Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (36 page)

The prince remained in the north until the fighting ended. On October 22, 1868, when the league had lost most of its members and the end was in sight, he wrote an apology declaring that he deeply repented of his actions toward the court.
³⁸
Rumors circulated that partisans of the league were planning to spirit the prince away aboard a ship bound for foreign parts, and orders were given to maintain a strict watch, but in fact he remained in Sendai (and later in Shiroishi) until he left on November 30 for T
ō
ky
ō
. In the following month, it was decided that Rinn
ō
jinomiya had violated his moral obligations and, for this reason, would be left in the charge of his father. He was to proceed immediately to Ky
ō
to and give himself to penitence.”
³⁹
On November 17, 1869, he was released from penitence and restored to his position as an imperial prince. The court showed great leniency toward a prince who, willingly or not, had been a central figure in a revolt against imperial authority. That same year he went abroad, at first to the United States and England and later to Germany, where he studied military science.
⁴⁰
He was named Kitashirakawanomiya in 1872, and it was by that name he was known during the rest of his career. He died of illness in Taiwan in 1895 while serving as general of the Household Guards Division.

Prince Asahiko, another controversial member of the imperial family, was exiled to Hiroshima on October 1, 1868, because of his involvement in a plot to overthrow the government. He had already been confined to his house because of suspicious activities in the previous year, but in August 1868 an informant disclosed that the prince was plotting to restore the Tokugawa family. He planned to send Enomoto Takeaki with his fleet to various places where soldiers would be landed, raising the standard of revolt.
⁴¹
An investigation found him guilty, and he was deprived of his title of prince of the blood, his rank, and his status as an adopted son of Emperor Nink
ō
. However, his punishment was gradually lightened, and in February 1872, he was pardoned and his status restored.
⁴²

The best-known revolt against the imperial government during this period was undoubtedly the one staged by Enomoto Takeaki. Five months after Edo Castle was surrendered to the imperial army, Enomoto escaped with eight warships. After calling at Hirakata (where he put Rinn
ō
jinomiya ashore), he went on to Ezo (Hokkaid
ō
), establishing himself at the modern Five Point Fortress near Hakodate, where he overwhelmed the defenders from the Matsumae and Hirosaki domains. On January 14, 1869, Enomoto sent a message to the court through the British and French ministers asking permission to develop the northern region. In a reply sent on January 26 to the two ministers, Iwakura Tomomi declared that Enomoto’s words and actions did not match, that he would not be able to escape the name of traitor.
⁴³
This severe response may have occasioned Enomoto’s declaration of the “Ezo republic,” which won the conditional recognition of the British and French squadrons that happened to be in Hakodate. The attempt to create a country where supporters of the shogunate could live in the traditions of the shogunate ended in failure on June 27, 1869, when Enomoto surrendered to imperial forces led by Kuroda Kiyotaka, but of all the revolts accompanying the Meiji Restoration, his lasted the longest.
⁴⁴

This was the last major revolt against the authority of the imperial government during the period immediately following the Meiji Restoration, although there were similar, but smaller, incidents. W. E. Griffis wrote of

one more attempt, in 1871, to set up a rival Mikado and reinstate the old order of things…. Everything was planned on the time honored method, which was, first of all, to get possession of some one of the princes of the Imperial blood. With a Son of Heaven in their grip the usurpers could give the color of sanctity and law to their proceedings done in his name.
⁴⁵

In April 1871 still another plot was uncovered. Two nobles (Toyama Mitsusuke and Atagi Michiaki), outraged over the sharp rise in prices that had caused suffering among the people, the deterioration of Ky
ō
to since the capital had been moved to T
ō
ky
ō
, and (above all) the rampancy of foreigners and foreign influence in the country, plotted to change the government and carry to fruition Emperor K
ō
mei’s ideal of
j
ō
i
.
⁴⁶
They attracted members of the nobility, including retainers of Prince Asahiko. According to Griffis, “Part of their plan was to burn T
ō
ky
ō
, carry back the Emperor to Ky
ō
to, and change the whole system of government.”
⁴⁷
One of the conspirators advocated blowing up the government buildings of Ky
ō
to Prefecture and massacring the evil officials inside. Another conspirator was more interested in wiping out the foreigners in K
ō
be. Fortunately the culprits were arrested before they could carry out their plans. Even after they were arrested, Toyama and Atagi manifested contempt for the laws promulgated by the court and were obviously still plotting to break the laws. For this reason, they were ordered on January 12, 1872, to commit suicide. Their followers were also punished: some reduced to commoners and others sentenced to life imprisonment.
⁴⁸

In addition to these high-level conspiracies, there were many incidents of peasant revolt—126 in 1868 alone, many of them in the general area of K
ō
zuke Province.
⁴⁹
Such revolts were often fomented by former adherents of the shogunate and other malcontents, but they tended to be directed against rich merchants or local authorities rather than the central government, and for this reason some revolts actually helped the government.
⁵⁰

It is not known how much the young emperor knew about these manifestations of discontent with imperial rule. He certainly was familiar with the situation
⁵¹
and would have heard about the activities of Rinn
ō
jinomiya and Prince Asahiko, members of the highest aristocracy as adopted sons of Emperor Nink
ō
. The victories of the government armies in the north were reported to him, along with reassurances that the situation was under control. His attention may, however, have been diverted from military matters by his forthcoming coronation and journey to Edo, events that affected him more directly than fighting in remote parts of the country. But as he undoubtedly was aware, all the various revolts would have to be quashed before the menace of a restoration of the shogunate was forever ended.

Chapter 18

The coronation of Emperor Meiji took place on September 12, 1868. The ceremony had originally been planned for December of the preceding year, but conditions in the country were too unsettled to permit much display. The time to prepare the ceremony properly also was insufficient, so the coronation was put off until the following year.
¹
Because of other, more urgent matters at hand, the details of the ceremony were not considered until June when Iwakura Tomomi asked Kamei Koremi (1824–1885), a former daimyo but now an officer of the Ministry of Shint
ō
, to examine old records to determine authentically Japanese rituals that should be observed at the coronation. Iwakura was sure that most of what was considered to be traditional was in fact copied from Chinese models, and he believed that in a time of great changes, it was appropriate that the ceremony be revised so as to constitute a model for future coronations.

A formal order was issued in the eighth month to Kamei and Fukuba Bisei (1831–1907) to compile a new-style set of procedures for the coronation. At this point Fukuba made a suggestion that was hardly in keeping with ancient tradition. Years before, Tokugawa Nariaki (1800–1860) had presented Emperor K
ō
mei with a globe in the hopes that it would not only familiarize him with the general configuration of the world but also inspire in him an ambition to make Japanese prestige shine in all quarters of the globe. Fukuba suggested that if the globe were made a focal point of the coronation, it would stir lofty thoughts in the officials present and deepen their knowledge and that it would impress the common people with the sublimity of the ceremony of accession to the throne.
²
He also proposed that the Shint
ō
prayers offered at the coronation embody the respect with which the mass of the people offered their congratulations. Iwakura, too, wished to involve the whole people in rites hitherto restricted to the high nobility.

Naturally, a master of yin-yang was consulted as to the best time for the ceremony. He decided the coronation should take place on September 12 at eight in the morning. The officials appointed to preside over different aspects of the ceremony prescribed many changes based on their readings of ancient Japanese texts. Offerings were made to the principal Shint
ō
shrines with prayers that there be no wind or rain on the day of the coronation.
³
Shint
ō
officials were sent to the tombs of Jimmu, Tenchi, and Meiji’s immediate three predecessors, to inform them of the coronation.

The ceremonies were elaborate, every movement of the participants planned. Early that morning the emperor put on his coronation robe. It was similar to the robes worn by Shint
ō
priests, a departure from the traditional Chinese-style robes. At ten he crossed the bridge connecting the Residential Palace and the Hall of State Ceremonies where the ceremonies would be performed. Two maids of honor went before him. Next came two ladies of highest court rank, one bearing the sacred sword and the other, the jewel.
⁴
The emperor was followed by an official who carried the scepter. Another official supported the emperor’s train. The emperor entered from the rear curtained enclosure inside the hall and seated himself on the throne, still invisible to the assemblage. The two women officials placed the sword and jewel on a stand to the emperor’s left and withdrew. The scepter was offered to the emperor. Next, at the sound of a gong, two court ladies raised the bamboo curtain, and for the first time the emperor became visible. The master at arms called out, and the entire assemblage prostrated themselves in worship. An official offered the
nusa
⁵
to the emperor, and the head of the Ministry of Shint
ō
then approached to receive and remove the
nusa
. When this ceremony had ended, there was a call for another reverence, and the entire gathering bowed in unison. Then a herald,
⁶
Reizei Tametada, advanced to the designated place and, lifting the text, read in a loud voice the proclamation of the emperor’s succession and prayers for his longevity and the prosperity of the country.

After the reading of the proclamation, a musician sang the ancient poem:

When the song was over, at a command from Fusehara Nobutaru, the assemblage bowed again. Prince Takahito advanced on his knees to the emperor’s seat to inform him that the ceremony had ended. A gong was struck, at which the maids of honor lowered the bamboo curtain, and the emperor, once again hidden from sight, withdrew. The
gij
ō
and
san’yo
went to the Kogosho to offer their congratulations to the emperor on the successful completion of the ceremony. Others who had been present at the ceremony left at a signal from the drums, and the ceremony was concluded at noon. It had been raining steadily up until this point, but the skies suddenly cleared, to the delight of all, who took this as an auspicious sign. Officials were given a holiday, and the common people rested from their labors so that they might join in the celebration.
⁸

As a further step in cementing the ties between the emperor and his people, the emperor’s birthday was proclaimed a national holiday, the Feast of Tench
ō
.
⁹
Observance of the emperor’s birthday as a holiday had begun as far back as 775, but the custom had long since fallen into abeyance. Its revival at this time was thus another instance of the intention to restore ancient practices.