Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (98 page)

The emperor’s questions, though not profound, revealed that he had become seriously interested in politics. This was true also of the cabinet members. Previously, attendance at cabinet meetings had been casual, as the emperor had complained, but now the ministers had to attend all meetings without fail; those who were physically unable to attend had to notify the others in advance. When bills proposed by a particular minister were being discussed, he would be expected to have copies of his explanations of the contents and to point out salient features to the ministers present. These changes, it was hoped, would contribute to the efficiency of the cabinet meetings.
⁶
For the first time, gatherings of the high-ranking officers of the state seemed to be professional, rather than occasions for cronies or rivals to exchange banter and divide up political spoils. It
ō
’s studies of parliamentary procedures had begun to bear fruit.

On February 8 Aoki sent a memorandum to the countries with which Japan had concluded treaties, stating that equality would be the necessary condition of any future treaties. With the convening of the Diet and the implementation of the constitution, it seemed evident that the concessions that had been proposed by earlier ministers of foreign affairs in the hopes of securing revisions to the treaties were no longer appropriate. Now that it possessed a legislative body and a constitution, Japan should no longer be considered to lag behind the advanced nations of the West. Aoki specified four changes to the concessions that had been proposed by Inoue Kaoru and
Ō
kuma Shigenobu: (1) the promise to appoint judges of foreign extraction to the high court was rescinded; (2) the agreement concerning the organization and publication of a survey of the Japanese laws was canceled; (3) the agreement giving foreigners the right to own property was retracted; and (4) some restrictions relating to the agreement granting foreigners the same rights as Japanese would be applied.
⁷
Aoki added that although he recognized that certain rights accorded to foreign countries thirty years earlier could not be swept away in a day, the new Japan would not tolerate anything harmful to the interests of its people or its dignity as a sovereign state.

It was hardly likely that the European nations (especially Great Britain) would accept these unilaterally decreed changes, but the outcry against proposed treaty revisions during the previous year had made it imperative to produce a new basis for negotiations. The matter of treaty revision could not simply be ignored. The emperor had conveyed to Motoda Nagazane his unhappiness over the failure of the previous year’s negotiations, and Motoda had brought this to the attention of the Privy Council. But little, if any, progress could be made through diplomatic channels; instead, the Japanese set about reforming their legal system in order to deny the European nations grounds for apprehension over what their nationals might suffer under primitive or unwritten laws.

On March 18 it was decided that the courts should be reorganized, the first of many changes this year. On the twenty-seventh of the month, the civil code was promulgated, the fruit of long preparation. As far back as 1876, a committee had been appointed to draft a code, which was completed in 1878. The government, still not satisfied, had sent men abroad to examine legislative and political theory in the hopes of producing a better code of law. In 1880 Gustave Boissonade was hired by the Ministry of Justice to prepare a code, which was elaborated and eventually translated in 1886. Other modifications were made, but despite efforts to hasten its completion, the code was not approved by the Genr
ō
in and the Privy Council until this time.
⁸
Codes of civil suits and mercantile law were also promulgated. These developments should have reassured foreigners that Japanese justice would not be arbitrary or corrupt, but they showed no signs of willingness to satisfy the Japanese desire for equality.
⁹

The emperor’s reactions to these changes in the legal system were not recorded. Perhaps his mind was already preoccupied with thoughts of the Grand Maneuvers he was to observe in Aichi Prefecture. He left by train for Nagoya on March 28 and, after numerous rest stops along the way, arrived at five that afternoon. The city greeted the emperor with boundless enthusiasm and joy. The sincerity of the welcome was emphasized by fireworks that rose into the sky, red lanterns that glowed along the streets, and evergreen arches erected over the course he followed. The emperor’s journey to Nagoya does not figure among his
junk
ō
, presumably because its purpose was to observe maneuvers and not to acquaint the emperor with the lives of his people; but it contributed no less than a
junk
ō
to enhancing the emperor’s popularity.

The maneuvers took the form of a mock war between the East Army (Japan) and the West Army (the invaders). The West Army was able, thanks to its powerful fleet, to control the sea, and it successfully landed troops on various islands and coastal districts. The East Army’s mission was to defend T
ō
ky
ō
Bay from attack by West Army units approaching from various directions. The maneuvers were hampered by driving rain that began to fall on March 30 and continued to fall steadily through the whole of the thirty-first. The emperor braved the wind and rain, seeming not to notice the extreme muddiness of the roads.

The “fighting” at first seemed to favor the East Army, but the invading West Army, under such capable officers as Nogi Maresuke, held its own, perhaps disappointing the emperor, who probably hoped that the invaders would be repulsed. After five days of combat on land and sea, the maneuvers were halted, but not before anecdotes had accumulated describing how, for example, the emperor ate lunch at an elementary school, drinking tea from a cup made for the pupils’ use, and using a classroom desk for his table.
¹⁰

The empress joined the emperor in Nagoya, and they traveled together to Ky
ō
to. The railway line between T
ō
ky
ō
and Ky
ō
to had been completed in October 1889, making travel far more convenient than ever before. When they arrived that evening at the Gosho, they discovered that the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, stirring nostalgic thoughts in the emperor, who still considered Ky
ō
to to be his “old home.” He composed this poem:

Hardly had they arrived than they went to pay their respects at the tomb of Emperor K
ō
mei. Later, the empress visited a school for the blind and deaf, and the emperor, a middle school where he observed calisthenics and military drill. On April 9, at the earnest request of the governors of Ky
ō
to and Shiga Prefectures, the emperor and empress visited the recently completed aqueduct, bringing water from Lake Biwa to Ky
ō
to.
¹²

On April 15 Arthur, duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria, and his wife, Louise Marguérite, arrived in T
ō
ky
ō
for a visit. Luckily for them, the emperor and empress were in Ky
ō
to and thus spared the necessity of entertaining these important visitors. They did not hurry their return to the capital. The emperor, who feared he had been neglecting the navy, left Ky
ō
to on the eighteenth to observe a naval review at Kure. He later visited the chief naval stations, at Kure and Sasebo. The empress traveled instead to Nara, visiting the principal Shint
ō
shrines in the city and the surrounding countryside. They did not return to T
ō
ky
ō
until May 6.

In the meantime, the duke and duchess had been amusing themselves with riding in jinrikishas, buying curios, and admiring the cherry blossoms. Mary Fraser, the wife of the British minister, wrote,

The Duchess, indeed, is an ardent sightseer, and seems to have only one dread; namely, that she should miss some interesting experience which the ordinary traveler would ferret out for himself. Before the party arrived, word was sent that they wishes to travel quite unofficially so as to have all possible freedom for sight-seeing.
¹³

The emperor did not return to T
ō
ky
ō
until two days before the duke and duchess sailed for Vancouver on May 8. On the morning of their departure, Prince Komatsu arrived at the British legation, where the royal couple were residing, bringing gifts from the emperor and empress. Japanese often startled foreigners by arriving for a visit with excessive punctuality, a tradition that has lingered. Mrs. Fraser recalled, “Prince Komatsu came, without warning, at a quarter to nine, and neither the Duke nor the Duchess was quite prepared for such an early pleasure.”
¹⁴

The visit of the duke and duchess of Connaught passed without incident and without unnecessary fuss, suggesting new maturity in dealing with distinguished foreign visitors. Soon after their departure, Yamagata Aritomo, the new prime minister, made significant changes in his cabinet that indicated a new era in Japanese politics had arrived. The changes had begun some months earlier with Yamagata’s decision to place at the head of the Metropolitan Police Force someone who was not from Satsuma. For years the police had been dominated by Satsuma, and many abuses of power had resulted from this unvarying control. Yamagata, determined to change the situation before the convening of the first Diet, appointed Tanaka Mitsuaki from Tosa as the superintendent general in December 1889.

The appointment broke precedents but not too much: Tosa (the present K
ō
chi), after all, was one of the four western domains that shared a monopoly of cabinet posts.
¹⁵
Yamagata’s next move was more dramatic. He included in his cabinet two men who were not from the four domains—Yoshikawa Akimasa (from Awa, the present Tokushima) as minister of education, and Mutsu Munemitsu (from Kii, the present Wakayama) as minister of agriculture and commerce.
¹⁶
These appointments aroused opposition among politicians from the four domains, and even the emperor expressed reservations. He had long disliked Mutsu and doubted that his character had improved since “what happened ten years ago.”
¹⁷
Yoshikawa, the emperor added, was conspicuously lacking in popularity. He urged Yamagata to give due thought before choosing these men.

Yamagata answered that Mutsu’s crime had been expiated by the years he spent in prison. If he was not given a post worthy of his abilities, he might join some political party that would create problems for the government. Yamagata guaranteed that there would be no repetition of Mutsu’s earlier errors that he would personally assume responsibility. As for Yoshikawa, an old friend, he might not yet be ready for interior minister, but he was quite capable of handling the work of the Ministry of Education. Yamagata promised to give guidance to Yoshikawa. He declared he was fully aware of the importance of education, which was why he had tried for so long to persuade Enomoto Takeaki, the minister of education, to set future goals, but Enomoto had vacillated and nothing had been achieved. If Yoshikawa was appointed as minister of education, he would see to it that principles of education would be laid down that would not require alteration even after another man became minister of education. The emperor at length gave his consent.
¹⁸
The appointments were good, and the emperor, impressed by Yamagata’s capability, promoted him in June to general.

Many problems remained before an elected, constitutional government could commence its activities. On June 28, immediately before the election, the administrative code was approved, and two days later the spheres of activity of the Privy Council and the Cabinet were defined in last-minute efforts to have the government in working order for the newly elected Diet.

The election took place on July 1. It was carried out under the provisions of the Law of Election of Members of the House of Representatives, which had been enacted by the emperor on February 11, 1889, at the same time that he sanctioned the constitution.
¹⁹
A total of 300 seats were contested, covering the entire country with the exception of Hokkaid
ō
, Okinawa, and the Ogasawara Islands. The franchise was severely limited. Women could not vote, and for men there were qualifications of age, residence, and property. A voter had to be twenty-five years of age, to have lived as a permanent resident in a prefecture for one year, and to have paid at least 15 yen in national taxes. This meant that only 450,365 men were entitled to vote, about 1.14 percent of a population of nearly 40 million. About 95 percent of those who were eligible to cast ballots did so, although there was no penalty for failing to vote, a mark of the great interest aroused by the election.
²⁰

The elections were carried out without violence and with surprising smoothness, considering the civil strife that had torn the country not long before. On the whole there seem to have been few violations of the electoral laws, although petty deceptions may have been carried out when illiterates cast ballots.
²¹
But as R. H. P. Mason commented, “in complete contrast to what went on at the time of the second general election two years later, the Government refrained from abusing its executive or judicial powers to secure the defeat of its opponents. The law was neutral, and so was its enforcement by the police and the higher political or judicial authorities.”
²²