Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (178 page)

12
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 338. The letter was delivered on December 28 by the new Chinese minister.

13
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 331–32. The emperor commanded that all documents relating to the war, including the oral testimonies of members of the defeated army, be delivered to a historiographical institute (
sh
ū
shikan
). He also commanded the compilation of a history of the war.

14
. His first attack was while in Ky
ō
to in 1877. Ever since then, he had been prone to attacks at the change from summer to autumn. The attack in 1882 was particularly severe, requiring several months for recovery. Beriberi was common at the time, particularly among the military. It was estimated that more than a third of naval personnel suffered from the disease, seriously reducing the efficiency of ships at sea. A report prepared by the surgeon admiral in response to the emperor’s request attributed beriberi to the poorness of the food served to the men. The food was improved; the number of patients dropped dramatically, and in three years it had virtually disappeared (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 140–41). It is unlikely that the emperor’s beriberi was caused by poor food. Japanese doctors probably did not know about the importance of vitamins, although the Royal Navy had long given lime juice to British sailors to avoid beriberi.

15
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 368–69.

16
. Somewhat abbreviated from Takashima Tomonosuke, “Jimmu irai no eishu,” p. 33.

17
. Hinonishi Sukehiro,
Meiji tenn
ō
no go-nichij
ō
, p. 80.

18
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 372–73.

19
. Ibid., 4, pp. 386–87.

20
. Ibid., 4, pp. 399–400.

21
. Ibid., 4, p. 253.

22
. T
ō
ya Hiroki,
Toshimichi ansatsu
, p. 27.

23
. Ibid., p. 33. T
ō
ya, to whose brilliant study of the assassination I am indebted, suggested that while in Kagoshima, Ch
ō
had come to embrace the ideal of a military dictatorship by the samurai.

24
. The name was derived from the Buddhist temple in Kanazawa where the group met.

25
. T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 80. T
ō
ya’s commentary on the manifesto (
zankanj
ō
) is on pp. 81–92.

26
. For an exhaustive account of Kuga Yoshinao’s activities before this time, see Kokury
ū
kai hombu, ed.,
Seinan kiden
, 3, 1, pp. 407–18, and 3, 2, pp. 1014–17. Kuga spent time in Kagoshima, where he frequently met with Saig
ō
’s lieutenant, Kirino Toshiaki. It was Kuga who introduced Ch
ō
Tsurahide to Kirino and arranged for Ch
ō
to be “educated” by him (3, 2, p. 411).

27
. T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 66.

28
. Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 2, p. 1004. See also T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 65.

29
. The full text of the
zankanj
ō
(in two parts) is in Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 1, pp. 436–57.

30
. Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 1, p. 43; T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 82. For the full explanation of these crimes in the
zankanj
ō
, see Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 1, pp. 440–57.

31
. Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 1, p. 438. See also T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 83.

32
. T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, pp. 70, 83.

33
. Kokury
ū
kai, ed.,
Seinan
, 3, 1, p. 439; T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 84.

34
. T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, p. 94.

35
. Ibid., p. 100. Shimada also said that they would not have the time to tell people their reasons after committing the crime.

36
. Excerpts from these letters are in T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, pp. 102–4.

37
. Ibid., pp. 101–2. This
ch
ō
ka
, in alternating lines of seven and five syllables, goes on to list further crimes of
Ō
kubo and his associates and describes the heroic struggle in Satsuma.

38
. T
ō
ya,
Toshimichi
, pp. 127–28.

39
. Ibid., p. 138.

40
. An article from the
Times
(London) is quoted in translation in ibid., pp. 154–55.

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 410–11.

42
. Ibid., 4, pp. 413–14.

Chapter 30

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 414.

2
. Taki K
ō
ji,
Tenn
ō
no sh
ō
z
ō
, pp. 81–82.

3
. Imperial Household Minister Tokudaiji Sanetsune was of the opinion that there was no objection to the free sale of the photographs. He requested the government’s authorization, but in March 1874 it ruled that permission could not be granted and directed T
ō
ky
ō
Prefecture to keep under surveillance persons who sold the photographs. In May, Foreign Minister Terashima Munenori appealed this decision. He said that foreigners were disappointed not to be able to obtain photographs of the emperor, even though in the West photographs of monarchs were freely sold. Now that the Japanese had become enlightened, there surely was no danger that selling the emperor’s photograph would encourage disrespect; in fact, photographs would induce feelings of respectful affection. In December an official in Kanagawa Prefecture stated that in the absence of a prohibition, the local police were allowing the sale of photographs of the emperor, empress, and dowager empress. He asked for a ruling. The following March the government prohibited the sale of the photographs (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 435–36).

4
. He was accompanied by more than 300 ranking officials, chamberlains, physicians, cavalry troops, foot soldiers, grooms, and so on, plus about 400 police (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 466). This entourage was still much smaller than the customary size of a daimyo’s procession.

5
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 468.

6
. Ibid., 4, p. 490.

7
. Ibid., 4, p. 503.

8
. Ibid., 4, p. 528.

9
. Ibid., 4, p. 512.

10
. George H. Kerr,
Okinawa
, p. 374.

11
.
Ō
ta Masahide,
Kindai Okinawa no seiji k
ō
z
ō
, p. 92.

12
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 585. See also Kerr,
Okinawa
, p. 377.

13
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 603–4.

14
. For Meiji’s edict, see ibid., 4, p. 628.

15
. Ibid., 4, p. 642.

16
. Ibid., 4, p. 659.

17
. Ibid., 4, pp. 663–64.

18
. Ibid., 4, pp. 665–66.

19
. Hugh Borton,
Japan’s Modern Century
, pp. 160–61. Borton gives in Chinese the phrase identifying the murdered fishermen as Japanese (p. 169).

20
. The figure is according to
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 690. According to
Ō
ta, there were ninety-six retainers (
Kindai
, p. 104).

21
. Liliuokalani, the queen of Hawaii, was not nearly as well treated by the Americans, who deposed her in 1893.

22
. One party, known as the Kaika-t
ō
, favored modernization of the country; the other, the Ganko-t
ō
, opposed all change as destructive to tradition. The former tended to favor Japan; the latter, China. For a fuller description of the two parties, see Nakahara Zench
ū
,
Ry
ū
ky
ū
no rekishi
, pp. 131–32.

23
. Nakayama Morishige,
Ry
ū
ky
ū
shi jiten
, p. 419.

24
. Sasamori Gisuke,
Nant
ō
taiken
, 1, p. 131.

25
. Ibid., 2, p. 123.

26
. Ibid., 2, p. 204.
Ō
ta describes instances of violent opposition to the Japanese occupation of the islands (
Kindai
, pp. 106–7).

Chapter 31

1
. William S. McFeely,
Grant
, p. 450.

2
. Ibid., p. 457.

3
. Ibid., pp. 453, 463, 472.

4
. Li Hung Chang referred to his suppression of the T’ai P’ing Rebellion in the same years that Grant had conquered the rebellion of the southern states (McFeely,
Grant
, p. 474).

5
. John Russell Young,
Around the World with General Grant
, 2, p. 411.

6
. Ibid., 2, pp. 443, 447–48.

7
. Ibid., 2, p. 451.

8
. Ibid., 2, p. 533.

9
. This took place at the Hibiya army parade grounds on the morning of July 7 (Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 532). For a detailed description, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 702–3.

10
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 477.

11
. Ibid., 2, p. 481.

12
. Ibid., 2, p. 529. It is not clear whether this was true. It is possible that Meiji shook hands with earlier visitors such as Prince Alfred.

13
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 567.

14
. Ibid., 2, pp. 533, 530.

15
. Ibid., 2, pp. 542, 526, 538, 548.

16
. Ibid., 2, pp. 527–28. An abbreviated version of this account is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 698–700.

17
. The formal message of welcome from the emperor to Grant and Grant’s reply are in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 699–700. Meiji expressed his pleasure at meeting a man whose fame had long preceded him, his gratitude for the friendship Grant had shown Japanese visitors (especially at the time of the Iwakura mission) during his presidency, and his joy that Grant had visited Japan during his round-the-world voyage.

18
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, p. 534.

19
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 703.

20
. Ibid., 4, p. 703.

21
. Ibid., 4, p. 704.

22
. Ibid., 4, p. 705.

23
.
Shimbun sh
ū
sei Meiji hennen shi
, 4, p. 75.

24
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 712. Saig
ō
Tsugumichi and Mori Arinori were also sent to Nikk
ō
.

25
. Young,
Around the World
, 2, pp. 558–59.

26
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 708–10. A detailed account of the conflicting views of Japan and China on the Ry
ū
ky
ū
question was published by John Russell Young in the August 15 and September 1 issues of the
New York Herald
. A translation into Japanese, published from October 14 to October 27 in the
H
ō
chi shimbun
, may be found in
Guranto sh
ō
gun to no gotaiwa hikki
, pp. 69–95.