Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (186 page)

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Authors: Donald Keene

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BOOK: Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912
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22
. Fraser et al.,
Japan’s Early Parliaments
, p. 52.

23
. Hackett,
Yamagata
, p. 137. It
ō
was formally appointed as president of the House of Peers on October 24 (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 658).

24
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 603.

25
. See, for example,
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 532, 564, 565, 583, 586, 595, 596, 602, 607, 614, 621, 622, etc. A list of imperial properties, drawn up in November 1890, is on pp. 698–700. It is not complete, possibly because it listed only properties that were transmitted hereditarily. The holdings as of December 31, a total of more than 1,016,045
ch
ō
of
daisshu seden gory
ō
and more than 2,633,756
ch
ō
of dainishu gory
ō
chi
, are listed on p. 701.

26
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 636–37. For the full text of Sasaki’s proposal, see Tsuda Shigemaro,
Meiji seij
ō
to Shin Takayuki
, pp. 698–703. The Ky
ō
bush
ō
(Ministry of Religious Instruction) was abolished in 1877, and nothing had taken its place.

27
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 638.

28
. Ibid., 7, p. 645. The three holidays were New Year (Worship of the Four Directions), Kigen-setsu (the anniversary of Emperor Jimmu’s accession), and Tench
ō
-setsu (the emperor’s birthday).

29
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 671–72.

30
. Ibid., 7, p. 672.

31
. Ibid., 7, p. 673.

32
. Quoted from Ry
ū
saku Tsunoda, Wm. Theodore de Bary, and Donald Keene, trans.,
Sources of Japanese Tradition
, p. 646.

33
. Ibid., p. 647.

34
.
Uchimura Kanz
ō
zensh
ū
, 20, pp. 206–7, in ibid., pp. 852–53.

35
. Tsunoda et al.,
Sources of Japanese Tradition
, pp. 853–54.

36
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 676.

37
. Ibid., 7, pp. 681–82.

38
. Ibid., 7, p. 704.

Chapter 42

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 737.

2
. Ibid., 7, pp. 754–56.

3
. Ibid., 7, p. 759.

4
. Earlier royal guests had been mainly second or third sons of monarchs (or grandsons in the case of the two English princes).

5
. Count Sergei Iulevich Witte,
The Memoirs of Count Witte
, trans. Sidney Harcave, pp. 126–27. Nicholas’s brother George returned to Russia after the ship reached India (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 795).

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 751. By contrast, the emperor gave only 200 yen for repairing the K
ō
ry
ū
-ji, the oldest temple in Kyoto, known for its magnificent sculpture (p. 780).

7
. No doubt she is referring to the Hama riky
ū
.

8
. Mary Crawford Fraser,
A Diplomat’s Wife in Japan
, p. 275.

9
. Yasuda K
ō
ichi,
Nikorai nisei no nikki
, p. 9; Witte,
Memoirs
, p. 125. Nicholas took part in the ceremony on May 18, 1891.

10
. For an extremely detailed account of the visit of the Russian prince to Nagasaki, see Nomura Yoshifumi,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 9–88.

11
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, pp. 22, 21.

12
. Yasuda reproduces a photograph of Nicholas in a Nagasaki jinrikisha in ibid.p. 25.

13
. All the purchased items, together with their prices and the shops where they were purchased, are listed in Nomura,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 80–85.

14
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, p. 24. Nicholas’s cousin, the future George V of England, also was tattooed while in Japan.

15
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, p. 31.

16
. Ibid., pp. 32–33. According to one local historian, Nicholas was entertained by the geisha Kikuyakko and George by O-ei, but Nomura believed that O-ei was the recipient of Nicholas’s favors (
Ō
tsu Jiken
, p. 86).

17
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, p. 36. On p. 39 a photograph of the
samurai-odori
performed on this occasion is reproduced.

18
. Ibid., p. 39.

19
. Nomura,
Ō
tsu jiken
, p. 111. At lunch the same day, Nicholas made a point of complimenting the regimental commander on the splendid impression he had received of Japanese soldiers, the first he had seen since his arrival in Japan (And
ō
Tamotsu,
Ō
tsu jiken ni tsuite
, 1, p. 144).

20
. Detailed reports of the excursion (from contemporary sources) are given in And
ō
,
Ō
tsu jiken ni tsuite
, 1, pp. 141–44.

21
. For a diagram of the positions of the different jinrikishas at the time of the attack, see ibid., 1, p. 177.

22
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, pp. 11–12.

23
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 828. The czarevich summoned the two coolies to his ship and personally presented them with 2,500 yen each. He also decorated them with the Order of St. Anna and offered them a lifetime pension of 1,000 yen, although he expressed concern lest these ignorant men use the money in a way detrimental to themselves. Meiji was also worried about this and directed the foreign minister, Aoki Sh
ū
z
ō
, to urge the two men not to use the money in an unworthy manner. Aoki not only warned them but directed the governors of Ky
ō
to and Ishikawa Prefectures (where the two men originated) to keep watch on the newly rich coolies. For a account of one of the coolies, Muk
ō
hata Jisabur
ō
, see Osatake Takeshi,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 252–57.

24
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, pp. 16–17. The last such entry in his diary was written in 1916, the year before his death.

25
. Yasuda,
Nikorai
, p. 12.

26
. Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 51–53.

27
. Witte,
Memoirs
, pp. 126–27.

28
. Fraser,
Diplomat’s Wife
, pp. 281, 284.

29
. Ibid., p. 283.

30
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 812, 813–14.

31
. Ibid., 7, pp. 817–18. One of the doctors sent by the emperor was actually not a Japanese. Dr. Scriba was a foreign professor at the medical university. Erwin Baelz wrote, “Scriba and the leading Japanese surgeons, whom the emperor sent to Kyoto, were not admitted to the tsarevich’s presence. They say that the Russians’ attitude was most unfriendly” (
Awakening Japan
, trans. Eden Paul and Cedar Paul, p. 96).

32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 819–20.

33
. Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 100–101. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 821. There is some confusion in the latter account; it says on the same page that Nicholas, fearing for his own safety, begged the emperor to accompany him, but this does not accord with other statements made by Nicholas at this time.

34
. The letter is given (in Japanese translation) in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 825.

35
. The emperor normally did not carry cigarettes, but he was specially prepared on this occasion, no doubt informed by someone of the custom.

36
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 829–31.

37
. Fraser,
Diplomat’s Wife
, pp. 286–87.

38
. Lafcadio Hearn,
Out of the East
, p. 254.

39
. Ibid., p. 256.

40
. Ibid., p. 260. A more sober account of Hatakeyama Y
ū
ko is given in Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 257–63. It does not contain Hearn’s quotation.

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 826.

42
. Fraser,
Diplomat’s Wife
, p. 289. A drawing reproduced by Yasuda shows the deck crowded with screens, chests, and other bulky items (
Nikorai
, p. 55). Mary Fraser wrote that even very poor people brought presents—rice, sh
ō
yu, or eggs. It was estimated that the gifts would have filled sixteen chests (
nagamochi
) (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 823).

43
. A list of organizations that sent messages to the wounded prince is in And
ō
,
Ō
tsu jiken ni tsuite
, 1, pp. 489–93.

44
. Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 79–80.

45
. Mary Fraser described him as “an old sergeant-major in the army,” but he was only thirty-six at the time of the
Ō
tsu incident.

46
. Details of Tsuda’s service during the war are in And
ō
,
Ō
tsu jiken ni tsuite
, 1, p. 251. See also Kojima Koretada,
Ō
tsu jiken nisshi
, pp. 193–94.

47
. Kojima,
Ō
tsu jiken
, p. 193. For fuller biographical information, see Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 248–52.

48
. The reference is to the man who burned the temple of Diana of the Ephesians in order to achieve a place in history.

49
. Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, p. 95.

50
. His anger over these three points is found in the testimony he gave at his trial (Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 133–34;
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 834–35).

51
. And
ō
,
Ō
tsu jiken ni tsuite
, 1, pp. 248–54. His brother-in-law testified that Tsuda had said he believed the rumor and worried about the consequences of Saig
ō
’s return.

52
. Kojima,
Ō
tsu jiken
, p. 192; Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, p. 135.

53
. Osatake,
Ō
tsu jiken
, pp. 135–36.

54
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 840.

55
. See the admirably clear presentation of the situation in Barbara Teters, “The Otsu Affair,” p. 55.

56
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 848–49.

57
. Teters, “Otsu Affair,” p. 59.

58
. Kojima,
Ō
tsu jiken
, p. 194. There is no indication that the pneumonia was induced by conspicuously bad treatment.

59
. The diary and related materials are now easily available, edited by Ienaga Sabur
ō
, in the T
ō
y
ō
bunko series. In June 1892 rumors circulated to the effect that Kojima was addicted to gambling, especially
hana-awase
, with his colleagues (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, p. 86). The case against Kojima was dropped for want of evidence the following month (p. 97). However, on August 23 Kojima resigned his post, alleging illness. Apparently the gossip about his gambling, even if untrue, had made him feel disqualified to serve as a judge (p. 120).

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