Read Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 Online
Authors: Donald Keene
Tags: #History/Asia/General
Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (201 page)
25
. An emergency session of the Diet appropriated 1,545,389 yen for funeral expenses (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 832). A detailed account of the funeral is found on pp. 838–43.
26
. Ubukata,
Meiji Taish
ō
kenbun shi
, p. 207.
27
. Men from Yase, a section of Ky
ō
to near Mount Hiei, were called from ancient times
Yase no d
ō
ji
. They were known as
d
ō
ji
, or “boys,” because they did not shave their front locks. They traditionally served as palanquin bearers for the chief abbot of the Enryaku-ji, the Tendai monastery on Mount Hiei, and for the imperial family.
28
. This description summarizes the account of the funeral in
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, pp. 838–43. SMseki composed a haiku on the funeral procession:
ogosoka ni
/
taimatsu furiyuku ya
/
hoshizukiyo
(
S
ō
seki zensh
ū
, 24, p. 84).
29
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 844.
30
. In the diary he kept during the Satsuma Rebellion, Nogi made no mention of having lost the regimental flag. Perhaps at the time it did not seem so important to him (Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, pp. 254). For the text of a part of Nogi’s farewell note, see p. 248.
31
. Yamaji Aizan,
Nogi taish
ō
, pp. 305–6, quoted in Minamoto Ry
ō
en, “Nogi taish
ō
no jisatsu to sono seishinshiteki haikei,” p. 15. This moment was witnessed by only a few people, including Chief Chamberlain Tokudaiji and the
jij
ū
bukan
, General Okami. They kept it secret, but after Nogi’s death, Okami revealed what the emperor had said. Minamoto’s article is an excellent study of the background of Nogi’s suicide (
Kokoro
, December 1963).
32
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 845. However, some who heard the first report of Nogi’s suicide did not believe it. Ubukata at first supposed that the report was nothing more than a bad joke (
Meiji Taish
ō
kenbun shi
, pp. 214–15). Mori
Ō
gai “half believed” the news (Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 247).
33
. Matsushita Yoshio,
Nogi Maresuke
, p. 213.
34
. Quoted in Minamoto, “Nogi Taish
ō
,” pp. 16, 17.
35
.
Mushak
ō
ji Saneatsu zensh
ū
, 1, p. 495. In his miscellaneous writings of the period, Mushak
ō
ji returned again and again to the subject of Nogi’s suicide, always viewing it unfavorably.
36
.
Shiga Naoya zensh
ū
, 10, p. 636. See also Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 277. Shiga noted three days later in his diary that the poet Yoshii Isamu had called Nogi’s suicide “one of the most disagreeable events of recent days.”
37
. Harada Norio,
Nihon kanshi sen
, pp. 246–47. After studying
kanshi
with Soejima Taneomi, Nagai Ussai had lived for a long time in China, where he was better known than in Japan.
38
. Quoted in Asukai,
Meiji taitei
, p. 279.
39
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, pp. 846–47.
Chapter 63
1
. His birthday was officially proclaimed as a national holiday in 1927, but in 1948 (during the American Occupation) the holiday was renamed Culture Day.
2
. Hinonishi Sukehiro,
Meiji tenn
ō
no go-nichij
ō
, p. 109.
3
. Ibid., pp. 125, 151.
4
. For his ancestor worship, see, for example, B
ō
j
ō
Toshinaga,
Ky
ū
ch
ū
goj
ū
nen
, pp. 34–35.
5
. Chamberlain Hinonishi recorded that during the Russo-Japanese War, the emperor had lost all interest in amusements and devoted himself entirely to state business. His only recreation was listening to the phonograph (Hinonishi,
Meiji tenn
ō
, p. 124). According to Chamberlain B
ō
j
ō
, the emperor’s phonograph was a very old-fashioned model with a horn that played wax cylinders (
Ky
ū
ch
ū
goj
ū
nen
, p. 40). The recordings were “healthy pieces,” presumably meaning that they were not popular songs but stirring ballads.
6
. Erwin Baelz,
Awakening Japan
, trans. Eden Paul and Cedar Paul, p. 97. The “Inouye” mentioned was Inoue Kaoru, an advocate of modern ways.
7
. Hinonishi,
Meiji tenn
ō
, p. 46.
8
. Ibid., p. 52. The
medaka
is a killifish.
9
. Hinonishi,
Meiji tenn
ō
, p. 53.
10
. After the death of her beloved consort, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria so gave herself to grief that for five years she refused to open Parliament. The
Times
published an editorial urging her “to think of her subjects’ claims and the duties of her high station, and not to postpone them longer to the indulgence of an unavailing grief” (quoted in Giles St. Aubin,
Queen Victoria
, p. 344).
11
. Asukai Masamichi,
Meiji taitei
, p. 2.
| bakufu | Shogunate, the government headed by the shogun in Edo |
| biwa | Musical instrument resembling a mandolin |
| bugaku | Dances of continental origin performed mainly at shrines and at the court |
| buke dens ō | Liaison officers of the court who transmitted orders from the bakufu |
| ch ō | Distance of about 100 yards |
| chokushi | Envoy of the emperor |
| ch ō teki | Enemy of the court |
| daijin | Government minister |
| daij ō -e | Highly important ritual, usually performed by the emperor in the winter following his coronation |
| daimyo | Landholding military lord |
| daj ō daijin | Prime minister of state, the highest-ranking official in the government |
| daj ō kan | Great Council of State, the supreme organ of government responsible to the emperor but abolished during the Meiji era |
| fukasogi | Ceremony for both boys and girls, performed when they were between the ages of three and five, during which their hair was trimmed |
| gagaku | Oldest surviving court music, orchestral and often performed with bugaku |
| gembuku | Coming-of-age ceremony for boys, performed when they were between the ages of twelve and fifteen |
| genr ō | Elder statesman, usually someone who had served with distinction in the Restoration |
| gij ō | Administrative office, filled by daimyos |
| gis ō | Court spokesmen, usually three or four, who conveyed the commands of the emperor |
| gon no tenji | Concubine of the emperor |
| Gosho | Imperial palace in Kyoto, usually including the extensive area around the palace proper; used also for other palaces, such as the Aoyama Gosho |
| gyokuza | Emperor’s seat, usually higher by one tatami than the tatami-covered floor |
| haihan chiken | Abolition of the domains and establishment of the prefectures |
| h ō koku | “Repayment” due to one’s country as a loyal citizen |
| hosh ō | Men in the highest posts of the bureaucracy |
| jiho | Officers appointed by the emperor to advise him and supplement his decisions, a position established in 1877 and abolished in 1879 |
| jij ū | Chamberlain |
| jitsugaku | “Practical learning” that can be applied to government service, as opposed to purely philosophical learning |
| j ō i | Expulsion of foreigners, advocated by those who opposed opening the country |
| junk ō | “Progresses” made by the emperor to different regions of the country |
| kampaku | Chancellor, the highest-ranking official in the government under the old system |
| kar ō | Senior retainer of a daimyo |
| kemari | “Kickball,” an elegant sport popular particularly with the nobility |
| kinj ū | Personal attendant of the emperor |
| k ō bu gattai | Union of the aristocracy and the military, the political creed of Emperor K ō mei |
| koku | Measure of rice, about five bushels; also used to calculate a samurai’s income |
| kokutai | National polity, often used to refer to the “emperor system” |
| neng ō | Era name, which always changed twice at fixed times in the cycle of sixty years but could be changed at any time in response to momentous events |
| nishikie | Woodblock prints, especially those of the nineteenth century depicting contemporary scenes, known as “brocade pictures” because of their many colors |
| nusa | Flapper waved by Shinto priests to drive away evil influences |
| ny ō go | Court lady who ranked immediately below the empress |
| ony ō ji | Yin-yang diviners |
| ō oku | Private areas of the palace to which the emperor retired each day after completing his duties, as opposed to public areas, where he met people and studied documents |
| ō sei fukk ō | Restoration of royal rule |
| r ō nin | Masterless samurai, who no longer served a daimyo or another high-ranking person |
| ry ō | Unit of weight, used in the past for gold and silver currency |
| sa’in | Legislative branch of the government, established in 1871 |
| sakoku | Closure of the country, the system that prevailed from the early seventeenth century to the end of the Tokugawa period |
| sangi | Councillor, a position in the early Meiji government |
| san’yo | Counselor, an office established and abolished in 1869 |
| sei’in (sh ō in) | Highest political organ, established in 1871 and abolished in 1877 |
| seii taish ō gun | “Great general and subduer of barbarians,” a title bestowed on the shogun by the emperor |
| sensei | Teacher, a title of respect used even of people who are not teachers |
| sett ō | Sword bestowed by the emperor on a commander when he set out to do battle |
| shinn ō | Prince of the blood |
| shizoku | Samurai class |
| sh ō | Traditional musical instrument resembling a panpipe |
| sh ō in | Executive branch of the government, established in 1871 and headed by the emperor |
| shoshidai | Representative of the bakufu in Ky ō to who oversaw all the activities in the palace, the city, and the surrounding area, a position established in 1600 and abolished in 1867 |
| shugo | Constable, a high-ranking position, especially during the Muromachi period |
| song ō | Honorific title, usually daj ō tenn ō , given to the father of an emperor who had not reigned as emperor |
| sonj ō | Shortened form of the compound term sonn ō j ō i |
| sonn ō | Respect for the emperor, a loyalist slogan |
| s ō sai | High-ranking supervisory post filled only by a member of the imperial family, a position established in January 1869 and abolished in May 1869 |
| s ō shi | Nationalist ruffian |
| taewon’gun | In Korea, the father of an emperor who had not reigned as emperor |
| tair ō | Senior statesman who assisted the shogun |
| taisei h ō kan | Return of political power by the shogun to the emperor |
| tanka | Classical verse form in thirty-one syllables |
| tench ū | Punishment of heaven, the word used to justify the assassination of men suspected of disloyalty |
| tenji | Court lady of relatively high rank, often promoted from gon no tenji |
| Tenshi-sama | Old-fashioned appellation for the emperor |
| T ō kaid ō | Highway between Ky ō to and Edo |
| u-in | Judicial branch of the government, established in 1871 |
| yatoi | Foreign employee of the government during the Meiji period |