Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (184 page)

38
. The strange circumstances that led to Kuroda’s appointment in 1873 as a major general are given by Iguro Yatar
ō
in
Kuroda Kiyotaka
, pp. 91–92. Yamagata originally opposed the appointment, and Prince Taruhito said that it would only invite disaster.

39
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 15–16.

40
. Ibid., 6, p. 371. At the end of May, when Kuroda was in Shanghai, on his way from southern China to Peking, he sent Sanj
ō
a report describing recent acts of European imperialism in East Asia. He mentioned also what he had heard about defenses along the Kwangtung and Fuchow coasts.

41
. Iguro,
Kuroda
, pp. 195–96.

42
. Ibid., p. 200.

43
. Ibid., p. 201. No doubt Sasaki’s views, communicated to the emperor, had influenced him.

44
. Iguro,
Kuroda
, p. 118. It was rumored that Kuroda, in a drunken state, had killed his wife, by either stabbing or beating her.

45
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 503. Normally, when the emperor visited the house of some dignitary, he was entertained with n
ō
, but Kuroda provided instead sumo matches in a ring specially built in his mansion.

46
. Iguro,
Kuroda
, pp. 198–99.

47
. It
ō
’s success in steadily pushing forward his program of government reform is described by Sakamoto Kazuto in
It
ō
Hirobumi to Meiji kokka keisei
. For an account of It
ō
’s activities between 1883 (when he returned from Europe where he had studied the Prussian constitution) and 1885 (when his plans for a cabinet government were approved by the emperor), see pp. 105–36.

48
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 514. His message to the throne, explaining his reasons, is on pp. 514–16.

49
. It is difficult to convey in English the change in the government. The previous government (
daj
ō
kan
) had consisted of three
daijin
:
daj
ō
daijin
(prime minister),
sadaijin
(minister of the left), and
udaijin
(minister of the right). In addition there were
ky
ō
(ministers) heading each of eight ministries. Under the cabinet (
naikaku
) system, there was a
s
ō
ri
(prime minister) and
daijin
(ministers) heading each of nine ministries. It
ō
was working toward a parliamentary democracy like that in England, with a cabinet consisting of members of the same party who were members of parliament and responsible to those who elected them. The English word “minister” translates not only
ky
ō
and
daijin
but
k
ō
shi
, a minister to a foreign country.

50
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 516–17. The emperor’s proclamation on December 23 announcing the reorganization of the government is on pp. 518–19.

Chapter 39

1
. A rare instance of mention of the nature of the emperor’s illness is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 595, where it says he was suffering from a gastric ailment.

2
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 530.

3
. Ibid., 6, pp. 542–43.

4
. Ibid., 6, p. 572. Shortly afterward, a stray bullet some twenty or thirty feet from the emperor’s carriage hit a groom, passing through his leg. The commander of the Household Guards felt this was so grave an offense that he asked to resign his post. However, the emperor decided about a month later that the offense did not require a resignation.

The empress seems to have taken an increased interest in military matters from this time. On March 28, 1887, she visited the Rikugun shikan gakk
ō
and observed the various activities there (p. 721).

5
. According to Yamakawa Michiko, toward the end of his life Meiji favored just two
gon no tenji
, Sono and Ogura Fumiko (“Kindan no jokan seikatsu kais
ō
ki,” p. 194). Ogura was barren and for this reason does not figure in the gallery of portraits of the emperor’s ladies.

6
. Sono Motosachi was the third son of Sono Motoshige. Naruko, the wife of Nakayama Tadayasu, was the adopted daughter of Motoshige. This means that Mo-toshige was both the great-grandfather of Meiji and the grandfather of Sono Sachiko.

7
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 509.

8
. Ibid., 6, p. 509.

9
. Ibid., 6, p. 544. It is not clear from this account which variety of medicine was employed for the birth of the princess.

10
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 579.

11
. Ibid., 6, pp. 504, 510.

12
. Iizawa Tadashi,
Isetsu Meiji tenn
ō
den
, p. 53.

13
. According to
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 630, everything to do with the prince had been left in the hands of Nakayama Yoshiko (the emperor’s biological mother). Although she was strict with Mutsuhito, Yoshihito’s delicate health may have induced her to be excessively lenient with him.

14
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 570–71.

15
. Ibid., 6, p. 808.

16
. The name of T
ō
ky
ō
University was changed to Teikoku daigaku on March 1, 1886. The change was at the instigation of the minister of education, Mori Arinori, and reflected his belief that the principal function of education was to train persons who would be of service to the state. For a description of the changes in the structure of Imperial University at this time, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 551–52.

17
. Quoted by Yoshida Kumaji in “Kaisetsu” to Nishimura Shigeki,
Nihon d
ō
toku ron
, p. 117. The lectures were given on December 11, 17, and 26 in the university’s lecture hall and were open to students as well as the community at large.

18
. Nishimura,
Nihon d
ō
toku ron
, pp. 10–11.

19
. Ibid., pp. 12, 14.

20
. Ibid., p. 14.

21
. Ibid., p. 15.

22
. For five failings of Confucianism (such as the lack of dignity for people of humble status and the inequality sanctioned between men and women), see ibid., pp. 28–29, and for four failings of philosophy, pp. 31–33.

23
. Nishimura,
Nihon d
ō
toku ron
, pp. 60–64.

24
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 670.

25
. This account is derived mainly from Kawai Hikomitsu, “Norumanton g
ō
jiken,” pp. 4–5. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 644, 666–67.

26
. The opening of the song (“Normanton-g
ō
chimbotsu no uta”), a translation, and the music are in William P. Malm, “Modern Music of Meiji Japan,” p. 287. The song opens:
Kishi utsu nami no / oto takaku / yowa no arashi ni / yume samete / ao unabara wo / nagametsutsu / waga harakara wa / izuko zo to / yobedo sakebedo / koe wa naku
.

27
. Dissatisfaction was not confined to the Japanese. The French artist Georges Bigot published a cartoon showing members of the British crew safely ensconced in a rowboat while Japanese, only their heads visible, float in the water. The captain is demanding money from any Japanese who wants to be saved. The cartoon is reproduced in Irokawa Daikichi,
Kindai kokka no shuppatsu
, p. 438.

28
. It is probable, however, that the warm feelings the Japanese court entertained toward foreign royalty were not fully reciprocated. In June 1887 Prince Akihito represented the Japanese court at the celebration in London of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign. The prince was disgruntled to see that his name was missing from the list of foreign dignitaries participating in the ceremonies. And his hotel accommodations were inferior to those of European members of royalty. When he was about to go to Westminster Abbey, he was not provided with a state vehicle but had to hire a cab, and when he arrived, he discovered he was seated with Siamese and Hawaiian royalty rather than with members of the European royal houses. This (and other affronts) persuaded him that the British still thought of Japan as being no more than a small island in the Orient (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 764–65).

29
. They would be joined in Ky
ō
to by the empress dowager, who had arrived there on January 14.

30
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 721.

31
. Ibid., 6, pp. 712–13.

32
. The T
ō
ky
ō
Club was founded in 1881 as a place where gentlemen of both Japan and the West might form friendly relations.

33
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 732. See also Donald H. Shively, “The Japanization of the Middle Meiji,” p. 94. He quotes a passage from the book
Jinshu kairy
ō
ron
by Takahashi Yoshio, published in 1884, in which the author claimed that the Japanese, “with their weak minds and bodies,” could not hope to compete with white men and would only be exhausted in the attempt. The only remedy was to strengthen the race with intermarriages with the white race. When asked his opinion in 1892, Herbert Spencer advised against it.

34
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 735–36. See also Inoue Kiyoshi,
J
ō
yaku kaisei
, pp. 108–9.

35
. He returned to Japan on June 23 after more than a year in Europe, where he had observed agricultural, commercial, and industrial conditions. He had seen how armaments had increased, which had made him aware of the dangerous world situation. Perhaps that is why he also studied international law with Lorenz von Stein in Vienna (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 765–66, 777).

36
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 778–79.

37
. Ibid., 6, p. 782.

38
. Ibid., 6, pp. 788–89. See also Inoue,
J
ō
yaku kaisei
, pp. 112–13.

39
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 804.

40
. Ibid., 6, pp. 803–6.

41
. Ibid., 6, p. 799.

Chapter 40

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 20.

2
. In the summer of 1888, the tutors of Prince Yoshihito (who had been afflicted with whooping cough in April) suggested that he be taken to Hakone to escape the heat. Meiji’s permission was requested, but he was obviously displeased and gave his consent reluctantly, stipulating that it should be for only a week and that the prince must be accompanied by Motoda Nagazane (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 116). Probably he felt uneasy at the thought the prince would be so far away, but he may also have felt that it was incumbent on the prince, as on himself, to suffer through the summer heat along with millions of other Japanese. However, the stay in Hakone was evidently beneficial to the prince’s health, and it became customary for him to leave Tokyo in both the summer and the winter for places with more equable climates.

3
. Palace doctors of Chinese medicine were replaced in December 1888 with Western-trained doctors (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 167). In February 1889 the emperor asked army and navy surgeons to conduct an investigation as to why so many of his children had died (p. 203).

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 4.

5
. A photograph would, of course, have been an even more exact likeness, but Chiossone (at a time when taking a photograph indoors required considerable time and illumination) could not have photographed the emperor indoors without his being aware.

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 7.