Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (171 page)

3
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 53.

4
. Ibid., 2, p. 55.

5
. John R. Black,
Young Japan
, 2, pp. 254–55.

6
. It may have been a coincidence, but years later (about 1875) when his tutor, Motoda Nagazane, asked Meiji who of the emperors of most ancient time he most admired, he replied, “Jimmu and Keik
ō
.” Both emperors were associated with the foundation and unification of Japan (Yasuba Sueki, “Junch
ū
shisei no taiju Mo-toda Nagazane sensei,” p. 9).

7
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 77–78.

8
. Ibid., 2, p. 79.

9
. As late as May it was reported that the rebels’ “craftiness” had prevented the government forces from making headway; but on May 28 they launched a successful land and sea attack.

10
.
True Records of Three Reigns
, the last of the six imperially sponsored histories of Japan, compiled in 901.

11
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 95.

12
. Ibid., 2, pp. 97, 109–10. It was reported on July 14 that outside the three main cities (Ky
ō
to, T
ō
ky
ō
, and
Ō
saka) the people still did not trust paper money, and in these cities there was sharp inflation, causing hardship (p. 135).

13
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 100–101.

14
. Ibid., 2, p. 112.

15
. Ibid., 2, p. 108.

16
. For his studies, see ibid., 2, pp. 119, 124, 131–32, etc.

17
. Ibid., 2, p. 140.

18
. Black,
Young Japan
, 2, p. 267.

19
. Ibid., 2, pp. 266, 267.

20
. F. V. Dickins and S. Lane-Poole,
The Life of Sir Harry Parkes
, 2, pp. 121, 142. The same wording is in Black,
Young Japan
, 2, pp. 267–68. Black seems to have had access to Parkes’s letter to the earl of Clarendon, dated August 23, 1869, in which this statement appears. Iwakura’s detailed account of the formalities that were to be observed during the duke’s visit is in Tada, ed.,
Iwakura
, 2, pp. 768–73.

21
. Black,
Young Japan
, 2, pp. 268–69.

22
. Parkes explained this ceremony: “Kan-jin, literally the God of China. This is the revival of an extremely ancient ceremonial which dates from a time when there was no intercourse with abroad, excepting with China through Korea. Kan-jin is, therefore, the patron saint of foreigners, who are all united under his protection with the generic name of T
ō
jin, or ‘men of the Tang Dynasty of China’” (Dickins and Lane-Poole,
Life of Parkes
, 2, p. 143). A. B. Mitford, who presumably was Parkes’s source, uses the identical wording (Redesdale,
Memories of Lord Redes-dale
, 2, p. 496). Japanese sources say little about this ceremony and do not explain the term, but
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 159, mentions the
kanjin-sai
performed on the twenty-third of the seventh month; on this occasion, Nakayama Tadayasu read a
norito
. Tada stated that the
kanjin-sai
would be performed several days before the duke arrived (
Iwakura
, 2, p. 768).

23
. Redesdale,
Memories
, 2, p. 496. In addition,
A Guide to the Works
states that “by order of the Japanese government, the same mark of respect was paid to His Royal Highness that is observed when an Imperial Progress takes place. The windows of the upper stories of the houses were all sealed with paper, that none might look down upon the Queen’s Son” (p. 45).

24
. Dickins and Lane-Poole,
Life of Parkes
, 2, p. 143.

25
. Redesdale,
Memories
, 2, p. 497.

26
. Fukuzawa Yukichi explained the title (and text) in terms of Portman’s desire to attract the attention of the president, who was “not in the habit of personally reading the reports of the ministers in foreign lands unless they contained very pertinent or unusual matters” (Kiyooka Eiichi, trans.,
The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa
, pp. 205–6).

27
. Watanabe Ikujir
ō
,
Meiji tenn
ō
, 1, p. 104. According to William Elliot Griffis, “At a convenient distance from the hall of audience, rites with wands of
gohéi
and other Shinto appliances were performed by the white robed and black capped priests, in order to exorcise any evil spirits or influences which might have accompanied representatives from such outlandish countries as England and Scotland, which orthodox Shinto commentators taught had been made from the sea foam and mud left over after the creation of the Heavenly Country, Japan, by the ancestors of the Mikado” (
The Mikado
, p. 159).

28
. Redesdale,
Memories
, 2, p. 499.

29
. Dickins and Lane-Poole,
Life of Parkes
, 2, p. 147.

30
. Sir Henry Keppel,
A Sailor’s Life Under Four Sovereigns
, 3, pp. 289, 292. Keppel wrote, “Tomorrow we are to have a procession and the Prince’s visit to the Mikado, which we look forward to as rather a bore” (p. 289).

31
. The gifts included “lacquerware, wakizashi, netsuke, bronzes, pottery, enamels” (
Guide to the Works
, p. 45).

32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 168.

33
. The entertainment included a Japanese meal (probably more authentic than the food served to visiting dignitaries at present!), sumo, displays of swordsmanship, acrobatics, juggling, and (in a more somber mood) a program of n
ō
and
ky
ō
gen
(
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 165). This was said to be the first time n
ō
had been witnessed by foreigners (Redesdale,
Memories
, 2, p. 498). The program consisted of four n
ō
(
Yumi Yawata
,
Hagoromo
,
Kokaji
, and
Tsunemasa
) and two
ky
ō
gen
(
Suminuri
and
Tachiubai
) (Nakayama Yasumasa,
Meiji hennenshi
, 1, p. 303). Mitford prepared outlines of the plays to help the duke and his entourage understand them, but it is hard to believe that they sat through these plays in entirety; this would have taken close to ten hours. Perhaps only excerpts were performed. The great actor H
ō
sh
ō
Kur
ō
appeared in
Hagoromo
.

34
. Dickins and Lane-Poole,
Life of Parkes
, 2, p. 151. Black commented about the piano, “Whether it has done anything towards reconciling the Imperial ear to foreign music is very doubtful. I have heard it reported more than once that the Empress was taking lessons on the piano—but I gave no credence to the statements” (
Young Japan
, 2, p. 273).

35
. Black,
Young Japan
, 2, p. 274. However, the two letters sent by Meiji to the Austrian emperor do not contain any word for “brother” (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 190–93). Although it was customary among European monarchs to address one another as “brother” or “cousin,” this was not the practice in Japan. Meiji referred to Franz Josef as
k
ō
tei heika
, “His Majesty, the emperor,” the same title that would have been applied to the emperor of China.

Chapter 21

1
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 224.

2
. Ibid., 2, p. 221.

3
. A highly important ritual, performed by an emperor once in his lifetime, generally in the early winter following his coronation.

4
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 277–78, 445.

5
. Asukai Masamichi,
Meiji taitei
, p. 137.

6
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 109. He suggested that Meiji ride only on the third, thirteenth, twenty-third, eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth of each month.

7
. The most detailed description of his studies is given for the sixth month of the second year of Meiji, when he had lessons every day except for the first, sixth, eleventh, sixteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-sixth. In addition to reading texts, he had lectures on Japanese history from Fukuba Bisei, and he took part in the reading by turns (
rindoku
) of
J
ō
gan seiy
ō
, an eighth-century Chinese study of politics that had long formed a part of the education of Japanese emperors (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, pp. 131–32; also pp. 299–300). His teachers included Nakanuma Ry
ō
z
ō
, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, and Akizuki Tanetatsu.

8
. Motoda Takehiko and Kaigo Motoomi, eds.,
Motoda Nagazane monjo
, p. 45. In this section of
Kanreki no ki
, his autobiography, Motoda related how his father, anxious for Nagazane’s future career, suggested that he temporarily give up his study of
jitsugaku
and no longer attend lectures on the subject by Nagaoka Korekata, a former
kar
ō
who had fallen out of favor with the Kumamoto daimyo. The preceding passage was Nagazane’s response to his father’s suggestion. See also Kose Susumu and Nakamura Hiroshi,
Motoda T
ō
ya, Soejima S
ō
kai
, p. 27.

9
. Yagi Kiyoharu, “Keikenteki jitsugaku no tenkai,” p. 176. Yagi quotes in his essay several works by Minamoto Ry
ō
en, an outstanding authority on the subject. The
jitsugaku
of Yokoi Sh
ō
nan, Motoda’s teacher, was mentioned in chapter 19.

10
. Shortly after his disagreement with his father, Motoda began to suffer from an eye ailment, and his doctor forbade him to engage in research. This accident had the effect of causing Motoda to discontinue his studies of
jitsugaku
under Nagaoka Korekata (Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, pp. 28, 33).

11
. Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, p. 45.

12
. Yasuba Seika, “Junch
ū
shisei no taiju Motoda Nagazane sensei,” p. 6. The author of this article was the adopted son of Yasuba Yasukazu (1835–1899), a close friend of Motoda’s and, like him, a disciple of Yokoi Sh
ō
nan.

13
. Motoda and Kaigo, eds.,
Motoda
, pp. 118–19. See also Kose and Nakamura,
Mo-toda
, p. 46.

14
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 2, p. 475. The texts of lectures delivered by Motoda in the presence of the emperor beginning on the seventh day of the first month of the fifth year of Meiji are in Motoda and Kaigo, eds.,
Motoda
. They are composed in easily understood classical Japanese.

15
. “Unofficial History of Japan,” a celebrated work by Rai San’y
ō
(1780–1832) that described Japanese martial traditions over the centuries.

16
. Motoda and Kaigo, eds.,
Motoda
, p. 126; Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, p. 47.

17
. Yasuba, “Junch
ū
,” p. 7. See also Motoda and Kaigo, eds.,
Motoda
, p. 127, and Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, p. 48.

18
. The Mima (or, more commonly, Omima) were three small rooms to the southwest of the Tsunegoten where the emperor granted informal audiences.

19
. Motoda and Kaigo, eds.,
Motoda
, p. 127; Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, p. 49.

20
. For example, he was unpopular with the chamberlains because they thought he was teaching the emperor to behave in an old-fashioned manner (Hinonishi Sukehiro,
Meiji tenn
ō
no go-nichij
ō
, p. 120).

21
. Yasuba, “Junch
ū
,” p. 4.

22
. The Four Books:
Ta Hsüeh
(The Great Learning),
Chung Yung
(The Mean),
Lun Yü
(The Analects), and
Meng Tzu
(Mencius) plus
Shih Ching
(The Book of Songs) and
Shu Ching
(The Book of History).

23
. Kose and Nakamura,
Motoda
, pp. 53, 225. This text is dated 1871.