Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (161 page)

9
.
Koji ruien
, 12, p. 747.

10
. Confucian texts. The Four Books were the
Analects
, the
Doctrine of the Mean
, the
Great Learning
, and
Mencius
. The Five Classics were the
Book of Changes
, the
Book of Odes
, the
Book of Documents
,
Spring and Autumn Annals
, and the
Book of Rites
.

11
. Higashikuze,
Ishin
, p. 33.
Gagaku
is the ancient ritual music still performed in the imperial palace and at some shrines. It is often accompanied by
bugaku
dances.

12
. Higashikuze,
Ishin
, p. 33. The seven shrines were Ise, Iwashimizu, the two Kamo shrines, Matsuo, Inari (Fushimi), and Kasuga; the seven temples were Ninna-ji, T
ō
dai-ji, K
ō
fuku-ji, Enryaku-ji, Enj
ō
-ji, T
ō
ji, and K
ō
ry
ū
-ji. It is noteworthy that all the Buddhist temples were affiliated with the old Nara sects or the Tendai and Shingon sects, not with the sects that arose to prominence in the Kamakura period or later.

13
. Higashikuze,
Ishin
, p. 34.

14
. Ibid., p. 35.

15
. Ibid., p. 35.

16
. The shogun’s chief representative in Ky
ō
to.

17
. She did not actually become his wife until January 10, 1848 (
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 764). Asako was born in 1834, but because this was an unlucky year, her birth was officially put back to 1833 (Fukuchi,
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
, p. 35). Even after she was recognized as K
ō
mei’s consort, her title remained
junk
ō
, or “next after the empress.” There are several variants of this title, of which the most common was
jusang
ū
, meaning “next after the three princesses”—the grand empress dowager, the empress dowager, and the empress. She was Meiji’s official mother, and after he ascended the throne, her title was changed to empress dowager (
k
ō
taik
ō
).

18
.
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 255. Further descriptions of the emperor’s message, from the
Buke dens
ō
kiroku
and other sources, are given on pp. 255–58.

19
.
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 370.

20
. Ibid., 1, p. 371. Of course, K
ō
mei had in mind the
kamikaze
that had destroyed the fleet of the Mongol invaders in the thirteenth century.

21
. Fukuchi,
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
, p. 44. On November 30 even ordinary people were admitted to the Gosho. According to Yamashina Tokinaru, whose diary
Tokinaruky
ō
ki
is a major source of information on this period, the crowds of miscellaneous visitors who came to see the decorations for the coronation were “as dense as clouds, as dense as mist,” and the congestion was so great there was not a empty space (
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 432).

22
.
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 512. This
tanka
was composed on the twenty-fifth day of the second month of 1848 at an anniversary service for Sugawara no Michizane. The plum tree (
ume
) was the first to blossom, which may be why it is mentioned; but there was also a traditional connection between Michizane and plum trees.

23
.
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, p. 950. For an interesting account of the prohibition of
narimono
(noisemakers) after the death of a member of the imperial or shogunal family, see Fujita,
Bakumatsu
, pp. 30–32.

24
.
K
ō
mei tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 39.

25
. Ibid., 2, p. 81.

Chapter 2

1
. Court officials, five or six in number at this time, who waited on the emperor and transmitted his words to members of the nobility.

2
. Imperial court officers, two in number at this time, who maintained liaison with the shogunate. They carried ceremonial messages and received shogunal officers at the court.

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 2.

4
. Ibid., 1, p. 3. A knife, called a
tek
ō
nagatana
, normally used in the
gembuku
ceremony to cut the hair of a boy who has come of age, substituted in the ceremony for the umbilical cord. The authors of the
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
commented that this was probably a remnant of some “old custom.”

5
. The sardines were of the kind called
gomame
, and they were considered to be felicitous because their name includes the word
mame
, meaning “healthy.”

6
. A very simple doll, rather like a modern
kokeshi
except for the arms, which stick out at right angles from the body, forming a kind of cross. Such dolls were placed beside the bed of an infant to absorb evil influences and thereby protect the child. They were kept by the bed until the child had reached its third year. The doll was about a foot and a half tall.

7
. “Hardhead” is a free translation of
kanagashira
, otherwise known as the “gurnard.” The choice of this particular fish was dictated by word magic: “hardhead,” the literal translation of the fish’s name, suggested that the baby would be unusually strong. The blue stones had the same significance.

8
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 27. Obviously, the baby’s declared wishes were supplied by “interpreters” of his infant howling.

9
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 46.

10
. Hori Tatsunosuke (1823–1892) was a member of a line of official interpreters and translators of Dutch. He later learned English and was the translator of the letter that James Biddle brought to Uraga in 1846. He later founded a school for teaching English and published an important manual for learning English.

11
. This was not a pretext. Tokugawa Ieyoshi (1793–1853) died on July 27. News of his death was kept secret by the shogunate for another month (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 55).

12
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 53.

Chapter 3

1
. Putiatin’s fleet arrived on August 21, 1853, but it took the shogunate about a month to get around to reporting the event to the court in Ky
ō
to (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 57). For a good account of the background of Putiatin’s mission, see Wada Haruki,
Kaikoku
.

2
. For the background of the Russian government’s decision, which Putiatin learned of while in the Bonin Islands, see Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 89–91. The Russian appraisal of Japanese feelings was correct: the Japanese who dealt with the Russians favorably contrasted their peaceable ways with American brashness (p. 101).

3
. For an account of Putiatin’s movements at this time, see Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 109–11. He was anxious for word from Russia because it seemed likely that war would soon break out between Russia and Turkey and possibly also with Turkey’s allies, England and France. While in Shanghai, Putiatin wrote to Commodore Perry, then in Hong Kong, proposing that they join forces and asking to be lent 40 tons of American coal in Shanghai. Perry politely refused an alliance but agreed to lend the coal. Once the coal was loaded, Putiatin sailed back to Nagasaki, having learned by this time that war had broken out in Crimea.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 57. See also Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 99–100.

5
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 58.

6
. Ibid., 1, p. 60.

7
. Ibid., 1, p. 62.

8
. Fujita Satoru,
Bakumatsu no tenn
ō
, pp. 11–12.

9
. Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 157–58. See also
Komei tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 155–56, and
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 64.

10
. At the time, Shimoda was a village of some 1,000 houses with a population of 4,000 to 5,000. It was difficult to reach except by sea and was situated in an area often struck by typhoons.

11
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 78. The date corresponds to May 11, 1854.

12
. If Putiatin’s fleet of three ships had gone as before to Nagasaki, there would have been trouble: a fleet of four British ships was anchored there, and since this was the time of the Crimean War, they probably would have attacked the Russian ships. Putiatin headed instead for Hakodate, a port that had been opened to the Americans. It was there he learned of the British fleet in Japanese waters from a grateful Japanese whom he had returned the previous year to Japan. Putiatin informed the Japanese that he was proceeding to
Ō
saka, but his letter was not delivered until after his ships had appeared (Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 133–35).

13
. See Kawaji Toshiakira’s comments in my
Travelers of a Hundred Ages
, pp. 393–94.

14
. For an account of the complicated negotiations, interrupted by the loss of the
Diana
during another storm, see Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 146–60.

15
. The seven names considered by the scholars, together with the source for Ansei in
Hsün Tzu
, are given in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 88. Burton Watson translated the sentence: “And once the common people feel safe, then the gentleman may occupy his post in safety” (
Hsün Tzu
, p. 37).

16
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, pp. 89–90.

17
. The relevant excerpts from Kawaji Toshiakira’s diary are quoted in Wada,
Kaikoku
, pp. 153–54. An example of the more favorable treatment accorded the Russians was the opening of three ports (Nagasaki, Shimoda, and Hakodate), as opposed to the two opened to the Americans.

18
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, pp. 98–99. The ship was built at Heda on the western coast of the Izu Peninsula and was accordingly named the
Heda
. After the wreck of the
Diana
, the Russians salvaged diagrams showing how a warship was constructed at Kronstadt; these were used as models by the Japanese when building their first ship to European specifications. The Russians who took passage on the German ship were taken prisoner by the British, who intercepted the ship off Sakhalin.

19
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 91.

Chapter 4

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 113.

2
. Ibid., 1, p. 117.

3
. Ibid., 1, p. 118. “Child of the sun” (
hi no miko
) was a poetic name for the emperor or a prince, and because “sun” is mentioned, the poem opens with the related word “rising” (
noboru
). The term
ama no iwahashi
, literally “stone bridge of heaven,” refers to the actual bridge the prince crossed but suggests such terms as
ama no ukihashi
, “the floating bridge of heaven” (connecting heaven and earth), and
ama no iwato
, “the stone chamber of heaven,” the cave where the goddess Amaterasu hid herself.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 1, p. 120. This account is derived from Japanese sources, including
Higashib
ō
j
ō
Tokinaga nikki
and
Dai Nihon komonjo
. It does not accord with Harris’s own version of the events, as found in his diary. He wrote on August 22, 1856, the day after his arrival in Shimoda, that he went ashore and visited the village of Kakizaki, opposite Shimoda. “The temple of this place—Yokushen [Gyokusen] of the Shinto sect—is set apart for the accommodation of Americans. The rooms are spacious and very neat and clean, and a person might stay here for a few weeks in tolerable comfort …. The Temple Rioshen [Ry
ō
sen] at Shimoda is also set apart for the use of Americans—perhaps I may have to reside in it until a house can be prepared for me” (Mario Emilio Cosenza, ed.,
The Complete Journals of Townsend Harris
, pp. 203–4). Harris mentions on August 27 the officials’ efforts to persuade him to “go away and return in about a year,” but he resisted all such attempts. On August 28 he was informed by the “vice governor” “that he was ready to receive me with all the honors due to my high place, and to assign me the only place that was habitable for my residence—the Temple of Jocksend [Gyokusen-ji] at Kakizaki” (pp. 209–10). It is possible that the government in Edo was deliberately misinformed about the local resistance put up to Harris’s landing and residence in Shimoda.