Japan
emerged as Asia’s representative major power in the end of the 19th century. It
achieved in less than five decade the process of transforming from an
agricultural and feudal society to a full fledge industrial and constitutional
country that protected Japan from the clutches of western imperialism. Much of
this drastic changes had been attributed to the following officials.
1. Iwakura
Tomomi
Iwakura Mission became Iwakura Tomomi’s most famous contribution to the Meiji Era and
Japan’s development to a modern country. Coming from a different background
than the rest of the Meiji oligarchs, he never lag behind when it came to
loyalty to the Emperor and Japan. This he displayed in his mission and in his
later career.
Born
on October 26, 1825, Iwakura Tomomi came from a family of low ranking nobility
as Horikawa Kanemaru. Later on, the Iwakura, a more prominent family in the
nobility adopted him and took their last name. In 1854, his service to the
imperial family began when he served as Emperor Komei’s chamberlain. Because of
his duty to the Emperor, politics went close to him.
Even
as a chamberlain, Iwakura voiced his political opinions. For example, he joined
with 88 nobles in condemning the Tokugawa’s decision to conclude the unequal
Harris Treaty. He also believed that the Emperor should be restored to
political power. Nevertheless he believed that cooperation by marriage and not
by an armed conflict should be used to achieve the return of imperial power. In
1862, because of his proposal of a marriage between an imperial princess and
the shogun, many anti-shogunate nobles in the court removed him from his
position and to the extent of banishing him out of Kyoto. Iwakura had no other
option but to retire to his faith in a Buddhist monastery outside the imperial
capital.
Although
chased out of the imperial court, Iwakura continued his loyalty and devotion to
the Emperor. While in exile, he had contacts with anti-Tokugawa samurais in the
domains of Satsuma and Choshu. In 1867, with the ascension of a new Emperor,
Emperor Meiji pardoned Iwakura allowed him to return to Kyoto and in the
imperial court. Iwakura planned the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate
alongside other samurai like Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori. Eventually,
they succeeded, the Tokugawa fell and the Meiji Era started.
Iwakura
became tremendously active in the Meiji Government. He held several key
positions and duties. In 1871, Iwakura became Minister of Foreign Affairs. In
the same year, his proposal of a mission to the United States and Europe pushed
through the government. Along with other talented officials and later statesmen,
Iwakura headed the mission that later bared his name – Iwakura Mission. It
aimed for the revision of the unequal treaties and to learn and see firsthand
the developments in the western world.
The mission returned in 1873. Most of
the mission’s members received high position and began to initiate reforms
based on the knowledge they learned from the west. Iwakura became part of the
State Council and became an influential figure in the Meiji Government. Upon
his return from his mission, he became involved in the issue of Japan’s
reaction to Korea’s decision not to recognize the authority of the Meiji
Emperor. For Iwakura, he opposed the idea believing like many officials that
the time for conquest was not yet ripe. On the other hand, Iwakura became
instrumental in reforming the government. He supported the implementation of
the prefectural system of local government and also giving the Emperor strong
political power. In 1881 he sided with Ito in opposing the idea of creating a
constitution and a parliament. However, both of them saw the need for a
constitution in the future and prepared for the moment. Iwakura pushed for the
approval for Ito to go to the United States and Europe to learn about western
constitutions and what constitution best for Japan to emulate.
In the early
1880’s, Iwakura concentrated in his duties to the imperial household. He
handled the office in charge of court peerage. He also handled the holdings of
the imperial household and expanded it, adding for example the Japan Railway
Company to some of the companies that the Emperor had interest in.
Iwakura
Tomotomi passed in July 20, 1883, his legacy and named continued to be
remembered through the mission he led.
2. Okuma
Shigenobu
A
statesman who did not fear removal from office to stand in the side of what he
thought was correct. Okuma Shigenobu served Japan both as a politician and as
an educator.
Born
of March 11, 1838, Okuma Shigenobu came from the Saga Domain in Kyushu Island.
He developed a deep sense of patriotism that led him to join the anti-foreign
movement called the sonno-joi. Because of his involvement in the militant
activities of the sonno-joi, he got expelled. But his view of the foreign world
change when he entered in a rangaku school. In the school, he learned the
superiority of western technology through the books and lessons that the Dutch
in the Nagasaki’s Dejima Island proliferated. From the school, he discovered
how backward Japan became during the Tokugawa Shogunate. In the 1860’s, Okuma
advocated an alliance between the Saga Domain and the anti-Tokugawa Choshu
Domain. Soon, Saga sided with the Emperor and joined with Satsuma and Choshu
Domains in deposing the Tokugawa Shogunate, which they did in 1868.
In
the new Meiji Era, Okuma became an active official and politician. In 1869, he
took the position of an assistant in Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of
Interior. He also worked to establish the Ministry of Public Works. In 1873, he
became the finance minister. As a finance minister, he established the Yen as
Japan’s currency and founded a mint to produce coins. After the successful
Taiwan expedition in 1874, Okuma also became the head of the office responsible
for the affairs of the island. In 1877, he also handled successfully the
quelling of the famous Satsuma Rebellion. During the course of the rebellion,
he forged a close relation with the Zaibatsu Mitsubishi that provided
provisions to the army. From that point, he became Mistubishi’s Iwasaki Yataro’s patron.
In
the 1880’s Okuma got involved in a nasty political dispute that cost him his
position. Okuma supported the call for the creation of a constitution. He
advocated the use of the British-model parliament for Japan. However, he went
into a conflict with those who deemed it too early to make a constitution. The
influential statesman Ito Hirobumi did not supported the idea of a
constitution. And even if he supported it, he believed that the British model
did not fit Japan’s condition and believed that the Prussian model was more
suitable.
In
addition to the issue of constitution, Okuma and Ito also had disagreements in
solving the worsening financial conditions of the country. Okuma proposed the
use of foreign loans to alleviate the terrible financial situation of Japan.
Ito, however, opposed the idea because he believed that foreign loans equated
to allowing foreign interference in Japanese affairs, which they wanted to
avoid. So, Ito moved for Okuma to be removed and replaced by one of his deputy,
Matsukata Masayoshi.
Although
out of position, Okuma remained politically active. In 1882, he founded one of
Japan’s earliest political party, the Rikken Kaishinto or the Constitutional
Reform Party. It gained members who supported Okuma’s idea of a constitution.
Meanwhile, he also dealt with education and founded the Tokyo Senmon Gakko, a
school for higher learning. Later on, his school became the Waseda University,
one of Japan top and prestigious schools today. In 1888, Okuma made a political
comeback when Ito, recognizing Okuma’s influence both in government and in
business, gave him the position of foreign minister. Renegotiating the unequal
treaties that Japan signed during the late Tokugawa Shogunate took the top in
Okuma’s list as foreign minister. However, the Japanese people saw him as
considerate to the foreigners and unassertive. In anger, in 1889, an
assassination attempt was made to Okuma that resulted to the loss of a limb. It
also traumatize him and left his position.
After
his resignation in Ito’s cabinet in 1889, he became a member in the Privy
Council. He supported Japan’s aggressive territorial expansion, when the
Sino-Japanese War broke out.
In
1896, he became active once more in politics. He founded a new party from the
Rikken Kaishinto known as the Shinpoto Party or the Progressive Party. In the
same year he became once again the foreign minister for a year and also the
agriculture and commerce minister in the following year. However, when the
authoritarian and ruthless Matsukata Masayoshi became the new prime minister
whose ways Okuma disliked, and he resigned in his position in the cabinet. In 1898,
he forged an alliance with another party, the Jiyuto Party, to form the
Kenseito or Constitution Party to oust Matsukata by having the majority in the
Japanese parliament or the Diet. With the removal of Matsukata, Okuma became
the Prime Minister. He promoted a union of Asian countries under the leadership
of Japan, an idea similar to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. But
once again, internal conflicts in the coalition led to his resignation as Prime
Minister. Nevertheless, he continued to be the leader of the party until 1907.
His
later years continued to revolve in politics. In 1914, just having the position
of Chancellor of Waseda University, he became the Prime Minister again and led
Japan into the First World War. At the same time, he drafter the hated
Twenty-One Demands to China. In 1916, he went into a political conflict again
within his cabinet and resulted to his resignation and full retirement in
politics. Okuma Shigenobu passed away on January 10, 1922.
3. Saigo
Takamori
The
Last Samurai, he became known, Saigo Takamori led a rebellion to the government
he himself helped to form. Along with other samurai, he helped the revival of
imperial power in Japan. But with political defeats and sympathy to the growing
hardships of the samurais in the new Meiji Era, he resorted to a rebellion that
led to his demise.
Saigo
Takamori, also known as Takanaga, born on January 23, 1828, came from the
Satsuma Domain like most of official who later ruled the Meiji Era. When he
began to serve the head of the Satsuma Domain, he quickly forged a good
relationship with the daimyo of the Satsuma Domain Shimazu Nariakira. While
under the service of the daimyo, he showed displeasure towards the foreigners
who began to encroach in Japan. The fortune of Saigo turned after the death of
Shimazu Nariakira, he sided with the wrong faction in the succession feud and
with his anti-foreign sentiment that the Tokugawa disliked, and he went into
exile to the island of Oshima, where he stayed for a year. The new daimyo of
Satsuma pardoned Saigo for his past crimes. But their relation later on soured
causing Saigo’s second exile this time to Tokunoshima, where he lived for two
years. But in the mid-1860’s Saigo received permission to return to Satsuma and
served as an agent for the domain in Kyoto. There, he met another samurai
critical of the Tokugawa Shogunate – Okubo Toshimichi. In 1866, both men worked
for the Tokugawa Shogunate when they received orders to lead an army to crush
the anti-shogunate Choshu Domain. But in a twist, both men turned their backs
to the shogunate and formed an alliance between the Choshu and Satsuma Samurai
that advocated the return of imperial power and the fall of the Tokugawa
Shogunate. Saigo led the imperial forces well into the civil war against the
Tokugawa known as the Boshin War. He scored a decisive victory in the famous
battle of Toba-Fushimi. He became instrumental in the fall of the Edo Castle,
which signaled the final fall of the Tokugawa regime.
In
a new Meiji Era, Saigo became a politician and an administrator. For his service
to the Meiji Emperor, Saigo became a member of the State Council in 1871. He
became also the commander of the Imperial Guards. When most of the Meiji high
officials went on the two-year Iwakura Mission, Saigo, along with Okuma
Shigenobu and Itagaki Taisuke, headed the caretaker government. In 1873, before
the mission returned Saigo pushed for an invasion of Korea as a punitive
measure for its non-recognition of the authority of the Meiji Emperor. The
debate over the invasion became known as the Seikanron. However, many opposed
his idea seeing it as untimely and Japan was not yet in a strong position to do
so. Okubo and Ito returned to Japan ahead of the Iwakura Mission just to oppose
Saigo’s proposed invasion. In the end, the Saigo lost and he along with the
supported of the Seikanron resigned from the government.
Saigo
returned to Satsuma after his resignation. From 1874 to 1876, he opened private
school that provided the traditional and specialized military training. With
his private schools, he became popular and influential. He also began to
sympathize to the disenfranchisement of the once glorious samurai. The Meiji
Government, however, saw Saigo’s activity as a threat for national security and
moved to reduce any chances of a well-armed rebellion. They sent a warship to
dismantle the Kagoshima arsenal in Satsuma. Furious samurais attacked
government forces. The Meiji government’s decision anger most of the samurais
in Satsuma and rose up in rebellion. They then went to Saigo for leadership,
which Saigo accepted. The Satsuma Rebellion went on until 1877, ending with
Saigo committing suicide during his and his follower’s last charge against the
government forces on September 24, 1877. His contribution to the Meiji
Restoration remained strong and he remained a respected figure even he passed
away while fighting the government he helped to create. Decades after his
demise, in 1891, Emperor Meiji rehabilitated Saigo. Today, Saigo’s memory
remained in his loosely depiction in the Tom Cruise’s movie The Last Samurai.
Saigo became the inspiration for the character Katsumoto, played by Ken
Watanabe.
4. Meiji
Emperor
Meiji
Era became known as the transformation of Japan from an agricultural and feudal
society to an industrialized and modern country. The era came from the name of
the ruling Emperor Mutsuhito who received the reign name of Meiji or the
Enlightened.
The
Meiji Emperor, born on November 3, 1852 in Kyoto as Sachi No Miya, was the son
of Emperor Komei and Nakayama Yoshiko. He later received the name of Mutsuhito.
In 1869, he became the crown prince and in 1867, at the young age of 14, he
became the 102nd Emperor of Japan. But because of his young age, Nijo Nariyuki,
had to rule Japan as regent until he reach the age of majority.
As
an Emperor, he had an ironic taste. He disliked western culture at the
beginning. He valued Japanese traditional culture enthusiastically. But because
of the prevailing conditions, he had to show that Japan stood equal with the
west by giving the impression of a westernized Japanese. And so, he wore
western style clothing along with his family. Later on, from clothing, he also
developed a satisfaction for western culture.
In
1868, the Boshin War resulted to the return of imperial power. He moved his
home from Kyoto to Edo and renamed it Tokyo or the Capital of the East.
However, political power did not truly laid in Mustuhito but to several samurai
who became high ranking government officials and became known as the Meiji
Oligarchs. Nevertheless, his moral and religious authority provided a
tremendous moral support, inspiration, and guidance. He supported his
government’s agenda. He shared the support for the slogan of Fukoku Kyohei –
Rich Country, Strong Army – and urged the Japanese people to modernize. In
1890, the Meiji Constitution laid out the Emperor role as the supreme authority
in the land and commander in chief of the military. Nevertheless, the fact
remained, as stated earlier, real power rested in the aging statesmen known
then as genro. During the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Emperor
Meiji visited the military headquarters in Hiroshima and made himself very
involved and contributed what he could. The affairs eventually took a toll in
his health, which declined in the first decade of the 20th century.
Emperor
Mutsuhito passed away on July 30, 1912. He received the reign name of Meiji or
the Enlightened. A shrine, the Meiji Jingu, was erected in his honor. Prince
Yoshihito ascended to the throne with the reign name of Taisho. Although not
politically powerful, his symbolism provided the moral authority for Japan’s
modernization and transformation.
See
also:
Bibliography:
Iwakura
Tomomi:
"Iwakura
Tomomi." in Japan Encyclopedia. Edited by Louis Frederic. Translated by
Kathe Roth. United States: n.p., 2002.
Grunden,
Walter. "Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883)." in Japan at War: An
Encyclopedia. Edited by Louis Perez. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC,
2013.
Okuma
Shigenobu:
Grunden,
Walter. "Okuma Shigenobu." in Japan at War Encyclopedia. Edited Louis
Perez. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013.
Perez,
Louis. "Okuma Shigenobu." in Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of
History, Culture, and Nationalism. Edited by James Huffman. New York, New York:
Routledge, 1998.
Saigo
Takamori:
"Saigo
Takamori." in Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Edited by
Janet Hunter. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1984.
"saigo
Takamori." in Japan Encyclopedia. Edited by Louis Frederic. Translated by
Kathe Roth. United States: n.p., 2002.
Meiji
Emperor:
“Meiji
Tenno.” in Japan Encyclopedia. Edited by Louis Frederic. Translated by Kathe
Roth. United States: n.p., 2002.
Grunden,
Walter. "Meiji Emperor." in Japan at War Encyclopedia. Edited Louis
Perez. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2013.
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