Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (179 page)

27
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 720.

28
. A page from the original English transcript is reproduced in
Guranto sh
ō
gun
, 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 Ky
ō
to University Library (
Guranto sh
ō
gun
, p. 99).

29
.
Guranto sh
ō
gun
, 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 sh
ō
gun
, pp. 22–23.

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

32
.
Guranto sh
ō
gun
, 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 sh
ū
sei 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.

36
.
Guranto sh
ō
gun
, p. 26.

37
. Ibid., p. 17.

38
. Asukai Masamichi,
Meiji taitei
, p. 183.

39
. Asukai wrote that because Grant’s advocacy of gradualism came from a leader of an advanced country, it probably greatly strengthened the hand of the emperor, who had already demonstrated his preference for a gradual approach to the creation of a parliament (
Meiji taitei
, p. 183). At this time, by contrast,
Ō
kuma Shigenobu favored setting a timetable for calling a parliament within two years.

40
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 729–32. Grant urged the Japanese to withdraw the harsh words they had used about the Chinese, and the Chinese, to withdraw the equally harsh language they had used about the Japanese. A useful summary in English of the negotiations between Japan and China is in George H. Kerr,
Okinawa
, pp. 389–92.

41
. Kerr,
Okinawa
, p. 389.

42
.
Shimbun sh
ū
sei Meiji hennen shi
, 4, p. 75.

43
. For a full account of the festivities, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 735–40.

44
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 573.

45
. The curtain was crimson with the word
sh
ō
hei
, or “peace,” embroidered in white. To one side were the words “Guranto yori” (from Grant) woven in gold thread.

46
. For an account of the play, see
Engeki hyakka daijiten
, 2, p. 477. Although the cast included the greatest stars of kabuki—the ninth Ichikawa Danj
ū
r
ō
, the first Ichikawa Sadanji, the third Nakamura Nakaz
ō
, etc.—it was not a success.

47
. McFeely,
Grant
, p. 468.

48
. Yanagizawa Hideki,
H
ō
sh
ō
Kur
ō
den
, p. 34.

49
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 741. A similar, but not identical, speech is in
Shimbun sh
ū
sei Meiji hennen shi
, 4, p. 97. I have quoted elements of both.

50
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 602.

Chapter 32

1
. Harunomiya was a name denoting the crown prince, but the infant had not yet been so designated.

2
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 755–56. Probably Naruko was still suffering from the hysterics she had at the time of the birth.

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 821, 827. These works of art reached Japan in June. The government was of the opinion that they should be accepted by the Imperial Household Ministry, but it was not until December that these works were acknowledged. Ugolini was sent money and various expensive gifts. His portrait of the emperor is included in
Meiji tenn
ō
no Go-Sh
ō
z
ō
.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 746, 820. Meiji soon afterward sent a telegram to Alfonso XII congratulating him on his narrow escape from an assassin (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, p. 2).

5
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 773–74.

6
. Ibid., 4, pp. 777–78.

7
. Ibid., 4, p. 245. The
jiho
, a name proposed by It
ō
Hirobumi, was an office within the Imperial Household Ministry whose members were to serve and advise the emperor, compensating for possible deficiencies in the administration.

8
. Asukai Masamichi,
Meiji taitei
, pp. 175–76.

9
. This and the previous poem are quoted from Watanabe Ikujir
ō
,
Meiji tenn
ō
, 1, p. 159. Watanabe did not indicate that the former dated from 1907 and the latter from 1909 (
Shinsh
ū
Meiji tenn
ō
gyosh
ū
, pp. 911, 1023). Watanabe seems to have believed that both these two poems, written from quite different points of view, were characteristic of Emperor Meiji.

10
. Kishida Gink
ō
, “T
ō
hoku go-junk
ō
ki,” p. 396.

11
. Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 173.

12
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 364–65.

13
. Watanabe Ikujir
ō
,
Meiji tenn
ō
, 1, p. 220.

14
. For a brief account of the directive (as issued by the Ministry of Education on September 5, 1871), see Kokuritsu ky
ō
iku kenky
ū
jo, ed.,
Nihon kindai ky
ō
iku hyakunen shi
, pp. 477–89. The plan called for 8 university districts, further subdivided into 32 middle-school districts, with each middle-school district divided into 210 elementary-school districts. This would be a total of 53,760 elementary schools, or 1 school for each 600 pupils. The organization of the school system was an indication of French influence, and several of the men responsible had written or translated studies of French education (Katsube Mitake and Shibukawa Hisako,
D
ō
toku ky
ō
iku no rekishi
, p. 11). The curriculum actually followed in the schools tended to be modeled on American examples, under the influence of Guido Verbeck and other Americans. But France was the only major country with
instruction morale et religieuse
as an integral part of the curriculum, and this appealed to the Japanese (Katsube and Shibukawa,
D
ō
toku
, p. 211).

15
. Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 176.

16
. Katsube and Shibukawa,
D
ō
toku
, p. 13. The term
sh
ū
shin
was defined as
gy
ō
gi no satoshi
(instruction in deportment).
Sh
ū
shin
remained a part of the curriculum until the end of 1945.

17
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 758.

18
. Ibid., 4, pp. 758–59.

19
. Ibid., 4, p. 759.

20
. Ibid., 4, pp. 760–63. A translation of It
ō
’s memorial to the throne is in Herbert Passin,
Society and Education in Japan
, pp. 230–33.

21
. Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 178.

22
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 760–64.

23
. K
ō
no’s explanation of why it was necessary to change the educational system, presented to the emperor on December 9, is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, pp. 248–50. He denied that there had been excessive “meddling” by government officials in running the schools. See also Kokuritsu ky
ō
iku kenky
ū
jo, ed.,
Nihon kindai ky
ō
iku hyakyunen shi
, p. 930.

24
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, p. 250.

25
. Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 178.

Chapter 33

1
. On February 17 Meiji sent a telegram of congratulations to Czar Alexander II on his having escaped a bomb that destroyed part of his palace (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, p. 21).

2
. Sakamoto Kazuto,
It
ō
Hirobumi to Meiji kokka keisei
, p. 24. The emperor had previously (from April 4, 1879) attended cabinet meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, but after the change made on March 17, 1880, in the regulations governing cabinet meetings, the emperor attended all meetings except those held on Sundays or holidays. For the regulations, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
5, pp. 35–36. Note that the word
naikaku
(cabinet) did not have the modern meaning of “cabinet”; rather, it was the body of
sangi
(councillors), who were officially (
hohitsu
) “advisers” to the
daijin
(ministers) (Sakamoto,
It
ō
, p. 20).

3
. Sakamoto discusses It
ō
’s reasons for desiring the emperor’s participation in cabinet meetings (
It
ō
, pp. 12, 15, 19). It was essentially as a symbolic leader whose presence lent authority rather than as a sponsor of new ideas or as the spokesman of the conservative views typical of the
jiho
.

4
. This presupposed exchanging paper for specie at a rate of 1 yen 15 sen for 1 yen in specie (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, p. 71).

5
. Sakamoto,
It
ō
, p. 29.

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, pp. 74–75.

7
. He actually visited other prefectures in the course of the journey (including Kanagawa, Nagano, and Shiga), but the journey was officially to these three prefectures.

8
. T
ō
yama Shigeki,
Tenn
ō
to kazoku
, p. 81.

9
. An account of the journey by a reporter named Noda Chiaki was published in the
Ch
ō
ya shimbun
. Excerpts are in T
ō
yama,
Tenn
ō
, pp. 82–86. The first excerpt is the account of an old man who attempted to present a petition directly to the emperor but was prevented by the police. They contended that the man was deranged and drove him away, but the subject of the petition was probably quite rational, the convening of a parliament. The second excerpt concludes with a brief account of action taken by the police against a reporter for the
Iroha shimbun
who had mentioned in an article that a policeman had discovered a noble in the emperor’s escort sleeping with a geisha he brought with him from Tokyo. The police, warning the reporter that printing groundless rumors could cause immeasurable harm, required him in the future to submit articles in advance to a police officer, a beginning of censorship of the press.