Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (25 page)

A dispute with Russia over the future disposition of the island of Sakhalin made it necessary to send two shogunate officials to St. Petersburg to negotiate with the Russians. At the time both Japanese and Russian colonists were living on the island, giving rise to incessant clashes. The Japanese proposed that the island be divided at the fiftieth parallel; the Russians demanded the whole island but offered in exchange to yield Etorofu and three small islands to the Japanese. The negotiations dragged on, but finally, on March 18, 1867, a provisional treaty was signed that left the island open to people of both countries but urged that friendlier relations based on mutual sincerity prevail, a pious hope that could not have satisfied settlers from either country. The mission nevertheless marked an important step in the history of Japanese diplomacy: it was the first time that Japanese envoys traveled abroad to negotiate a treaty.
¹⁷

Yoshinobu did his best to cultivate foreign diplomats living in Japan. His first contact was with the British minister plenipotentiary, Sir Harry Parkes, to whom he granted an audience at
Ō
saka Castle. On this occasion he witnessed a display of horsemanship by British cavalry, followed by the formal dinner he offered by way of indicating friendship. During the following days he gave audiences to French, Dutch, and American representatives. He treated them all with the greatest courtesy, giving them personal assurances that the treaties would be carried out to the letter.
¹⁸

When tension arose in Korea as the result of the slaying of a French missionary and several American sailors, some Japanese advocated forming an alliance with Korea to fight against the foreigners; but the shogunate instead sent envoys to Korea to persuade the Koreans that it would be to their disadvantage to become involved in warfare with the foreigners. The shogunate offered to serve as an intermediary in settling the dispute. Three of its officers sent a message to the American minister, asking the Americans to respond positively if the Koreans agreed to mend their ways and enter into negotiations.
¹⁹

It is astonishing that the Japanese, cut off from contact with most foreign countries for two and a half centuries, felt able to give advice to another country on the conduct to be observed among nations. Probably the Japanese feared that if Korea were invaded by troops sent by Western powers, this would adversely affect Japan, Korea’s close neighbor. Japanese intercession was effective: toward the end of 1867, the Americans thanked the Japanese for help in averting a war.
²⁰

At this time the young emperor’s attention was probably preoccupied by quite a different matter, the arrival of his bride. On July 27 Haruko,
²¹
the younger sister of Acting Major Counselor and General of the Left Guards Ichij
ō
Saneyoshi, visited the palace and was received in audience by the emperor in his study. The purpose of this visit was to acquaint the emperor with her appearance and demeanor. If he disliked her, he was free to reject her as his bride, but he was probably predisposed in her favor because of her family and her accomplishments. Haruko’s father was the late Minister of the Left Ichij
ō
Tadaka, and her mother was the daughter of Prince Fushiminomiya Kuniie. Her pedigree was impeccable, and her scholarly and artistic attainments were no less impressive. As a small child (between the ages of three and four) she had been able to read aloud the poetry in the anthology
Kokinsh
ū
, and at five she had composed
tanka
of her own. At seven she had done
sodoku
reading of a text in classical Chinese under the guidance of the Confucian scholar Nukina Masanori, with whom she also studied calligraphy. At twelve she had begun
koto
lessons and later also studied the
sh
ō
. She was fond of n
ō
and enjoyed singing passages from the plays at breaks during her studies.
²²
She had studied the tea ceremony and flower arrangement with masters of the day. She had never suffered any major illness, perhaps because she had been vaccinated against smallpox when she was eight.
²³

These qualifications (and others) made her seem to members of the court like an ideal bride for the young emperor. There was one slight problem. She was older than her prospective husband. This in itself was not an insuperable obstacle: the consorts of the emperors Reigen, Sakuramachi, and Nink
ō
had been older than their husbands. But Haruko was three years older, a difference in age that normally was avoided as inauspicious. The regent solved this problem by changing her birth date from 1849 to 1850.
²⁴
All was now ready for her appearance before the emperor.

On this occasion Haruko wore a white
habutae
silk kimono with embroidered patterns and trousers of a deep purple. She arrived in a wickerwork palanquin about one in the afternoon, accompanied by her ladies. In the emperor’s study she and the emperor exchanged greetings and partook of refreshments and saké. Haruko offered the emperor gifts, including a box of fresh fish. She withdrew at about seven and went to the palace of the dowager empress where she was again given refreshments. She changed costume before taking leave of the emperor. He presented her with various gifts, including a tobacco pipe, ornamental hairpins, and an incense box. Later the emperor highly praised her comportment. The acting major counselor Yanagihara Mitsunaru, pleased with this expression of approval, asked the highest-ranking members of the nobility if they had any objection to Haruko’s being named as
ny
ō
go
.
²⁵
Everyone was in favor, so all barriers to her being appointed as the emperor’s consort had been cleared.

Two days later, on July 29, the military liaison officer Hino Sukemune went as the emperor’s envoy to the house of Ichij
ō
Saneyoshi to inform him that his sister had been chosen as the emperor’s bride. Word quickly spread, and there were numerous visitors to the Ichij
ō
household. The shogunate donated 15,000
ry
ō
for wedding and other expenses and announced that it would henceforth provide an annual stipend of 500 sacks of rice for her expenses. However, as the result of the political changes that occurred in the following year, the shogunate could not devote much attention to the marriage, and only a small portion of the promised money was ever delivered. Gifts came from other sources, but the total available for the wedding was sufficient for only a simple ceremony.

Even after Meiji’s future consort had been definitively chosen, the wedding could not take place immediately. He would be in mourning for his father for a full year after K
ō
mei’s death. Moreover, he had not yet had his
gembuku
(initiation into manhood), which was essential before his marriage, but this ceremony could take place only after the period of mourning was over.

Serious problems of quite another nature arose before the wedding could be celebrated. Unsettled conditions in the city of Ky
ō
to caused concern about Ichij
ō
Haruko’s safety. She was assigned a bodyguard of ten samurai in July, and plans were drawn up for evacuating her to one or another temple in the event of a disturbance. In case of a serious emergency, she was to take refuge in the palace of the empress dowager. This in fact happened at the beginning of 1868, when the proclamation of the shogun’s return of government to the emperor gave rise to disorder within the city. During the fighting between troops loyal to the emperor and those of the shogun, the sound of gunfire could be heard even within the Gosho. Plans for the marriage were temporarily left in abeyance.

The death of Haruko’s brother, Ichij
ō
Saneyoshi, in May of that year posed yet another problem—if special care had not been taken to ensure that Haruko ate separately from the rest of her family, her brother’s death would have polluted her and caused still further delay in the wedding. All the same, by the end of 1868 the situation had stabilized sufficiently for the marriage to be celebrated on January 11, 1869.
²⁶

Early that morning Haruko’s chamber was decorated in preparation for the ceremony. A yin-yang diviner was summoned to determine the precise time for her to put on her marriage robes. The diviner recommended eight in the morning, at which time Konoe Tadahiro, in charge of the ceremony, tied the robes. At two in the afternoon a palm-woven carriage was brought to the southern stairs of Haruko’s chamber. Two nobles bore the shafts. A waiting woman placed inside the carriage an incense burner and a sword bestowed by the emperor earlier that morning. Haruko boarded the carriage, accompanied by two ladies-in-waiting. Nobles pulled the carriage as far as the Middle Gate, where oxen were attached. Once the escort was ready, the carriage moved out of the Double Gate. When it reached the northernmost gate of the palace, the oxen were unhitched, and the carriage shafts rested on a stand. An official reported the arrival of the carriage to the guards, whereupon court officials pulled the carriage inside the gate. They passed through the Genki Gate (inner northern gate) and reached the northeast gate of the Higy
ō
sha, a palace building. Here, members of the escort surrounded the carriage with curtains and screens to prevent outsiders from observing Haruko as she descended from the carriage. The ladies of her escort followed her, bearing the sword and the incense burner. They moved through various passageways into the prince’s palace, where Haruko seated herself, the sword and the incense burner at her side. Nobles who had arrived by a more direct route came forward to offer congratulations.
²⁷

After a short rest Haruko reappeared wearing five layers of robes and with her hair rearranged. She went to the Higy
ō
sha where she was offered refreshments. Soon afterward she was informed of her appointment as
ny
ō
go
. Normally the announcement of appointment as
ny
ō
go
was made the day after a palace lady had entered the emperor’s service, but because Haruko was also to be named empress, the appointment as
ny
ō
go
took place on this day. The title of empress was a signal mark of favor: K
ō
mei’s consort had never received it.
²⁸

Haruko’s appointments as
ny
ō
go
and empress were proclaimed by officials whose precisely executed movements as they performed the ceremonies probably suggested an elaborate ballet. When these formalities were at last completed, Haruko was ready to go to the Seiry
ō
den (residential palace) where she would enter the presence of her future husband. She was accompanied by Konoe Tadahiro and Nakayama Tadayasu. One court lady held Haruko’s train while two others carried the sword and incense burner. Next the Night Palace Ceremony took place. At eight the emperor went to the Chamber of Purification where he put on straw slippers. He entered the curtained enclosure from the western door, and Konoe Tadahiro removed the slippers. Next the empress entered the curtains. Nakayama Tadayasu, as both a relative of the emperor on the maternal side and an aged man whose wife was still living, covered them with the royal quilts. Next he offered rice cakes that would be eaten by the newlyweds on the third night of the marriage. These cakes were customarily prepared and offered by a married couple of advanced years.
²⁹

When this ceremony had ended, a court lady took the cakes to the Higy
ō
sha where they would be kept for three days in a lucky direction. Next a maid of honor (
my
ō
bu
) took an oil lamp with a cloth wick and lit it with flame from a hanging lantern in the northeastern corner of the Night Pavilion and took it to the Willow Pavilion where she transferred the flame to the lacquered lantern. At this point Tadahiro and Tadayasu withdrew. For three days the flame would be kept burning in the lantern. That night, palace ladies by turns would hold aloft the imperial sword.

Next the private ritual of drinking saké took place in the Ordinary Residence. The empress sat to the north. At the third cup, she herself poured the saké and offered it to the emperor, and then she received a cup from his hand. Afterward they partook of a simple meal and then withdrew to the empress’s palace. At last the newlyweds were alone.

Needless to say, every act performed during this series of ceremonies was prescribed by tradition. This was an event of dynastic significance, and it was believed that the couple’s happiness, fertility, and longevity would be reflected in the country’s prosperity. The union of Meiji and his bride would not, as it happened, be blessed with children, but Haruko would be a far more prominent public figure than any consort for many hundreds of years.

Chapter 13