Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (70 page)

Grant’s hatred of war and everything connected with war was astonishing in a man who had enjoyed such great success as a general. He even hated paintings that depicted warfare and told John Russell Young, the writer who accompanied the Grants on their trip around the world, “I never saw a war picture that was pleasant. I tried to enjoy some of those in Versailles, but they were disgusting.” Grant was unsparing in his criticism of his own participation in the Mexican War in 1845: “I know the struggle with my conscience during the Mexican War. I have never entirely forgiven myself for going to that. I had very strong opinions on the subject. I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought so at the time, when I was a youngster, only I had not moral courage to resign.”
⁶

Grant had joined the army because he hated his father’s work—he was a tanner—and attending the military academy at West Point offered the only possibility of getting a good education. After graduation he left the army, but because he failed at every business in which he engaged, he had no choice but to become an army officer, despite his hatred of war. He related, “I never went into a battle willingly or with enthusiasm. I was always glad when a battle was over. I never want to command another army. I take no interest in armies. When the Duke of Cambridge asked me to review his troops at Aldershott I told his Royal Highness that the one thing I never wanted to see again was a military parade.”
⁷

It is ironic that Grant, who was thoroughly disillusioned with the military, was on his way to Japan, where Emperor Meiji was manifesting increasing interest in military reviews and maneuvers. Young noted, “The emperor of Japan is fond of his army, and was more anxious to show it to General Grant than any other institution in the Empire.”
⁸
In the end, Grant, despite his extreme dislike, felt obliged to comply with the emperor’s wish for Grant to review the Japanese troops.
⁹

Grant arrived in Nagasaki on June 21, 1879, aboard the warship
Richmond
. The ship was met by Date Munenari (1818–1892), a nobleman, and Yoshida Kiyonari (1845–1891), the Japanese minister plenipotentiary to America. Young recorded,

Prince Daté said that he had been commanded by the emperor to meet General Grant on his landing, to welcome him in the name of his Majesty, and to attend upon him as the emperor’s personal representative as long as the General remained in Japan…. Mr. Yoshida is well known as the present Japanese minister to the United States, a discreet and accomplished man, and among the rising statesmen in the empire. Having been accredited to America during the General’s administration, and knowing the General, the government called him home so that he might attend General Grant and look after the reception.
¹⁰

Grant delivered soon afterward his first speech in Japan, which included these words:

America has much to gain in the East—no nation has greater interests; but America has nothing to gain except what comes from the cheerful acquiescence of the Eastern people and insures them as much benefit as it does us. I should be ashamed of my country if its relations with other countries, and especially with these ancient and most interesting empires in the East, were based upon any other idea.
¹¹

Grant had originally planned to visit Ky
ō
to, but an epidemic of cholera had broken out in the Kansai region, and the Japanese government did not want Grant to risk becoming infected. The Americans were disposed to take the threat of cholera lightly, but as the guests of Japan, they were under the charge of the emperor’s representatives, who insisted that the Americans not land in the Kansai. They accordingly went on to Yokohama, arriving on July 3.

They were met by an impressive array of dignitaries, including Iwakura Tomomi, who shook hands with Grant. The act of shaking hands seems to have been very important to the Americans: they were greatly impressed the next day when the emperor, on meeting Grant, advanced and shook hands with him. Young wrote, “This seems a trivial thing to write down, but such a thing was never before known in the history of Japanese majesty.”
¹²
The emperor’s gesture caused Young to muse, “The Mikado has never failed in courtesy to the princes of other royal families who have visited him. But while he treated English, Russian, and German princes as princes, he has treated General Grant as a friend.”
¹³

At the request of the Japanese, the first meeting between the emperor and General Grant took place on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of American independence; and the emperor’s first greeting to Grant expressed his pleasure that their meeting had occurred on this day. Young’s description of Emperor Meiji suggests that despite his expressions of friendship, he was still not at ease with foreign visitors:

The manner of the emperor was constrained, almost awkward, the manner of a man doing a thing for the first time, and trying to do it as well as possible. After he had shaken hands with the General, he returned to his place, and stood with his hand resting on his sword, looking on at the brilliant, embroidered, gilded company as though unconscious of their presence.
¹⁴

The greetings exchanged by the two men were formal. The emperor said: “I have heard of many of the things you have said to my ministers in reference to Japan. You have seen the country and the people. I am eager to speak with you on these subjects, and am sorry I have not had an opportunity much earlier.”

General Grant replied that he was entirely at the service of the emperor. He said he was glad indeed to see His Majesty and thank him for all the kindness he had received in Japan. He might say that no one outside Japan had a higher interest in the country or a more sincere friendship for the people. Probably Grant was sincere in these remarks. He was delighted with the scenery, finding Japan “beautiful beyond description,” and the lack of adornment in Meiji’s palace had produced a most favorable impression. Young wrote, “The home of the emperor was as simple as that of a country gentleman at home…. What marked the house was its simplicity and taste.” Again, “Japan has taught the world the beauty of clean, fine-grained natural wood, and the fallacy of glass and paint.” Grant’s own preference for simplicity and naturalness made him respond to Japanese tastes. He was also impressed when he learned that although there was a project to build a new palace for the emperor on the site of the one that had been destroyed by a fire, “the emperor has prevented it, loath to incur the expense and satisfied with his house as it is.”
¹⁵

Young’s descriptions of the Japanese dignitaries whom Grant met on the occasion of his first audience with the emperor are valuable because the appearances of these men are so rarely mentioned in Japanese works:

The Prime Minister [Sanj
ō
Sanetomi] is a striking character. He is small, slender, with an almost girl-like figure, delicate, clean-cut, winning features, a face that might be that of a boy of twenty or a man of fifty…. 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, as Okubo, the greatest of Japanese statesmen, was slain not many months ago.

The emperor stood quite motionless, apparently unobservant or unconscious of the homage that was paid him. He is a young man, with a slender figure, taller than the average Japanese, and about the middle height according to our ideas. He has a striking face, with a mouth and lips that remind you something of the traditional mouth of the Hapsburg family. The forehead is full and narrow, the hair and the light mustache and beard intensely black. The color of the hair darkens what might pass for a swarthy countenance at home. The face expressed no feeling whatever, and but for the dark, glowing eye, which was bent full upon the General, you might have taken the imperial group for statues. The empress, at his side, wore the Japanese costume, rich and plain. Her face was very white, and her form slender and almost childlike. Her hair was combed plainly and braided with a golden arrow. The emperor and empress have agreeable faces, the emperor’s especially showing firmness and kindness.
¹⁶

According to Young, the emperor conversed a good deal with Grant during this reception at the Shiba Palace. The interpreter was Yoshida Kiyonari. The content of the conversation was not recorded,
¹⁷
but the emperor, apparently impressed with Grant, expressed a desire to have a private and friendly meeting. This was arranged for a time after the general returned from his trip to Nikk
ō
.
¹⁸

The emperor’s second meeting with Grant took place on July 7. That morning a military review took place in the presence of the emperor and General Grant. Apart from the pleasure it no doubt gave the emperor to display his trim and well-equipped troops, he may have supposed (not knowing that Grant detested such military reviews) that this would be of particular interest to his guest. After the ceremony Meiji said to Grant, “A review of so few troops probably doesn’t interest you. I have heard that your country has only a small standing army. I am truly impressed that a small army suffices for such a big country.”
¹⁹
The emperor’s comment on the fewness of the American troops may reflect the observations of Japanese who had visited Washington and seen how little police protection was needed for the president of the United States.

After the military review the emperor proceeded to the Shiba Detached Palace, where he was joined by General Grant and his wife. The emperor, welcoming them, shook hands with both. Other guests included the governor of Hong Kong and his wife and the American minister and his wife. General Grant ushered the wife of Prince Taruhito into the dining room, and the prime minister, Sanj
ō
Sanetomi, taking Mrs. Grant’s hand, brought her to the table.
²⁰
Not so long before, members of Japanese delegations to the West had been astonished (and even dismayed) by the presence of women at dignified state occasions, but now the prime minister did not hesitate to take a foreign lady by the hand and politely lead her to the table.

After dinner General and Mrs. Grant were invited to another pavilion where they were served coffee. Over coffee, the emperor (interpreted by Yoshida Kiyonari) chatted with the former president. He asked questions and made comments about Grant’s journey around the world, including:

“I am sure that in the course of your journey to different countries, during the past year and more, you have not only enjoyed the scenery and other sights but have found much that was of use to you.”

“You must have suffered from the heat in India.”

“Customs in India differ greatly from those in Europe and America. Among the various customs you noticed, which were the most striking?”

“Did you visit the Great Wall and other famous historical places while you were in China?”
²¹

The emperor, who previously had difficulty in conversing with foreign visitors, was now able to go beyond routine comments on the weather and stereotyped expressions of gratitude that the visitor had traveled all the way to Japan. At first, the emperor had been reluctant to eat dinner with foreigners, and it took persuasion by the imperial household minister, Tokudaiji Sanetsune, to change his mind,
²²
but he now seems to have enjoyed the occasion, even though the temperature rose to 93 degrees Fahrenheit and he was wearing a dress uniform. The emperor talked not only with Grant but also with the governor of Hong Kong. The empress, conversing with Mrs. Grant, vouchsafed words of comfort over the exhausting journey, to which Mrs. Grant responded by declaring that in none of the many countries she and her husband had visited were they treated with such great kindness as in Japan.
²³

Grant and his wife left for Nikk
ō
on July 17, accompanied by Yoshida Kiyonari and Date Munenari. On the following day, the emperor sent It
ō
Hirobumi to Nikk
ō
²⁴
to make sure that the Grants were comfortable there. Grant’s stay in Nikk
ō
was probably planned to give him relief from the T
ō
ky
ō
summer. It may also have been intended to console him for not having been able to visit Ky
ō
to. On July 22 while in Nikk
ō
, he met with representatives of the Japanese government who had come to speak officially concerning the difficulty between China and Japan on the Ry
ū
ky
ū
question. As he had promised Prince Kung and Viceroy Li Hung-chang, Grant communicated the Chinese position. It
ō
Hirobumi replied that “Japanese rights of sovereignty over Loochoo were immemorial.” Grant explained that his entire interest arose from his kind feelings toward both Japan and China. He added that “Japan was in point of war materials, army and navy, stronger than China. Against Japan, China, he might say, was defenseless, and it was impossible for China to injure Japan.”
²⁵
Grant’s accurate estimate of the relative military strength of China and Japan revealed his expertise as a professional soldier, whereas most foreign observers, even as late as the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), were sure that China was far stronger than Japan.