Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (175 page)

5
. For the photograph and an account of the circumstances, see Taki K
ō
ji,
Tenn
ō
no sh
ō
z
ō
, pp. 116–18.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 739, states that “previously” Uchida had taken photographs of the emperor and empress which were presented to the empress dowager on September 9, 1872. The empress dowager, in turn, had her photograph taken by Uchida on October 9. On October 17 Uchida presented to the emperor the total of seventy-two photographs he had taken of him, the empress, and the empress dowager. Some show the emperor in
sokutai
, others in
n
ō
shi
. There was also a photograph taken (at some time before February 1873) showing the emperor on horseback. These photographs, with two or three exceptions, have never been published and are known to me only by the descriptions in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
.

6
. However, the emperor himself seems not to have disliked the photographs. He presented one to Soejima Taneomi on March 9, 1873, when the latter was about to leave for China (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 39). He also gave a copy to his aunt, Princess Chikako, on March 20 (p. 42). The same photograph (or another taken at the same time) was sent to Japanese legations abroad for display (Taki,
Tenn
ō
, pp. 118–19).

7
. The emperor’s uniform was determined on June 3 after a study of the uniforms worn by other monarchs. For details, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, pp. 77–78.

8
. Ibid., 3, p. 47. On the morning of the day on which the emperor’s hair was to be cut, he had a court lady arrange his hair and powder his face lightly as usual. He went to his study where, by his command, the chamberlain Ariji Shinanoj
ō
put scissors to his locks. The chief chamberlain Yoneda Torao and the chamberlain Kataoka Toshikazu took turns in cutting the emperor’s hair. When he reappeared in the
ō
oku
, the palace ladies were surprised and dismayed by his changed appearance.

9
. The photograph is reproduced in Taki,
Tenn
ō
, p. 121. His description of the photograph is on p. 118. Two portraits were taken on this occasion, one full-length and the other half-length (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 134). The duke of Genoa, who was then in Japan, was presented with a large-sized example of the full-length photograph. A copy of the same photograph was subsequently sent to each prefecture. The half-length photograph has not been published.

10
. It was known as the
rusuban seifu
because so many of the top leaders were abroad with the Iwakura mission.

11
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 42.

12
. For a description of this uprising, see ibid., 3, pp. 73–74.

13
. Ibid., 3, p. 87. Another armed revolt occurred later in June in Meit
ō
Prefecture (Nagoya). This was similar in character to the one in H
ō
j
ō
Prefecture, arising from a misunderstanding of the term
ketsuzei
. The leaders of this revolt were punished with extreme severity, and more than 16,890 suffered some form of punishment (pp. 93–94).

14
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 181.

15
. For a detailed account of the incident, see Tada K
ō
mon, ed.,
Iwakura-k
ō
jikki
, 3, pp. 94–96, and
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 189. John Russell Young, a member of General Grant’s party, who met Iwakura in 1879, noted that “Iwakura has a striking face, with lines showing firmness and decision, and you saw the scar which marked the attempt of an assassin to cut him down and slay him” (
Around the World with General Grant
, 2, p. 527).

16
. For the text of the sentence passed on eight of the nine assailants, see Kurihara Ry
ū
ichi,
Zankanj
ō
, pp. 366–67.

17
. For the program advocated by the Y
ū
koku-t
ō
, see Sonoda Hiyoshi,
Et
ō
Shimpei to Saga no ran
, p. 144. Another of the points was a rejection of Christianity as a pollution of the religions of Japan. Immediately after the attempted assassination of Iwakura, the Y
ū
koku-t
ō
drew up a new statement of purpose but did not express opposition to
seikan
(p. 145).

18
. A third party, the Ch
ū
ritsu (or Neutral) Party, eventually sided with the government forces.

19
. M
ō
ri Toshihiko,
Et
ō
Shimpei
, p. 202.

20
. Soejima was also asked to return to Saga, but he yielded to Itagaki’s strong pressure to remain in Tokyo (M
ō
ri,
Et
ō
, p. 205). Et
ō
, disregarding Itagaki’s (and
Ō
kuma’s) advice, went.

21
. Nakano Yoshio shared my bewilderment over the reasons for Et
ō
’s decision (“Saga no ran to Et
ō
Shimpei,” p. 213).

22
. Nakano, “Saga no ran,” p. 215. Et
ō
did not elaborate on what a “second
ishin
” would involve, but it may have included
seikan
.

23
. M
ō
ri,
Et
ō
, p. 206.

24
. Sonoda,
Et
ō
, pp. 154–55. A shorter form of what is essentially the same statement is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 212. The Ch
ō
sh
ū
war is discussed in chapter 21.

25
. Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 156. Et
ō
had received assurances from men not only from these two prefectures but also from Aichi and Kumamoto. See also Nakano, “Saga no ran,” p. 216.

26
. Evidence suggests that Nakayama Ichir
ō
, whom Et
ō
sent to see Saig
ō
Takamori in Kagoshima, reported back that if Saga rose in rebellion, Saig
ō
’s party would follow its lead, but it seems hardly possible that Saig
ō
would have committed himself in this way (Nakano, “Saga no ran,” p. 216).

27
. Sonoda gives a paraphrase of Et
ō
’s statement on this occasion (
Et
ō
, pp. 194–95). He said that unless the army were disbanded, every man of the rank of corporal and above would be killed by the government army. He asked that they put aside their military garb, scatter through the region, and await the time (which would certainly come) for a second uprising.

28
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, pp. 221–24. For a detailed account of the fighting, see Sonoda,
Et
ō
, pp. 163–90.

29
. The details are given in Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 200. Et
ō
’s opens: “Age 41. Tall and rather heavy. Long face with high cheek bones. Eyebrows thick and long.”

30
. Kido remarked ironically that “what we are advocating now, Et
ō
was advocating last year.” He seems to have been equating Et
ō
’s eagerness to conquer Korea with the Japanese war of conquest in Taiwan that was then being waged (quoted in Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 205).

31
. Sonoda,
Et
ō
, pp. 190–91.

32
. Ibid., p. 207.

33
. Ibid., p. 208.

34
. This is what he told his servant, urging him to return home lest he become implicated in the crime of rebellion (Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 209).

35
. The text of the letter is in Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 210. Although the envelope was addressed to Iwakura only, the letter itself also bears the names of Kido,
Ō
kubo,
Ō
kuma, and
Ō
ki as addressees. The sender’s name on the envelope was part of the alias that Et
ō
used in his guise as a secret agent, but his real name was given in the letter.

36
. Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 211.

37
. He was captured on March 7 (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 239).

38
. Sonoda,
Et
ō
, p. 219. The wording of Et
ō
’s outburst varies somewhat according to the source.

39
. Sagi Ry
ū
z
ō
,
Shih
ō
ky
ō
Et
ō
Shimpei
, p. 408. Nakano states that the
T
ō
ky
ō
nichinichi shimbun
denounced the sale in Ky
ū
sh
ū
of photographs of the severed heads of Et
ō
and Shima (“Saga no ran,” p. 218). He said that he was reluctant to believe that
Ō
kubo was behind this but that there were rumors to this effect.

40
. In his diary for April 2, 1874, Kido Takayoshi wrote, “Today was the day for members to affix their seals to the resolution on Taiwan; therefore, I told the two Ministers of State, Sanj
ō
and Iwakura, that I am refusing to sign. The reason is, as I observed in my statement in response to the Imperial inquiry last year, that in surveying the present condition of the country I am conscious of the poverty of the people. We should devote ourselves exclusively to domestic administration, and to advancing the people’s living standards, and afterwards, it will not be too late to undertake an overseas expedition.”

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, pp. 234–35.

42
. Ibid., 3, pp. 243–44.

43
. Ibid., 3, p. 245.

44
. The American ship the
Shaftsbury
was renamed the
Shary
ō
maru
, and the British ship the
Delta
was renamed
Takasago maru
. Both names refer to Taiwan: Shary
ō
was the port the Japanese would use for their expedition, and Takasago was the name the Japanese gave to the natives of the island (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 259).

45
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 280.

46
. Ibid., 3, p. 282.

47
. Ibid., 3, p. 325.

48
. Ibid., 3, pp. 368–73.

Chapter 26

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 377.

2
. He was at the time an officer of the Ministry of Education (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 378).

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 383.

4
. The daughter of the nobleman Yanagihara Mitsunaru (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 292). She was appointed as
gon no tenji
on February 20, 1873. She bore Meiji four children; three of them died, but the remaining one was the future Emperor Taish
ō
.

5
. Earlier in the same month a series of regulations had been formulated concerning the ceremonies to be observed after the birth of a prince or princess. They prescribed that in keeping with the practice in the imperial family ever since the time of Emperor Seiwa, male children should have names ending in -hito and female children names ending in -ko (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, pp. 384–85).

6
. It had long been the custom to bestow on courtesans names derived from the female characters in
The Tale of Genji
. Originally, this may have been to give merchants who bought the favors of prostitutes the impression that they, like Genji in ancient times, had slept with Murasaki no Ue or Rokuj
ō
no Miyasudokoro. Meiji bestowed on his ladies the names of plants and trees. These names were used by both the emperor and the court ladies themselves when calling one another. In addition to their Genji names, the ladies had nicknames, also bestowed by the emperor.

7
. Sait
ō
Keish
ū
,
Jokan monogatari
, pp. 91, 93.

8
. Kat
ō
Hitoshi, “Meiji tenn
ō
o-tsubone go-rakuin den,” p. 60.