Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (187 page)

60
. Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, p. 95.

61
. The letter is in the library of the University of Virginia.

Chapter 43

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 804.

2
. Donald Keene, “The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and Japanese Culture,” pp. 261–62.

3
. It is not clear which photograph was sent; possibly it was not a photograph but a reproduction of Chiossone’s etching. On November 25 of the same year, tacit permission was given to sell portraits of the emperor, empress, and dowager empress (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
7, p. 934).

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 5. Shinagawa’s first fame was as a composer.

5
. There were 25 deaths and nearly 400 injuries.

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 19. In
Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan
, Roger Hackett gives the figure of 183 for the popular parties.

7
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, pp. 25–26.

8
. Ibid., 8, p. 67. The Sh
ū
gi-in passed a similar resolution, affirming that officials had interfered with the election and demanding that the cabinet ministers accept responsibility (p. 68).

9
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 22.

10
. Ibid., 8, p. 32.

11
. Shinagawa was unrepentant about the methods he employed during the election. He explained, “If the obstructionists were re-elected it would endanger the nation’s safety; therefore, various means were used to influence the election so that they would be defeated and loyal representatives would be elected. If similar conditions should prevail in the future, I would do the same again and exterminate the obstructionists” (Okutani Matsuji,
Shinagawa Yajir
ō
den
, pp. 286–87, as quoted in Hackett,
Yamagata
, p. 152).

12
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 32.

13
. Ibid., 8, p. 33.

14
. Ibid., 8, p. 39. Other evaluations by the emperor of the men around him are quoted from Sasaki’s diary, pp. 107, 126–27.

15
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 94.

16
. Ibid., 8, pp. 100–101.

17
. Ibid., 8, pp. 103–4.

18
. Ibid., 8, p. 227.

19
. Ibid., 8, p. 104. The empress subsequently (on November 25, 1892) made a supplemental gift of 5,000 yen to the Sekai hakurankai Nihon fujinkai.

20
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 117.

21
. Ibid., 8, p. 161.

22
. Ibid., 8, pp. 187–88. As we have seen (in chapter 41), Meiji anticipated this possibility. It
ō
had told him that in such cases the government would have to try to persuade the Diet to change its mind.

23
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 189.

24
. The text is in ibid., 8, pp. 195–97.

25
. Ibid., 8, p. 206.

26
. Ibid., 8, pp. 209, 239.

27
. Ibid., 8, pp. 211–12.

28
. Ibid., 8, pp. 273–74.

29
. Ibid., 8, p. 340. He made a similar statement at a cabinet meeting on December 11.

30
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 348.

31
. Ibid., 8, p. 359.

32
. Ibid., 8, p. 372.

Chapter 44

1
. The prince (the future Emperor Taish
ō
) became an excellent calligrapher, and the
kanshi
he composed are surprisingly skillful. It has been stated that he spoke English, French, and German fluently (see, for example, Julia Meech-Pekarik,
The World of the Meiji Print
, p. 128), but this seems improbable.

2
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, pp. 584, 586, 595.

3
. The print by Hashimoto Chikanobu entitled
Fus
ō
k
ō
ki kagami
, published on August 8, 1887, shows the crown prince standing between the emperor, seated to the right, and the empress, seated to the left. His face is turned in the direction of the empress, but he is gesturing toward the emperor. Three books lie on the table behind the prince, perhaps intended to suggest that he was a diligent student (reproduced in color in Meech-Pekarik,
World of the Meiji Print
, plate 23). A somewhat later (August 23, 1887) print by Chikanobu entitled
Kanjo Y
ō
fuko saih
ō
no zu
shows the crown prince, the empress, and a little girl in a room where one court lady operates a sewing machine and another measures fabric (reproduced in color, plate 24).

4
. The gold medals were intended for members of the imperial family (
k
ō
zoku
) (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, pp. 382–83).

5
. However, the best known of the
nishikie
depicting the celebration, showing various Japanese and foreign dignitaries presenting their messages of congratulations to the emperor, is Nansai Toshitada’s
Dai Nihon teikoku ginkon goshiki
, evidence that the term “silver wedding” (
ginkon
) was used at least informally. The scene depicted in this print was imagined, as it was published before the actual ceremony. For a reproduction, see Konishi Shir
ō
,
Nisshin sens
ō
, pp. 16–17. Other prints published at the same time by Toyoharu Kuniteru and Shunsai Toshimasa included the word
ginkonshiki
in their titles (pp. 18–19).

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, pp. 384–90. For the menu of the dinner served in the palace, see
Tenn
ō
ke no ky
ō
en
, p. 41.

7
. For a discussion of Fukuzawa’s relations with Kim Ok-kyun and other Korean intellectuals, see Kan Je-on,
Chosen no j
ō
i to kaika
, pp. 193–203. Kinebuchi Nobuo’s
Fukuzawa Yukichi to Ch
ō
sen
is a full-length study of Fukuzawa’s opinions on Korea.

8
. Kim took the name Iwata Sh
ū
saku shortly after arriving in Japan in 1884, but when he went to China in 1894 he changed his name to Iwata Sanwa,
sanwa
(three peace) being a reference to his plan for the three nations of East Asia to cooperate in keeping out foreigner aggressors (Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, pp. 174, 184).

9
. On May 17, 1894, thirty-five members of the Jiy
ū
-t
ō
presented a question to the government concerning the assassination of Kim Ok-kyun and the attempted assassination of Pak Yong-hyo. They claimed that Korean assassins had crossed into Japan three times with this mission, each time claiming it was by order of the king (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 412).

10
. Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, p. 185. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 624–25.

11
. Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, p. 183.

12
. Ibid., p. 185; Kinebuchi Nobuo,
Nikkan k
ō
sh
ō
shi
, p. 107.

13
. Tsunoda Fusako,
Minbi ansatsu
, p. 186.

14
. For example, Hayashi Tadasu, at the time the deputy foreign minister, recalled in his memoirs that he had advised Kim to give up his plan of going to Shanghai, asking, “Isn’t that, as far as you are concerned, enemy territory?” Kim answered that Shanghai was neutral ground (referring presumably to the international concessions) and therefore not dangerous, but he promised to consult Fukuzawa Yukichi on the advisability of travel to Shanghai as soon as Fukuzawa returned from a tour of Ky
ū
sh
ū
(Hayashi Tadasu,
Ato wa mukashi no ki
, pp. 73, 253).

15
. He made this statement to Miyazaki T
ō
ten (Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, pp. 174–75).

16
. Kan says that the bill of exchange (
kawase tegata
) was fake (
Ch
ō
sen
, p. 176). Hong was the first Korean to study in France. After leaving Paris in 1893 he did not return to Seoul but went instead to Tokyo. He contacted Koreans in Japan, hoping for their assistance in getting a job in the Korean government. Yi Il-sik apparently promised his assistance if Hong killed Kim (Tsunoda,
Minbi
, p. 188). Hayashi Tadasu (who knew Hong personally) thought he had killed Kim in order to win favor with the queen of Korea (
Ato wa mukashi
, p. 73).

17
. For Kim’s personality and achievements, see Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, pp. 187–93. See also the brief account in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 396

18
. This account is derived from Wada’s recollections, as given in Kan,
Ch
ō
sen
, pp. 179–80. The chief authority in the International Settlement was the British consul general. He turned Kim’s body over to the Chinese without following the proper procedures, laying the British open to the charge of having condoned the crime (Kinebuchi,
Fukuzawa
, p. 160). A different account was given in the Sh
ū
gi-in on May 18: Moriya Koresuke of the Rikken kaishint
ō
asked the government why, after having been loaded aboard the ship and all formalities completed, Kim’s coffin should have been seized by the Chinese and loaded aboard a Chinese ship. He considered the Chinese action to be an insult to Japan. On May 31 the government replied with its own version of what had happened. It said that Wada had received the coffin but, instead of loading it aboard ship, left it lying by the road and went away. The chief of police of the International Settlement, following regulations, moved the coffin to the police station. Wada returned to Japan without making any arrangement for receiving the coffin. The Chinese government had indeed disposed of the body, but there was no “snatching away” of the coffin as alleged, and there was no occasion for the Japanese government to intervene. Regardless of whether or not this official account is correct, it shows how reluctant the Japanese government was to become involved (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 413).

19
. For a drawing of this grisly sight, as depicted in the
Jiji shimp
ō
of April 24, 1894, see Kinebuchi,
Nikkan
, p. 118. Kinebuchi gives extracts from the Japanese press reporting the crime. There is also a blurred photograph of the exposed head and the inscription in Fujimura Michio,
Nisshin sens
ō
, p. 48.

20
. Fujimura,
Nisshin
, p. 49.

21
. Hayashi wrote, “There is no doubt that the dispatch of troops to Asan was the fuse leading to the Sino-Japanese War, but I believe that it was in fact precipitated by the assassination of Kim and the actions of the China at this time” (
Ato wa mu-kashi
, p. 74). According to Fujimura, Hayashi “testified” that Foreign Minister Mutsu decided on a war with China because of the assassination of Kim and the Chinese actions (
Nisshin
, p. 49).

22
. Kinebuchi,
Fukuzawa
, pp. 156–60.

23
. Mutsu Munemitsu,
Kenkenroku
, trans. Gordon Mark Berger, p. 5.

24
. See the brief account in Ki-baik Lee,
A New History of Korea
, trans. Edward W. Wagner, pp. 258–59; see also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 428.

25
. Katano Tsugio,
Rich
ō
metsub
ō
, p. 103.

26
. Ibid., p. 104.

27
. Ibid.

28
. Gordon Mark Berger, who translated the work, preferred to leave the title in romaji, but he gave as a literal translation “A Record of Arduous and Selfless Service to the Throne” (Mutsu,
Kenkenroku
, p. 257).

29
. Mutsu,
Kenkenroku
, p. 5.