the third person (“Expressed his hope for the most peaceful and harmonious relations with China”), suggesting that the interpreter had passed on to Grant only a summary of the emperor’s words. Both the English text and the Japanese translation by Shimada Tanemori were at first preserved in the house of Yoshida Kiyonari, but later given to the Kyōto University Library (Guranto shōgun, p. 99).

  29. Guranto shōgun, pp. 21–22. The English expression is unnatural, but the meaning is clear enough. The fault may lie with the typesetters of the English text I have used, rather than with Grant or the interpreter.

  30. Guranto shōgun, pp. 22–23.

  31. Young, Around the World, 2, p. 605.

  32. Guranto shōgun, pp. 15, 18–19.

  33. Ibid., p. 22.

  34. Young wrote, “One of the odd phases of the English policy in the East is, that while England allows her own colonies to do as they please in tariffs, to have free-trade or protection, she insists that Japan and China should arrange their imports and tariffs solely with the view of helping English trade” (Around the World, p. 582).

  35. On January 5, 1879, Sir Harry Parkes wrote a letter from “Yedo” in which he said, “The Americans have made a Treaty with Japan—such a Treaty! but they have protected themselves from its consequences by stipulating that it is not to take effect until other nations agree to a similar Treaty, which we, for one, are certainly not likely to do” (quoted in F. V. Dickins and S. Lane-Poole, The Life of Sir Harry Parkes, 2, p. 268). For provisions of the American treaty (which was never put into effect), see Shimbun shūsei Meiji hennen shi, 4, pp. 72–73. The treaty, signed in Washington by Yoshida Kiyonari and Secretary of State William M. Evarts, was dated August 7, 1878. It was approved by Meiji on February 7, 1879.