Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (177 page)

17
. The announcement of the forthcoming journey was made on November 22, 1876 (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 3, p. 729).

18
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 30.

19
. The text and prefatory material are from
Shinsh
ū
Meiji tenn
ō
gy
ō
sh
ū
, 1, p. 45. The poems are in reverse order in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 19.

20
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 21.

21
.
Shinsh
ū
Meiji tenn
ō
gy
ō
sh
ū
, 1, p. 46. Both the prefatory note and the poem mention “rowing” into the harbor at Toba, probably a poetic term for the maneuvering of the steamship.

22
.
Shinsh
ū
Meiji tenn
ō
gy
ō
sh
ū
, 1, p. 46.

23
. Meiji was so upset when he saw how run-down the buildings had become during the bare eight or nine years since he had taken up residence in Tokyo that he arranged for 4,000 yen to be paid every year for their maintenance and commanded the Ky
ō
to prefectural administration to consider how best to preserve them (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 48).

24
. The insistence that the schools were “private schools” (
shigakk
ō
) was in order to make it clear that they were not under the control of the government-sponsored educational system.

25
. Paraphrase in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 26. In surviving examples of Saig
ō
’s calligraphy, the maxim is given as
keiten aijin
(Revere heaven and love mankind), but in the private schools,
sonn
ō
, the term familiar from
sonn
ō
j
ō
i
days, was used.

26
. The traditions were largely Confucian in origin, but instruction in the “private schools” did not deal with such “mainstream” Confucian works as the Four Books because it was believed they were intended for prospective officials rather than for samurai.

27
. They included ten policemen (
junsa
) and several students, all natives of Kagoshima. These men were samurai but, being from the hinterland, were scorned by samurai stationed at Kagoshima Castle. Feeling was bitter on both sides, which no doubt was why Nakahara and the others cooperated with the central government.

28
. The main points of the confession are in Sait
ō
Nobuaki,
Saig
ō
to Meiji ishin kakumei
, pp. 361–62. Nakahara had told a trusted old friend (who immediately passed on the information to his superiors) that the chief objective of his mission was to alienate samurai from the private schools. This would be easy in outlying parts of Kagoshima Prefecture but difficult within the city. The best way to destroy the private schools in the city would be to kill Saig
ō
and his two lieutenants, Kirino Toshiaki and Shinohara Kunimoto. In his formal confession, Nakahara stated that as soon as Saig
ō
was assassinated, a telegram would be sent to Tokyo, followed by armed intervention by the army and navy. Sait
ō
, who believed in the veracity of the confession, admitted that it was obtained by means of torture but insisted that the use of torture was legal at the time.

29
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 35–36. Ueda Shigeru stressed how unlikely it was that Nakahara and those with him were acting under orders to assassinate Saig
ō
, who was recognized to be a moderating influence (
Saig
ō
Takamori no higeki
, pp. 157–59). Saig
ō
’s death was likely to stir up a hornet’s nest, as those in the government were well aware. Ueda suggested that the government had deliberately circulated the rumor of a planned assassination in order provoke a reaction.

30
. On this occasion, he saw
Okina
,
Miwa
,
Hagoromo
,
Ataka
,
Sh
ō
son
, and
Sessh
ō
seki
(
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 34). If these plays were presented in entirety, they would have taken a full day to perform.

31
. Diary entry, February 5, 1876, in Brown and Hirota, trans.,
Diary
, 3, p. 435. After describing the seizure of army and navy ammunition by Kagoshima samurai on January 30 and 31, Kido commented, “This is a very different situation from the one described by Hayashi Tomoyuki on the basis of his observations early in January. Today the powerful reputation of Satsuma reverberates to all corners of the land; malcontented
shizoku
in more than ten prefectures are observing the movements of Satsuma.”

32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 46. The prefectures mentioned were Kumamoto, Saga, Fukuoka, K
ō
chi, Okayama, Tottori, Hikone, Kuwana, Aizu, and Sh
ō
nai, some of which were subsequently abolished.

33
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 47.

34
. Ibid., 4, p. 47.

Chapter 28

1
. Diary entry, February 5, 1876, in Sidney DeVere Brown and Akiko Hirota, trans.,
The Diary of Kido Takayoshi
, 3, p. 434.

2
. This
tanka
is complicated.
Yaso uji
means “many clans,” but the
kakekotoba
leads into Uji River, where soldiers of many clans once fought. The moon is clear in the water, but there is probably a pun on
sumu
, meaning “to dwell”—the moon dwells in the river. In the light of the moon Asahiyama, whose name means “morning sun,” can be seen, a contrast between moon and sun.

3
. The Komparu school was especially strong in Nara.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 54.

5
. This day was known as Kigen-setsu. It was proclaimed as a day of celebration in 1873, the year that the solar calendar was adopted.

6
. Diary entry, February 10, 1877, in Brown and Hirota, trans.,
Diary
, 3, p. 441.

7
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 61. See also Roger F. Hackett,
Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan
, pp. 77–78.

8
. The text is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 77. See also Yamashita Ikuo,
Kenky
ū
seinan no eki
, p. 132.

9
. The text is in Yamashita,
Kenky
ū
, p. 133.

10
. This is the figure given in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 77–78. A breakdown of the component members of the total of some 30,000 men who fought during the war under Saig
ō
is in Yamashita,
Kenky
ū
, p. 137. The main body of troops consisted of the 13,000 “students” of the private schools.

11
. Yamashita,
Kenky
ū
, p. 152. This information is derived from various contemporary documents such as
Teich
ū
Dan’u nikki
by Kawahigashi Sukegor
ō
, and
Kesshi seinan eki
by Takeno Masayuki.

12
. The text of the entire song is in Yamashita,
Kenky
ū
, pp. 127–29. The author is unknown. Mention of “
shide no tabi
” (a journey to the other world) in the last line indicates that it was composed about the time of the move into Kumamoto. Each line of the poem begins with a different syllable, following the order of the
i-ro-ha
poem.

13
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 100.

14
.
Kido Takayoshi monjo
, 7, p. 334, quoted in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 108. This statement is recorded in the letter Kido sent It
ō
Hirobumi, probably on March 4, 1877.

15
. Ikai Takaaki,
Saig
ō
Takamori
, p. 224.

16
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 121.

17
. Ibid., 4, p. 120. See also Kido’s letter to Shishido Tamaki, March 4, 1877, in
Kido Takayoshi monjo
, 7, p. 331.

18
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 119.

19
. Ibid. By an extraordinary coincidence, both the siege of Metz and that of Kumamoto lasted fifty-four days.

20
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 125. See also diary entry, March 14, 1877, in Brown and Hirota, trans.,
Diary
, 3, p. 463. The
batt
ō
tai
(Drawn Sword Unit) was subsequently immortalized in poetry and song.

21
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 130–31.

22
. Ibid., 4, p. 134. Kido made this observation on March 22 (Brown and Hirota, trans.,
Diary
, 3, p. 468).

23
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 146.

24
. For an account of Saig
ō
’s victory at Mitai-mura on August 19, see ibid., 4, pp. 237.

25
. Ibid., 4, p. 181.

26
. Ibid., 4, p. 223.

27
. See also ibid., 4, pp. 247–49. Takasaki became Meiji’s tutor of poetry at the end of August.

28
. This was a building within the compound of the Aoyama Gosho, the empress dowager’s residence.

Chapter 29

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 269.

2
. Ibid., 4, p. 313. The emperor’s gesture was not intended to cure the wounds, in the manner of the sovereign’s touch in Europe.

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 276. He did not attend meetings on days of rest or religious holidays. He had still not entirely recovered from the beriberi he contracted in Kyoto, and the doctors urged him to devote himself above all to recuperating his health.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 279. Yen Hui (Gankai in Japanese) was the favorite disciple of Confucius. A gourd was commonly used as a container for saké.

5
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 291. They read
Tsugan Ran’y
ō
(T’ung-chien Lan-yao), a historical work compiled by Yao P’ei-ch’ien and Chang Ching-hsing during the Ch’ing period, on Chinese history from ancient times to the Ming dynasty.

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 292. The empress’s poem was “Unless one mends one’s ways and lets fall the flowers in one’s hair, even the light of the morning sun will not be bright.” The meaning seems to be that a life of indolence (flowers in the hair) destroys true happiness.

7
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 329. Fukuba Bisei, Nishimura Shigeki, and Nishi Amane were among the lecturers this day. Beginning on January 7, 1878, an even more demanding series of lectures was given in the presence of the emperor and empress, including one by Motoda on the
Analects
, another by Nishimura Shigeki on a textbook of morals written by an American, and a lecture by Kond
ō
Yoshiki on the
Kojiki
. These and other lectures were delivered, except when the emperor was indisposed, until he left on his tour of the Hokuriku and T
ō
kai regions. For more detailed information on the contents of the lectures, see pp. 350–51.

8
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, p. 316.

9
. The
jiho
were officers appointed by the emperor to serve him by advising (“remonstrating”) and supplementing his decisions. The position was established in 1877 and abolished in 1879.

10
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 4, pp. 355–56.

11
. Ibid., 4, p. 330. The letter, sent on December 17, 1877, accepted the invitation extended to Japan to participate in the exposition that would be held in Paris the next year.