Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (193 page)

28
. Sakane Yoshihisa, ed.,
Aoki Sh
ū
z
ō
jiden
, p. 325.

29
. Prince Tuan Chün, the father of the crown prince, had secret connections with the Boxers and was even known as their “chief patron” (Tan,
Boxer Catastrophe
, p. 137;
Ō
yama, “Kaisetsu,” in
Pekin r
ō
j
ō
, p. iv).

30
. Kobayashi,
Giwadan
, p. 90.

31
.Lyama, “Kaisetsu,” in
Pekin r
ō
j
ō
, pp. iii–iv. For Tei’s service as an interpreter at the time of the Soejima mission to China, see chapter 24.

32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, pp. 836–37.

33
. The “allies” consisted of Japan, England, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria, and the United States. The degree of participation in the war varied greatly.

34
.
Ō
yama, ed.,
Pekin r
ō
j
ō
, pp. 244, 16.

35
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, p. 843.

36
. Ibid., 9, p. 844.

37
. Absorbing accounts of the siege are in Lyama, ed.,
Pekin r
ō
j
ō
. It consists mainly of lectures delivered on his experiences by Colonel Shiba Gor
ō
(a younger brother of Shiba Shir
ō
, who had been active in Korea), and the diary kept by Professor Hattori Unokichi, a student in Peking when hostilities broke out.

38
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, p. 851. Mention of a confrontation between East and West brings to mind the “Yellow Peril” doctrine of the German kaiser.

39
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, pp. 852–53.

40
. Ibid., 9, p. 854. The source of this incident is the diary of Tokudaiji Sanetsune.

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, pp. 862–63.

42
. His actual words were “You will be fighting against a well-armed power, but at the same time you must avenge the death not only of the envoy but of many other Germans and Europeans. When you come before the enemy, you must defeat him, pardon will not be given, prisoners will not be taken. Whoever falls into your hands will fall to your sword. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under King Attila made a name for themselves for ferocity which tradition still recalls; so may the name of Germany become known in China in such a way that no Chinaman will ever again dare to look a German in the eye even with a squint” (quoted in John C. G. Röhl,
The Kaiser and His Court
, pp. 13–14). See also the drawing made by the kaiser showing the nations of Europe as goddesses being led into battle by the Archangel Michael against the “Yellow Peril” (represented by an image of Buddha) (p. 203).

43
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, pp. 872–73.

44
. Ibid., 9, p. 878. Looting by Japanese soldiers was at first dismissed as minor, but it was later revealed that high-ranking officers had stolen quantities of silver bullion. The officers were subsequently dismissed (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, pp. 228–29, 239).

Chapter 51

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, p. 895.

2
. Ibid., 9, pp. 890–91.

3
. A literal translation would be Constitutional Party of Friends of Government. It was normally referred to in Japanese simply as Seiy
ū
kai, and it will be so called here.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 9, p. 891.

5
. Ibid., 9, p. 913. Katsura again requested permission to resign on November 14, and the emperor finally consented on December 23 (pp. 923–25).

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, p. 26.

7
. Ibid., 10, pp. 29–30.

8
. Ibid., 10, p. 30.

9
. For the text of Konoe’s note agreeing to follow the wishes of the emperor, see ibid., 10, p. 31.

10
. Ibid., 10, pp. 40–42.

11
. Ibid., 10, p. 54.

12
. Ibid., 10, pp. 54–57.

13
. Ibid., 10, pp. 53, 57.

14
. The characters were chosen because they appeared in auspicious passages in Chinese classics. The tradition of using words found in the Chinese classics for the names of members of the imperial family (and
neng
ō
) has not been abandoned, even today.

15
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, pp. 58–59.

16
. Ibid., 10, p. 68.

17
. Biographical details are drawn from Ariizumi Sadao,
Hoshi T
ō
ru
, pp. 3–15. The terrible experiences of his sister in the brothel may have inspired his resolve never (in the manner of most Meiji men) to seek pleasure with prostitutes. He was faithful to his wife (p. 9).

18
. As part of the contract of adoption, Hoshi’s family was required to pay a “dowry” of 50
ry
ō
. The family proved unable to provide the money, and the adoption into the Koizumi family was annulled after one year (Ariizumi,
Hoshi
, p. 13).

19
. Ga was the descendant of a refugee from Ming China. Well known for his ability in English and his knowledge of the West, he was a member of the Iwakura mission. He was later appointed by the emperor to the House of Peers. Maejima and Mutsu Munemitsu were pupils of Ga.

20
. Suzuki Takeshi,
Hoshi T
ō
ru
, p. 22.

21
. Ibid., p. 33.

22
. He is said to have read again and again Jeremy Bentham’s
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
(Ariizumi,
Hoshi
, p. 49).

23
. This was the Fukushima incident. The governor, Mishima Michitsune, decided to build a road, the costs to be borne by the people of the prefecture. He ignored the resolution against the road passed by the Prefectural Assembly and went ahead with the construction. Farmers who could not give either money or labor for the road were told that their property would be put up for public auction. Several Jiy
ū
-t
ō
members were arrested for protesting, whereupon a thousand people attacked the Kitakata police station where the arrested men were held. This, in turn, led to the arrest and trial of some fifty Jiy
ū
-t
ō
members.

24
. Nakamura Kikuo,
Hoshi T
ō
ru
, pp. 50–54.

25
. Suzuki,
Hoshi
, pp. 59–61.

26
. Ibid., pp. 79–80.

27
. He believed Japan should possess a fleet that was at least as strong as the British East Asian Fleet (Nakamura,
Hoshi
, p. 86).

28
. Suzuki,
Hoshi
, p. 91; Nakamura,
Hoshi
, pp. 85–89. In the same speech, Hoshi urged that a new policy be adopted toward China to protect it from British or Russian aggression. He also stated that in view of the unlikelihood of obtaining both the end of extraterritoriality and the end of foreign control of tariffs, the latter was of greater urgency.

29
. Nakamura,
Hoshi
, p. 104. Nakamura quotes part of Hoshi’s greeting on taking office as House president. He declared that he would act not as a member of the Jiy
ū
-t
ō
but impartially, as befitted someone entrusted with a public duty. He urged members to correct him if they thought he was mistaken and promised to change if they were right.

30
. For an account of the charges leveled against Hoshi in the Diet, see Nakamura,
Hoshi
, pp. 116–17. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 8, pp. 328–29.

31
. Nakamura,
Hoshi
, p. 156.

32
. Hoshi testified before a Senate subcommittee on the probable adverse effects of a tariff increase on silk. He spoke to such good effect that the tariff was actually lowered (Nakamura,
Hoshi
, pp. 163–64).
Ō
kuma was so impressed that he bestowed on Hoshi the Order of the Rising Sun, Third Class.

33
. The text of his proposal is in Nakamura,
Hoshi
, pp. 175–77.

34
. Ibid., p. 182.

35
. Suzuki,
Hoshi
, pp. 150–51.

36
. For an account of the assassination of Hoshi, see Nagao Kazuo,
Ansatsusha
, pp. 135–59. The verdict handed down after Iba was tried for the murder recognized that he had acted out of a sense of moral justice and sentenced him to life imprisonment rather than execution (p. 159).

37
. For further details of the funeral, see Nagao,
Ansatsusha
, p. 158. There is a photograph of the funeral procession in Suzuki,
Hoshi
, p. 191.

38
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, pp. 80–81. This account mentions the scandal that was created by the exposure in the previous year of Hoshi’s taking bribes but does not explain why (if this report was true) such a man was favored by the emperor.

39
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, p. 89.

40
. Erwin Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, trans. Eden Paul and Cedar Paul, p. 144.

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 10, p. 98.

42
. In August 1901 Inoue Kaoru urged It
ō
, who was about to leave for America and Europe, to visit Russia. Inoue had become convinced that an entente with Russia was the best way of solving the question of Korea. Katsura Tar
ō
, the prime minister, believed that an alliance with either Britain or Russia would achieve this goal. It
ō
had come to feel that an alliance with England would serve no useful purpose and would antagonize Russia and France. When Hayashi Tadasu met It
ō
in Paris in November, It
ō
(who was unaware of the progress of negotiations with England) expressed the opinion that an agreement with Russia was essential to end tension over Manchuria and Korea (Hayashi Tadasu,
Ato wa mukashi no ki
, pp. 343–45).

43
. Hayashi,
Ato wa mukashi
, pp. 328–29.

44
. Ibid., pp. 306–7.

45
. For what the author terms “the first voices” in favor of an Anglo-Japanese alliance, see Kurobane Shigeru,
Nichiei d
ō
mei no kiseki
, 1, p. 21. The conversation between Chamberlain and the Japanese minister, Kat
ō
Takaaki, took place on March 17, 1898.

46
. Kurobane,
Nichibei
, p. 23.

47
. Hayashi,
Ato wa mukashi
, pp. 321, 327.

48
. Ibid., pp. 330–31.

49
. The agreement, signed on October 16, 1900, proclaimed the Open Door policy in China and the integrity of Chinese territory. The special relations between England and Germany at this time are discussed in Kurobane,
Nichiei
, pp. 24–34. The German minister to England, Hermann Freiherr von Eckardstein, proposed to Hayashi Tadasu, on March 18, 1901, a three-way alliance including Germany, but he acted without authorization from the German Foreign Ministry (pp. 29–30).

50
. For details of the Japanese revisions, see Hayashi,
Ato wa mukashi
, pp. 349–50.

51
. Ibid., p. 159.

52
. Ibid., p. 160.

53
. Ibid., p. 306.

54
. Baelz described Japanese reactions to the signing of the Anglo-Japanese alliance in these terms: “February 14, 1902. The Japanese can hardly contain their delight at the new alliance. It is unquestionably a triumph for them that the one power which on principle has abstained from alliances should now enter into an alliance, on terms of perfect equality, with the Japanese, who are of an utterly different race. The students of the Keiogijuku School had a torchlight procession and gave three cheers in front of the British legation” (
Awakening Japan
, p. 154).