Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (183 page)

17
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 56.

18
. Ibid., 6, p. 81. Before her marriage, the empress was indeed known as Ichij
ō
Tadaka’s daughter. By visiting Iwakura in that capacity (much humbler than that of empress), she spared him the obligation to leave his sickbed to welcome her.

19
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 89–90.

20
. A more formal eulogy of Iwakura, to be engraved on his monument, was composed by command of the emperor, listing Iwakura’s achievements. The text was by Shigeno Yasutsugu (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 96).

21
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 99.

22
. Hugh Cortazzi, “Sir Harry Parkes,” p. 16. Satow’s comment was made in 1881 in a letter to Parkes’s future biographer, F. V. Dickins. Satow, who was Parkes’s interpreter for many years, frequently mentioned Parkes’s outbursts of temper—for example: “A great discussion took place on the Christian question, in which the Japanese spoke very reasonably, and Sir Harry likewise, until he unfortunately lost his temper over the arguments used by Kido, and made use of very violent language such as I do not care to repeat” (
A Diplomat in Japan
, p. 398).

23
. Satow,
A Diplomat
, p. 141.

24
. The proclamation was made on March 19, 1884. Earlier (on December 28, 1883) the emperor informed his maternal grandfather, Nakayama Tadayasu, that it had been unofficially decided to give Prince Kan’innomiya Sukehito a
song
ō
. The name is also pronounced Keik
ō
.

25
. Fujita Satoru,
Bakumatsu no tenn
ō
, pp. 102–12.

26
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 200. On September 9 Japanese neutrality in the war was officially announced (p. 285).

27
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 210. This entry is dated June 1, indicating that by this time the illness had lasted more than a month.

28
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 5, pp. 339–42.

29
. Yoshii said he would personally take all responsibility if the emperor became angry with Fujinami.

30
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 349–42.

31
. Japanese seemed to have ceased to worry about the ban on Christianity, and the number of converts steadily grew. By 1882 there were 93 Protestant churches and more than 4,300 believers. However, the ban on Christianity was not completely lifted until the promulgation of the constitution on February 11, 1889. Article 28 stated that subjects had freedom of religion except insofar as this might obstruct peace and order or be in contravention of their duties as subjects.

32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 275–76.

33
. Takezoe Shin’ichir
ō
(1842–1917) wrote the extraordinary travel diary
San’un ky
ō
u nikki
, describing his travels in China. See my
Modern Japanese Diaries
.

34
. One curious consequence of the outbreak of the war was the French proposal of an alliance between France and Japan, citing the two countries’ common interests. If the Japanese lacked sufficient funds for a war with China, the French promised to assist the Japanese by raising funds in Paris under the most advantageous conditions. However, the Japanese failed to respond, and the matter lapsed (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 328–29).

35
. It was sometimes called the Toknipdang (Independence Party). For a description of the Progressive Party, see Ki-baik Lee,
A New History of Korea
, trans. Edward W. Wagner, pp. 275–76.

36
. For a contemporary description, see Hilary Conroy,
The Japanese Seizure of Korea
, p. 154.

37
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 318–21. I have also derived material from Woonsang Choi,
The Fall of the Hermit Kingdom
, pp. 21–23. Choi’s account, in turn, is based mainly on accounts by Europeans who were in Seoul at that time.

38
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 337.

Chapter 38

1
. Tomita Hitoshi,
Rokumeikan
, p. 58.

2
. Isoda K
ō
ichi,
Rokumeikan no keifu
, p. 23. See also Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 116; he states that the cost of erecting the building was shared by the Foreign Ministry, Army Ministry, and other ministries together with T
ō
ky
ō
Prefecture.

3
. Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 7. The name Rokumeikan originated with Nakai Hiroshi, the previous husband of Mrs. Inoue. Nakai was not only well acquainted with Chinese poetry but a connoisseur of Paris; he founded the Miyako-odori dances in Kyoto as equivalents of revues (p. 51). Although the Rokumeikan was used mainly for balls, dinners, bazaars, and similar social functions, some particularly distinguished foreign visitors stayed there while in Tokyo.

The poem that inspired the name, no. 161 in the
Shih Ching
, opens:

     Yu, yu cry the deer

     Nibbling the black southernwood in the fields.

     I have a lucky guest. (Arthur Waley,
The Book of Songs
, p. 192)

4
. A typical menu is in Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, pp. 189–90.

5
. One particularly successful tutor was a German, Johannes Ludwig Janson, who was otherwise a teacher at the Tokyo Komaba Agricultural School (Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, pp. 165–67).

6
.
Jogaku zasshi
, July 9, 1887, quoted in Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 174.

7
. Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 164.

8
. There is a photograph of the cartoon in ibid., p. 215.

9
. Foreigners, proud to know the old name Edo (Yedo, Yeddo, etc.), were reluctant even as late as 1885 to use the new name, T
ō
ky
ō
. This essay is part of Pierre Loti’s
Japoneries d’automne
.

10
. Quoted in Isoda,
Rokumeikan
, p. 23.

11
. Quoted in Kond
ō
Tomie,
Rokumeikan kifujin k
ō
, p. 154.

12
. Ibid., p. 146. Sueko had served as the interpreter for the empress four years earlier, during King Kalakaua’s visit (chapter 34).

13
. For a list of some prominent participants and the guises in which they appeared, see Kond
ō
,
Rokumeikan
, pp. 187–89. Photographs of two members of the government attired as the gods of good fortune Ebisu and Daikoku, and of two ladies dressed as Matsukaze and Murasame in the n
ō
play
Matsukaze
, are in Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 177. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 732–33.

14
. James E. Hoare, “Extraterritoriality in Japan,” p. 95.

15
. Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 70. The foreign minister sent a memorandum to this effect to Mori Arinori, the Japanese minister to Great Britain, on December 11, 1883.

16
. Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 71. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 272. Plunkett’s friendliness, a marked contrast to Parkes’s intransigence, earned him the approbation of Emperor Meiji who (in July 1886) granted him an audience during which he conveyed his gratitude. The text of the emperor’s statement on this occasion (which included praise for the similar attitude of the German minister) is in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 615–16.

17
. Hoare, “Extraterritoriality,” p. 95.

18
. Ibid., p. 72. See also Tomita,
Rokumeikan
, p. 31.

19
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 447–48.

20
. The empress and the empress dowager went to the Rokumeikan on November 19, but not for dancing or feasting. There was a charity bazaar at which they bought a few things (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 497). The emperor’s dislike of excessive fondness for Western things, combined with a Confucian conception of the proper behavior for a ruler, kept him from attending a ball at the Rokumeikan. It was rumored, however, that on his visit to the house of Prince Akihito in June 1885, he asked what
dansu
meant. The prince responded by dancing with his wife, and the emperor expressed approval. For the rumor, see Kond
ō
,
Rokumeikan
, p. 186; for the visit, see
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 421.

21
. In August, while on his
junk
ō
, he sent Prince Yoshihisa to inspect areas inLsaka, Ky
ō
to, and Shiga that had been particularly hard hit by flooding. Rivers broke dikes at more than 2,000 places in Shiga, and nearly 40,000 people, threatened with starvation, were given assistance. Of this number, it was estimated that 23,000 would have great difficulty in surviving on their own resources (Kanai Yukiyasu, “Seijun nichij
ō
,” p. 628;
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 462–63, 468–69).

22
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 377, 382, 385.

23
. Ibid., 6, pp. 426, 443.

24
. Ibid., 6, pp. 504, 510.

25
. For an account of the
junk
ō
, see Kanai, “Seijun nichij
ō
,” pp. 604–31.

26
. After exhausting all their adjectives to describe the steadily increasing heat, on August 10 the sober compilers of
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
declared that the heat stabbed through people like arrows!

27
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 453.

28
. Ibid., 6, p. 475.

29
. The text of the apology is in ibid., 6, p. 365. Meiji’s brief reply is on p. 366. The Korean king referred to Meiji as
daik
ō
tei
(great emperor) and to himself as
daikunshu
(great monarch). Meiji called the Korean king
dai
ō
(great king).

30
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 367.

31
. Ibid., 6, pp. 369–70.

32
. For the text of Sanj
ō
’s message, see ibid., 6, p. 373.

33
. Ibid., 6, pp. 397–98. Many Japanese were incensed over the lack of firmness in their country’s foreign policy. A number of men hatched a plot intended to secure the independence of Korea from Chinese influence by killing the Korean prime minister and others in the Sadaedang and replacing them with Pak, Kim, and other progressives, in this way eradicating Chinese influence. They believed that this would also help create a parliamentary system in Japan. Twenty or more Japanese crossed over to Korea, intent on destroying the Sadaedang. They drew up a manifesto and distributed it throughout the country. However, the lack of funds and internal conflicts within the conspiracy led to arrests. Altogether some 130 men were involved, of whom 58 were tried in Japan in April 1887 (pp. 500–502).

34
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, pp. 405–6.

35
. Ibid., 6, p. 406. This information is found in the diary of Tokudaiji Sanetsune rather than in more official records. It
ō
was not the only person who was to be rewarded on this occasion: Inoue Kaoru received 10,000 yen for his efforts in settling the situation in Seoul, and Saig
ō
Tsugumichi and Enomoto Takeaki 6,000 yen each. Inoue received his gift from the emperor on May 9, but no date was set for the other men to be rewarded.

36
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 6, p. 433.

37
. Ibid., 6, p. 436. Lavish preparations were made for the imperial visit, and the emperor gave It
ō
a set of silver cups with the imperial crest, a pair of bronze vases also with the imperial crest, and 1,000 yen. These gifts seem to have been made in honor of the visit rather than as a reward for service in China.