Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (141 page)

Even after he reluctantly agreed to receive Prince Arthur and accept the Garter, the honor seems not to have meant much to the emperor. When Saionji Kinmochi, who had replaced Katsura Tar
ō
as prime minister in 1906, asked the emperor to go to Yokohama to meet the prince’s ship, he refused, saying there was no precedent. He agreed to go only as far as Shimbashi Station. This gesture, though much less than what Saionji had requested, had struck Redesdale as being “an act of kingly hospitality most graciously conceived, most graciously carried out.”

The emperor’s resistance continued to the end. His protocol officer informed him that the recipient of the Garter must not wear any other decorations at the ceremony, but the emperor insisted on wearing several Japanese decorations. He finally removed the Order of the Chrysanthemum, but kept the eighth-grade Paulownia Leaf pinned to his chest, as if to assert the importance of Japanese decorations.

Redesdale did not mention this violation of the etiquette of the Garter, nor did he mention the awkward incident that occurred during the conferment. As the prince was buckling the Garter below the emperor’s knee, the pin pricked his finger, and the decoration was stained with his blood. The prince, who was only twenty-three, was obviously nervous, but the emperor seemed quite unperturbed by the sight of blood. The chamberlain Hinonishi Sukehiro related how, once the ceremony had ended, the emperor, still wearing the hat and other insignia received during the ceremony, left the Hall of Ceremonies and retired to his private quarters. He removed the hat, and as he passed it to a palace lady, he gave a great laugh, as much as to say “
Nanda, konna mono wo
” (What am I supposed to do with such a thing?)
¹⁵
At lunch that day with Sue-matsu Kench
ō
(an adviser to the Privy Council) and others, the emperor related what had happened and expressed admiration for Prince Arthur’s composure. Later, he showed Suematsu and a few others the bloodstains.
¹⁶

That evening, the emperor paid the obligatory return visit to Prince Arthur. According to Lord Redesdale, he expressed great admiration of the ceremony and of the smoothness with which it had been conducted, diplomatically avoiding mention of the mishap. Then, producing a lacquer box, he took from it the ribbon and star of the Order of the Chrysanthemum and with his own hands put the ribbon over the prince’s shoulder and pinned the star to his breast. Once again, Lord Redesdale was overcome: “Never before, not even in the case of the Crown Prince, has His Majesty deigned to invest a recipient. As a rule he has handed the box containing the Insignia unopened. Sometimes he has gone so far as to open it. But no man save Prince Arthur alone can boast that the Emperor put on the ribbon or fixed the star for him.”
¹⁷

That evening the emperor gave a state dinner in honor of Prince Arthur and the Garter mission. Prince Arthur led the way to the banquet hall with Princess Arisugawa; next came the emperor wearing the star and collar of the Garter and leading Princess Higashi Fushimi; and after them, the rest of the princes and princesses. The dinner, according to Lord Redesdale, was excellent and not too long:

As soon as the sweet course was reached, the Emperor rose and gave the toast of the King of England, which was drunk in all solemnity, the band playing “God Save the King.” Shortly afterward Prince Arthur got up and wished “health, long life, and prosperity to His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan,” and now burst forth the stately National Anthem of Japan. This, it may be noted, is the first occasion upon which an Emperor of Japan has ever proposed a toast.
¹⁸

Redesdale concluded his description of the day in these exhilarated tones:

So ended a memorable day, a day which has broken all records and established many precedents, a day of happy augury, marking a new epoch in the relations between the two countries. Some forty years ago I was looking with a Japanese gentleman at a map of the world on Mercator’s projection; pointing to England in the west and Japan in the east, he said, “Look at those two island kingdoms! are they not like the two eyes in a face? If they could only see together!” That pious wish of a man who has been dead for many years has now been realised—realised, it may be hoped, as a security for peace, at any rate in the Far East.
¹⁹

On February 24 a program of entertainment was given in honor of Prince Arthur of Connaught at the Kabuki Theater. It opened with a kabuki play specially written for the occasion by Masuda Tar
ō
, which concludes with the Englishman Miura Anjin
²⁰
marrying a Japanese girl named Ots
ū
. The ceremony ends with a geisha dance and a song of welcome to the young prince. The final words, according to Redesdale, were

Now the two countries unite in love for ever, and ever, and ever.

Chorus
—
Wakamiya
Welcome

Yoi, Yoi, Yoiya, Sa
.
²¹

The festivities officially ended with the emperor visiting the Kasumigaseki Detached Palace on February 26 to say goodbye to Prince Arthur, but the prince remained in Japan until March 16 in order to sightsee in Ky
ō
to, Nara, Ky
ū
sh
ū
, and Nikk
ō
.

The renewal of the alliance with Britain changed Japan’s relations with Korea. The Japanese had been worried that the powers might object if wartime measures in Korea were developed into a policy of permanent occupation, but Britain had made it plain that it would not cause any difficulties. The power most sympathetic to Korea, the United States, also indicated that it was willing for Japanese influence to prevail in Korea.
²²
On November 2 the emperor sent for It
ō
Hirobumi and commanded him to travel to Korea as a special ambassador. It
ō
was to take this letter from Emperor Meiji to Emperor Kojong:

The emperor of Great Japan respectfully addresses his dear friend His Majesty, the emperor of Korea.

In order to complete the defenses of the empire and to maintain peace throughout East Asia, I was recently obliged to open hostilities with a neighboring country and, after twenty months of warfare, was finally able to achieve peace. During this time Your Majesty always shared my joys and sorrows, and the peoples of both countries experienced together the dangers and comforts. I am accordingly sending as special ambassador a man I trust, Marquis It
ō
Hirobumi, of the senior second rank of Grand Merit, the president of the Privy Council, to report to Your Majesty the achievement of an honorable peace. It will give me the greatest pleasure if he is granted a personal audience with Your Majesty at which he can convey without concealment the sincerity of my earnest wishes for the future peaceful relations between our two countries. I believe that we have reached a point where we must expect that relations between our two countries will become closer than ever. The defenses of Your country unfortunately are not yet sufficient, and the foundations of self-defense are still not solid. This has meant that they have been inadequate to secure peace throughout East Asia, a situation that Your Majesty and I have both had the occasion to deplore. For this reason, a treaty was concluded last year between our two countries that delegated responsibility for the defense of your country to mine. Even though, happily, peace has been restored, it is extremely important to make the union between our two empires firmer than ever, in order to maintain peace permanently and to prevent future troubles in East Asia. I have instructed my government to establish and execute the appropriate measures. I promise Your Majesty that the security and dignity of Your imperial house will not suffer in the slightest but will be safely preserved. Hoping that Your Majesty, giving profound consideration to tendencies in the world and considering the welfare of Your country and people, will vouchsafe to listen to my most sincere advice, I pray for Your Majesty’s happiness and the tranquillity of Your imperial house.
²³

It
ō
’s mission was to inform the Koreans that in the treaty of peace signed at Portsmouth, Russia had recognized Japanese political, military, and economic rights in Korea and had promised not to interfere with any measures Japan might take to guide and protect Korea. He was empowered to sign a new treaty with Korea that would guarantee its territorial integrity and future peace in East Asia.

On November 15 It
ō
had an audience with Emperor Kojong, but before he could say a word concerning his mission, the emperor poured out his complaints about Japanese actions in Korea. He began with an expression of regret that Inoue Kaoru, the most enlightened Japanese minister to Korea, a man whose advice he had gladly followed, had been recalled, leading to an indescribable event (the murder of Queen Min). If only Inoue had remained longer, this calamity would never have occurred. It is true that the ringleaders of the plot were Koreans, but it cannot be doubted that they depended on Japanese might.

However, the emperor continued, there was no point in dwelling on long-ago events; he would discuss what had taken place since It
ō
first visited Korea in March of the preceding year. The Japanese had established a banking system that was supposed to be exclusively in Korean hands, but in fact a Japanese bank, the Daiichi Bank, controlled the transactions, causing the Korean people great financial distress. The Japanese had meddled in even the private property of the imperial house. When the emperor complained to General Hasegawa, the resident commander in chief, he declared that this was necessary, and the imperial family had said no more.

Financial matters were not the only problem. Postal and telegraphic communications—the lifeblood of any society—were entirely in the hands of the Japanese as the result of “improvements” proposed by the Japanese and accepted by the unsuspecting Koreans. Meiji’s letter had mentioned the inadequate state of Korean defenses, but this was the result of Japanese intervention. The Korean armed forces had been so severely reduced by order of the Japanese that they were powerless to suppress even banditry, let alone foreign attack. The Japanese military had issued orders protecting railways and telegraphic communications, but badly educated Koreans could not be expected to understand a notice tacked up somewhere, and those who violated the Japanese orders were sentenced by military law to be shot by a firing squad.

At first, the emperor continued, the Japanese were welcomed, but people eventually came to cry out in angry voices. Of late, there had been rumors that foreign affairs would henceforth be in the hands of the Japanese, and this had created even more apprehension. These developments had made Koreans, high and low alike, suspect the sincerity of Japanese intentions. The emperor urged It
ō
to put himself in the place of Koreans faced with the present crisis.

It
ō
probably had not been expecting these charges but replied that he was well aware of the discontent described by the emperor. He had one question to ask, however: On whom had Korea depended for its very survival to this day? And thanks to whom was Korea independent? Did the emperor, knowing these things, still complain?

The emperor interrupted him, saying, “I am perfectly well aware of these matters. Yes, our independence was made clear in the Treaty of Tientsin of 1885 and the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895. This was entirely due to Japan’s strength and to your truly great skills as a negotiator.”

The emperor then proceeded at length to justify his decision in 1896 to take refuge in the Russian legation. It
ō
, who had yet to describe his mission, could not conceal his displeasure, and even while the emperor’s remarks were being interpreted into Japanese, he forcibly interrupted. He said, “I have come before Your Majesty with an imperial command from His Majesty, and I was about to deliver it when I was obliged to listen to Your Majesty’s tales of long ago. Those are secondary matters. I do not object to hearing them, and some other day, when I have time, I will be glad to listen in detail. But now I intend to inform you of the substance of my mission.”
²⁴

Despite his impatience with references to the past, It
ō
began his oration with his meeting in 1885 in Tientsin with Li Hung-chang. On that occasion he had insisted on preserving the independence of Korea and had prevented Li from carrying out plans that would have threatened it. Again, in 1894 China had sought to take advantage of the Tonghak rebellion to impose its rule on Korea, but Japan had defeated China in the ensuing war. The greatest menace to Korean independence then became Russia, which encircled Korea by land and sea and seemed ready to annex Korea. But Japan willingly sacrificed the lives of its citizens and its national wealth to rescue East Asia from this menace. As the result of the war, Korean territorial integrity had been preserved, as the world recognized. It
ō
was aware that some suffering in Korea had been caused by measures taken by Japan, but this was unavoidable, and he was sure that it was not asking too much of the Koreans to put up with these difficulties. As the result of Japanese policy, Korean territory had been preserved and peace in East Asia won.

It
ō
moved at last to current issues: the emperor of Japan, desiring to maintain peace permanently and to prevent future threats to East Asia, had sent him to Korea to meet His Majesty and to inform him of his desire that the union between Korea and Japan be made even firmer. Korean relations with foreign countries would be managed by the Japanese government, but internal affairs would continue to be left to the Korean emperor to decide. This change would end disturbances in East Asia, ensure the peace and dignity of the Korean imperial household, and promote the happiness of the Korean people.
²⁵