Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (185 page)

7
. Baroness Albert d’Anethan, wife of the Belgian minister to Japan, recorded in her diary, “We went to tea with Signor Chiossoné, an Italian, who has lived here very many years, and we saw his wonderful collection of bronzes, lacquer, Japanese prints, and ancient embroideries. He also showed us his drawings of the Emperor and the Empress, which are the originals of the only existing portraits of their Majesties. Signor Chiossoné developed these excellent likenesses from sketches from memory, it being against the ideas of the Japanese etiquette or loyalty to the throne that the Emperor or Empress should permit themselves to pose for either a painting or photograph” (
Fourteen Years of Diplomatic Life in Japan
, pp. 53–54).

Meiji’s dislike of photographs was not shared by the empress. On June 24, 1889, she sent for the photographer Suzuki Shin’ichi and had him take her picture. On the following day, she sent for another photographer, Maruki Toshiaki, and he also took her picture (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 287). For the distribution of photographs to elementary schools, see p. 424.

8
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 16. Inoue’s immediate successor had been It
ō
, who temporarily served as both prime minister and foreign minister.

9
. For an account of the objectives of
Ō
kuma’s party, see Joyce C. Lebra,
Ō
kuma Shigenobu
, pp. 69–76.

10
. For a brief account of Kuroda’s meeting with
Ō
kuma, see Watanabe Katsuo,
Meiji nij
ū
ninen no j
ō
yaku kaisei hantai und
ō
, p. 4.

11
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
7, p. 17. See also Lebra,
Ō
kuma
, pp. 84, 164.
Ō
kuma’s conditions changed in the course of negotiation; for details, see Watanabe Katsuo,
Meiji
, pp. 6–18.

12
. Lebra,
Ō
kuma
, p. 86.

13
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 50; this rather free translation is in Hugh Borton,
Japan’s Modern Century
, p. 141.

14
. The five functions of the S
ū
mitsu-in are listed in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 51. All relate to the contents of the proposed constitution and the procedures for modifying its provisions.

15
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 52.

16
. Ibid., 7, pp. 74–75, 92, 94. See also Hijikata Hisamoto, “Eimei kurabenaki daik
ō
tei”: “Sometimes fiercely intent debates lasted for several hours, but His Majesty listened assiduously to each speech, and even after he had retired for the night he would comment that in today’s debate so-and-so’s point of view was correct; he would pass judgment on the good or bad of the different opinions. I was impressed by the accuracy and clarity of his evaluations” (p. 58).

17
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 93.

18
. Ibid., 7, pp. 164–65, 324–25. See also Mary Crawford Fraser,
A Diplomat’s Wife in Japan
, p. 27.

19
. According to Dallas Finn, “But most foreigners, as diverse as Dr. Baelz, the Belgian Baroness d’Anethan, Britain’s Lord Redesdale, and New York financier Jacob Schiff, found the palace magnificent” (
Meiji Revisited
, p. 94). Baroness d’Anethan, for example, wrote of the Throne Room that it was “a magnificent and vast apartment, laid with parquet floors” (
Fourteen Years
, p. 48).

20
. Hinonishi Sukehiro,
Meiji tenn
ō
no go-nichij
ō
, p. 71.

21
. At the time Yoshihito was spending the winter months at Atami, where Tani was also residing. This made it convenient for Soga to approach Tani repeatedly.

22
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 192–93. Tani specified that he would serve in the upper house (House of Peers) because he had been created a viscount in recognition of his military service.

23
. When the emperor learned that Tani was unwilling to serve in the Privy Council, he refused to take no for an answer. He directed the senior chamberlain to send an official of the Imperial Household Ministry to persuade Tani to change his mind. Tani was moved to hear of the emperor’s disappointment, but he asked for time to reconsider (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 201–2). Tani was later offered a choice of a position in the S
ū
mitsu-in or the cabinet. He was not adverse to the latter but did not wish to fill a cabinet vacancy at the same time as Got
ō
Sh
ō
jir
ō
. In the end, Prime Minister Kuroda appointed Got
ō
but not Tani (p. 246). The post of minister of education was filled by Enomoto Takeaki, and Got
ō
succeeded to Enomoto’s former post of minister of communications.

24
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 197.

25
. Ibid., 7, p. 200.

26
. Ibid., 7, pp. 206–7.

27
. Erwin Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, trans. Eden Paul and Cedar Paul, pp. 81–82. “Kamenosuke Tokugawa” was the boyhood name of Tokugawa Iesato (1863–1940). He figured importantly in the creation of the constitution. “Duke Sanjo” was, of course, Sanj
ō
Sanetomi. Baelz described him as having been the “imperial chancellor,” the German equivalent of prime minister.

28
. Borton gives the provisions of the 1946 alongside the corresponding sections of the 1889 constitution (
Japan’s Modern Century
, pp. 490–507).

29
. Knowing of the emperor’s aversion to Kuroda, Motoda cited an episode from Chinese history as textual evidence for rewarding a man with egregious faults: Han Kao Tzu killed one of his favorite ministers and enfeoffed a minister he detested in order to induce the common people to submit willingly to his rule (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 213–14). The emperor, not persuaded by Motoda’s argument, decorated only It
ō
.

30
. According to Baelz, the newspapers made a hero of the murderer, and “there is a regular pilgrimage to Nishino’s tomb in Ueno. The pilgrims are of all sorts, including students, actors, and geishas” (
Awakening Japan
, pp. 85–86).

31
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 226–27.

32
. Ibid., p. 227. Benjamin Harrison, a Republican, was sworn in as president on March 4, 1889.

33
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 237.

34
. Article 24 stated, “No Japanese subject shall be deprived of his right of being tried by judges determined by law.” Article 58 states in part, “The judges shall be appointed from among those who possess proper qualifications according to law. No judge shall be deprived of his position unless by way of criminal sentence or disciplinary punishment.”

35
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 284–87.

36
. Ibid., pp. 297–98.

37
. Ibid., p. 315.

38
. Ibid., p. 333.

39
. Ibid., pp. 339–40.

40
. Ibid., p. 342. These were the questions of Katsu Awa (Kaish
ū
).

41
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 349.

42
. Ibid., p. 352.

43
. Ibid., pp. 364–65. The source is Nishimura’s Kengen-k
ō
(Draft Memorial), written in September 1889. For a lurid picture of what would happen to the Japanese if they permitted foreigners to live outside the settlements and serve as judges of the High Court, see Nihon k
ō
d
ō
kai, ed.,
Haku
ō
s
ō
sho
, 1, pp. 395–411, esp. pp. 399–402, 409. For a study of Nishimura in English, see also Donald H. Shively, “Nishimura Shigeki.” It should be noted that before this time many Japanese were enthusiastic about the prospect of foreigners dwelling among them (
naichi zakkyo
) (In
ō
Tentar
ō
,
J
ō
yaku kaiseiron no rekishiteki tenkai
, pp. 266–68).

44
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 325. According to Baelz, “What the Japanese want is to have the treaties revised in this sense, that they are to get everything and to give nothing in return” (
Awakening Japan
, p. 90).

45
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 371.

46
. Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, pp. 91–92.

47
. Ibid., p. 93.

Chapter 41

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 600.

2
. Ibid., 7, p. 463. See also p. 568, where mention is made of the court’s going into mourning for nine days after the death of the consort of the king of Korea.

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, pp. 684–87, 691–93. On July 3 imperial property at Ikaho in Gumma Prefecture was set aside for the rest and recreation of the
k
ō
zoku
(p. 586).

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 467.

5
. Ibid., 7, p. 471.

6
. Ibid., 7, p. 472.

7
. Ibid., 7, p. 475.

8
. Ibid., 7, pp. 507–10.

9
. On July 15, 1890, the long-awaited British response to Aoki’s modified proposals was received. After noting how greatly these proposals differed from those made in the previous year, Lord Salisbury predicted that it would take at least five years before the British would surrender their special privileges.

10
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 521. The emperor on occasion ate the simple food of inferiors, presumably as a gesture of solidarity with them. When, for example, he visited the warship
Yaeyama
, he ate the food served in the petty officers’ mess (p. 484).

11
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 524.

12
. Ibid., 7, pp. 526–27.

13
. Mary Crawford Fraser,
A Diplomat’s Wife in Japan
, p. 159.

14
. Ibid., p. 166.

15
. In addition to men from Satsuma, Ch
ō
sh
ū
, Tosa, and Hizen, two men who came from none of these domains (Katsu Awa and Enomoto Takeaki) had also received appointment to cabinet posts, probably because of long service to the shogunate.

16
. Roger F. Hackett,
Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan
, p. 135.

17
. Mutsu was sentenced in 1878 to five years’ imprisonment because of his involvement in the Tosa risshisha plot to overthrow the government. He was incarcerated for four years and four months. The emperor, who had pardoned others implicated in the plot, refused to pardon Mutsu. For a brief account of these events, see Hagihara Nobutoshi,
Mutsu Munemitsu
, pp. 47–48.

18
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 7, p. 554.

19
. Ibid., 7, p. 211. Three laws promulgated at this time were Giin-h
ō
, Sh
ū
giin giin senkyo-h
ō
, and Kizokuin-rei (R. H. P. Mason,
Japan’s First General Election
, pp. 27ff).

20
. The House of Peers, although convened at the same time as the House of Representatives, was not elected in the same manner. The 251 members belonged to such categories as members by right for life (imperial princes, princes, and marquises), members by election, and imperial nominees for life. For a good discussion of the House of Peers, see Andrew Fraser, “The House of Peers (1890–1905),” in Andrew Fraser, R. H. P. Mason, and Philip Mitchell,
Japan’s Early Parliaments
.

21
. Suematsu Kench
ō
, who declared, “If an illiterate asked for a proxy, Gombei was written as Hachibei or Gosuke as Rokusuke, as a result of collusion between the headman and the clerks. I was often a witness to the most baneful, for the electors, practice” (“Nij
ū
sannen no s
ō
senkyo,” in
Meiji bunka zensh
ū
, 3, p. 217), is quoted in Fraser et al.,
Japan’s Early Parliaments
, p. 43.