_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
A DICTIONARY OF CHINESE-JAPANESE WORDS IN THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE. (3
Vols.)
THE CIVIL CODE OF JAPAN. (2 Vols.)
With an Introduction on the Japanese Family System.
THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN (1853–71).
THE JAPAN HANDBOOK
(Published by Foreign Office.)
REPORT ON TAXATION AND LAND TENURE
(Parliamentary Papers Series). Etc.
THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN
_NEW & RECENT BOOKS_
The Making of Modern Japan.
An Account of the Progress of Japan from Pre-Feudal days to
Constitutional Government and the Position of a Great Power, with
Chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education, &c. By
J. H. GUBBINS, C.M.G., First Secretary of British Embassy at Tōkiō.
With Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 21s. net.
The Sea Gypsies of Malaya.
An Account of Nomadic Mawken People of the Mergui Archipelago, with
a Description of their Boats, Ways of Living, Customs, Habits,
Occupations, &c. &c. By WALTER WHITE, F.R.G.S. With Illustrations &
a Map. Demy 8vo. 21s. net.
The Hill Tribes of Fiji.
A Record of Forty Years’ intimate connection with the Tribes of the
Mountainous Interior of Fiji, with a Description of their Habits in
War & Peace, Methods of Living, Characteristics, Mental & Physical,
from the Days of Cannibalism to the Present Time. By A. B. BREWSTER,
F.R.A.I. With Illustrations & Maps. Demy 8vo. 21s. net.
Kashmir in Sunlight and Shade.
Describing its beauties, & the habits and customs, & gradual
rebuilding of a once downtrodden people. By C. E. TYNDALE-BISCOE,
M.A. (Cantab). 28 Illustrations & a Map. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net.
The Rift Valleys and Geology of East Africa.
By Prof. J. W. GREGORY, D.Sc., F.R.S. With many Illustrations &
Maps. 32s. net.
A Diplomat in Japan.
The Inner History of the Critical Years in the Evolution of Japan
when the Ports were Opened & the Monarchy Restored, Recorded by a
Diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time. By
The Right Hon. Sir ERNEST SATOW, G.C.M.G., British Minister, Peking,
1900–5; Formerly Secretary to the British Legation at Tōkiō. With
Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 32s. net.
_Second Edition._
The Life and Explorations of Frederick Stanley Arnot.
Authorised Biography of a Zealous Missionary & Intrepid Explorer. By
ERNEST BAKER. With many Illustrations & a Map. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d.
net.
_Second Edition._
Unexplored New Guinea.
Travels, Adventures & Experiences of a Resident Magistrate in the
Unexplored Interior of New Guinea. By WILFRED N. BEAVER, with an
Introduction by A. C. HADDON, M.A., Sc.D., F.R.S. With 24
Illustrations & 4 Maps. Demy 8vo. 25s. net.
_Third Edition._
Prehistoric Man & His Story.
A Sketch of the History of Mankind from the Earliest Times. By Prof.
G. F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M.A.(Cantab), B.Sc.(Edin.), F.R.S.E., F.L.S.,
F.R.G.S. With 56 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. net.
SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LTD.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
PRINCE IWAKURA.
Descended from an ancient family of Court Nobles; he was a leading
figure in the Restoration Movement, and in the Government
subsequently formed.
]
THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN
AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN FROM PRE-FEUDAL DAYS TO
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT & THE POSITION OF A GREAT POWER, WITH CHAPTERS
ON RELIGION, THE COMPLEX FAMILY SYSTEM, EDUCATION, &c.
BY
J. H. GUBBINS, C.M.G., HON. M.A.(OXON.)
LATE FIRST SECRETARY & JAPANESE SECRETARY OF BRITISH EMBASSY, TOKIO,
AUTHOR OF “A DICTIONARY OF CHINESE-JAPANESE WORDS IN THE JAPANESE
LANGUAGE,” “THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN,” “THE CIVIL CODE OF JAPAN,” &c., &c.,
&c.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED
38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
1922
TO
THE MEMORY
OF
MY WIFE
PREFACE
The Author’s thanks are due to His Excellency Baron G. Hayashi, H.I.J.M.’s
Ambassador in London, for most kindly referring to a competent authority
in Japan, for confirmation, a doubtful point in feudal land tenure; to
Prince Iwakura, Marquis Ōkubo, and Marquis Kido for photographs of three
of the eminent statesmen whose portraits appear; to the Right Honorable
Sir Ernest Satow for the trouble he took in reading the MS. of the book;
to Sir E. F. Crowe, C.M.G., Commercial Counsellor of the British Embassy
in Tōkiō, for very useful help given in various ways; and to Miss Maud
Oxenden for valuable assistance in proof-correcting.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Early History—The Great Reform—Adoption of Chinese Culture 17
CHAPTER II
Establishment of Feudalism and Duarchy—The Shōgunate and the
Throne—Early Foreign Relations—Christian Persecution and Closure
of Country 24
CHAPTER III
The Tokugawa Shōguns—Consolidation of Duarchy 32
CHAPTER IV
Political Conditions—Reopening of Japan to Foreign
Intercourse—Conclusion of Treaties—Decay of Shōgunate 42
CHAPTER V
Anti-Foreign Feeling—Chōshiū Rebellion—Mikado’s Ratification of
Treaties—Prince Kéiki—Restoration Movement—Civil War—Fall of
Shōgunate 53
CHAPTER VI
Japanese Chronology—Satsuma and Chōshiū Clans—The “Charter Oath” 68
CHAPTER VII
New Government—Clan Feeling in Satsuma—Administrative
Changes—Reformers and Reactionaries 77
CHAPTER VIII
Abolition of Feudal System—Reconstitution of Classes—Effects of
Abolition of Feudalism 87
CHAPTER IX
Effects of Abolition of Feudalism on Agricultural Class—Changes in
Land Tenure—Land-Tax Revision 97
CHAPTER X
Missions to Foreign Government—Hindrances to Reform—Language
Difficulties—Attitude of Foreign Powers 107
CHAPTER XI
Changes and Reforms—Relations with China and Korea—Rupture in
Ministry—Secession of Tosa and Hizen Leaders—Progress of
Reforms—Annexation of Loochoo—Discontent of Former Military
Class 117
CHAPTER XII
Local Risings—Satsuma Rebellion—Two-Clan Government 129
CHAPTER XIII
Japanese Religions before Restoration: Shintō and Buddhism 139
CHAPTER XIV
Japanese Religions after Restoration:
Christianity—_Bushidō_—Religious Observances 145
CHAPTER XV
Political Unrest—The Press—Press Laws—Conciliation and
Repression—Legal Reforms—Failure of Yezo Colonization
Scheme—Ōkuma’s Withdrawal—Increased Political Agitation 152
CHAPTER XVI
Promise of Representative Government—Political Parties—Renewed
Unrest—Local Outbreaks 162
CHAPTER XVII
Framing of Constitution—New Peerage—Reorganization of
Ministry—English Influence—Financial Reform—Failure of
Conferences for Treaty Revision 172
CHAPTER XVIII
Imperial Authority—Privy Council—Local
Self-Government—Promulgation of Constitution—Imperial
Prerogatives—The Two Houses of Parliament—Features of
Constitution and First Parliamentary Elections 181
CHAPTER XIX
Working of Representative Government—Stormy Proceedings in
Diet—Legal and Judicial Reform—Political Rowdyism—Fusion of
Classes 192
CHAPTER XX
Working of Parliamentary Government—Grouping of Parties—Government
and Opposition—Formation of _Seiyūkai_—Increasing Intervention
of Throne—Decrease of Party Rancour—Attitude of Upper House 197
CHAPTER XXI
Treaty Revision—Great Britain takes Initiative—Difficulties with
China 204
CHAPTER XXII
China and Korea—War with China—Naval Reform—Defeat of China—Treaty
of Shimonoséki—Peace Terms 214
CHAPTER XXIII
Militarist Policy—Liaotung Peninsula—Intervention of Three
Powers—Leases of Chinese Territory by Germany, Russia, Great
Britain and France—Spheres of Interest 223
CHAPTER XXIV
American Protest against Foreign Aggression in China—Principle of
“Open Door and Equal Opportunity”—Financial Reform—Operation of
Revised Treaties—The Boxer Outbreak—Russia and Manchuria 234
CHAPTER XXV
Agreement between Great Britain and Germany—The Anglo-Japanese
Alliance 245
CHAPTER XXVI
War with Russia—Success of Japan—President Roosevelt’s
Mediation—Treaty of Portsmouth—Peace Terms 254
CHAPTER XXVII
Weakening of Cordiality with America—Causes of Friction—Expansion
and Emigration—Annexation of Korea—New Treaties 265
CHAPTER XXVIII
Rise of Japan and Germany Compared—Renewal of Anglo-Japanese
Alliance—Japan and the Great War—Military and Naval
Expansion—Japan and China—The Twenty-one Demands—Agreement with
Russia regarding China—Lansing-Ishii Agreement—Effects of Great
War on Situation in Far East 274
CHAPTER XXIX
The Japanese Family System 283
CHAPTER XXX
Education 292
CHAPTER XXXI
The Makers of Modern Japan—How Japan is Governed 300
Index 307
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PRINCE IWAKURA _Frontispiece_
PAGE
ŌKUBO ICHIZŌ 72
KIDO JUNICHIRŌ 80
MARQUIS INOUYÉ 104
MARQUIS ŌKUMA 104
PRINCE ITŌ 176
MARQUIS MATSUGATA 184
FIELD-MARSHAL PRINCE ŌYAMA 184
FIELD-MARSHAL PRINCE YAMAGATA 216
MARQUIS SAIONJI 248
GENERAL PRINCE KATSURA 248
The Making of Modern Japan
CHAPTER I
Early History—The Great Reform—Adoption of Chinese Culture.
There is much speculation, but no certainty, regarding the origin of the
Japanese people. It is, however, generally held that the Japanese race
is made up of two main elements—one Mongolian, which came to Japan from
Northern Asia by way of Korea, and the other Malayan; a third strain
being possibly supplied to some small extent by the Ainu aborigines,
whom the invaders found in occupation of the country. The prevailing
type of feature is Mongolian, though scientific research claims to have
discovered traces of the physical characteristics of other Asiatic
races.
If the earliest Japanese records provide little trustworthy material for
the historian, they show how the legendary heroes of oral tradition
became in the hands of successive chroniclers the deified ancestors of
the reigning dynasty, and indicate the process of transition by which
the feelings of respect and admiration they inspired developed into a
popular belief in the quasi-divinity of Japanese Sovereigns. It is in
this no-man’s-land, where no clear boundaries divide fable from history,
that we are from the first confronted with the primitive native
religion, and realize its weakness as a civilizing influence. From these
same records, nevertheless, as well as from scanty Chinese sources, we
glean certain general facts bearing on the early development of Japan.
Chinese culture is seen trickling in at a very early date; we hear of
the adoption at some time in the fifth century of Chinese ideographs,
the Japanese following in this respect the example of their Korean
neighbours, who, like themselves, had originally no written language of
their own; and we learn of the introduction of Buddhism a century later.
The advent of Buddhism was a notable factor in Japan’s progress. Its
missionaries assisted the spread of the Chinese written language, and
thus paved the way for the introduction in A.D. 645 of what is known as
the Great Reform.
The Great Reform gave its name to the first year-period of Japanese
chronology, and to Japanese history its first certain date. It was the
outcome of a movement having for its object the repair of the authority
of the Throne, which had been weakened by the separatist tendencies of
the Sōga family. The new form of government then established, in
imitation of changes made under the T’ang dynasty in China, was a
centralized bureaucracy. The supreme control of affairs was vested in
the Council of State. In this Council the Prime Minister presided, and
with him were associated the two assistant Ministers of State and the
President of the Privy Council. Of the eight Boards, or Departments of
State, five dealt mainly, but by no means exclusively, with matters
relating to Ceremonial, Religion, the Army, Finance and Taxation
respectively; the other three having the direction of business connected
more immediately with the Imperial Court. There seems, however, to have
been no very clear-cut division of business, Court interests being
apparently mixed up with the affairs of every department. This change in
the form of government was only one of many results caused by the inrush
of Chinese ideas at this time. The influence of the wave of Chinese
culture which swept over the country permeated every part of the
national fabric, remodelling the social system, and laying the
foundations of Japanese law, education, industries and art.
Later on provision was made for the establishment of a regency during
the minority of a reigning Sovereign, the regent (_Sesshō_) by virtue of
his office ranking at the head of the official hierarchy. When the
regency expired, the ex-regent assumed the title of _Kwambaku_ (or
_Sesshō-Kwambaku_), retaining his official precedence. The two posts
were subsequently separated, and, like all other Court offices, became,
as the authority of the Court declined, mere honorary titles. Both posts
and honorary titles were hereditary in certain branches of the Fujiwara
family, the only exception to this rule occurring in the sixteenth
century.
It was not till the eighth century that the Japanese elaborated a
written language of their own. The Koreans had done so already, but the
two written languages thus superadded to what was borrowed from China
have nothing in common. That of the Japanese consists of two different
scripts, each adapted from Chinese characters. The Korean script bears
no resemblance to Chinese. Both countries have good reason to regard as
a very doubtful blessing the possession of two spoken and two written
languages.
At this early stage in Japanese history three things stand out
prominently: the welcome given to foreign ideas; the duality of religion
and language; and the curious atmosphere of divinity surrounding the
Throne, which by an easy process of transition came to be regarded by
the people as a natural attribute of their country and of themselves. It
is not surprising, therefore, to find in the development of Japan two
opposite tendencies constantly at work—the assimilation of new ideas
from abroad, and reaction in favour of native institutions. Together
with the readiness to adopt foreign ideas, to which the seventh century
bears such striking witness, there existed an intense national pride—a
belief in the superiority of Japan, “the country of the Gods,” to all
other lands. The existence of these two contrary currents of popular
feeling, in which religion, politics and language all play their part,
may be traced through the whole course of Japanese history.
The strengthening of the Throne’s authority, which was effected by the
Great Reform, lasted but a short time, the ruling power soon passing
again into the hands of another powerful family, the House of Fujiwara.
But the centralized bureaucratic form of government borrowed from China
survived, and with it the fiction of direct Imperial rule.
During the long ascendancy, covering more than three centuries, of the
House of Fujiwara the Sovereigns, despite their assumption of the
recognized titles of Chinese Emperors, sank into the position of mere
puppets, removable at the will of the patrician rulers. It is important
to note, however, that neither the nominal authority of the occupant of
the Throne nor the power of the _de facto_ Government during this
period, and for many years after, extended much beyond the centre of
Japan. The loyalty of district governors in the south and west was
regulated by their distance from the seat of administration. To the
north and east, again, the country was in the possession of the Ainu
aborigines, with whom a desultory warfare was carried on until their
eventual expulsion to the northern island of Yezo.
Early in the twelfth century the Fujiwara _régime_ came to an end. The
succeeding administrators were members of the Taira family, which had
gradually risen to importance, and wielded the predominant influence in
the country. Fifty years later their position was successfully
challenged by the rival House of Minamoto, which, like its two
predecessors, could claim royal descent. The long struggle between these
two houses ended in the final overthrow of the Taira family in the sea
battle of Dan-no-Ura (A.D. 1155) and the establishment of the feudal
system, in other words, of a military government.
Yoritomo, the Minamoto leader, who then rose to power, received from the
Court the title of Shōgun (or General), a contraction of the fuller
appellation _Sei-i-Tai-Shōgun_. This may be rendered Barbarian-quelling
Generalissimo, and was the term originally applied to generals employed
in fighting the Ainu aborigines in the North-Eastern marches. With the
assumption of this title the term itself developed a new meaning, for it
was not as the general of an army that he thenceforth figured, but as
the virtual ruler of Japan. His advent to power marks a new phase in
Japanese history, the inception of a dual system of government based on
feudalism, which lasted, except for a short period in the sixteenth
century, until modern times.
With the establishment of a military government the classification of
society was changed. Thenceforth there were three recognized divisions
of the people—the _Kugé_, or Court aristocracy, constituting the former
official hierarchy, which, becoming more and more impoverished as the
connection of its members with the land ceased, gradually sank into the
position of a negligible factor in the nation; the _Buké_, or military
class, which included both daimiōs and their retainers, and out of which
the new official hierarchy was formed; and the _Minké_, or general
public, which comprised farmers, artizans and tradesmen, or merchants,
ranking in the order named.
Feudalism was no sudden apparition. It was no mushroom growth of a
night. The importance of the military class had been growing steadily
during the prolonged civil strife from which the Minamoto family had
emerged victorious. This and the increasing weakness of the Government
had brought about a change in provincial administration. Civil
governors, dependent on the Capital, had gradually given place to
military officials, with hereditary rights, who looked elsewhere for
orders; manorial estates were expanding into territories with castles to
protect them; and local revenues no longer flowed with regularity into
State coffers. Thus in more than one manner the way had been prepared
for feudalism.
The same may be said of the dual system of administration, though here
the question is less simple. From all that history tells us, and from
its even more eloquent silence, there is good reason to question the
existence at any time of direct Imperial rule. We hear of no Mikado ever
leading an army in the field, making laws or dispensing justice, or
fulfilling, in fact, any of the various functions associated with
sovereignty, save those connected with public worship. This absence of
personal rule, this tendency to act by proxy, is in keeping with the
atmosphere of impersonality which pervades everything Japanese, and is
reflected in the language of the people. Everything tends to confirm the
impression that the prestige of sovereignty in Japan thus lay rather in
the institution itself than in the personality of the rulers. The casual
manner in which succession was regulated; the appearance on the Throne
of Empresses in a country where little deference was paid to women; the
preference repeatedly shown for the reign of minors; the _laisser-aller_
methods of adoption and abdication; the easy philosophy which saw
nothing unusual in the association of three abdicated, or cloistered,
monarchs with a reigning sovereign; and the general indifference of the
public to the misfortunes which from time to time befel the occupant of
the Throne, all point in the same direction—the withdrawal of the
Sovereign at an early date from all active participation in the work of
government. In so far, therefore, as the personal rule of the Sovereign
was concerned it seems not unreasonable to regard the dual system of
government established at this time as the formal recognition of what
already existed. Its association with feudalism, however, brought about
an entirely new departure. Kiōto, indeed, continued to be the national
capital. There the former Ministers of State remained with all the empty
paraphernalia of an officialdom which had ceased to govern. But a new
seat of administration was set up at Kamakura, to which all men of
ability were gradually attracted. Thenceforth the country was
administered by a military government directed by the Shōgun at
Kamakura, while the Sovereign lived in seclusion in the Capital,
surrounded by a phantom Court, and an idle official hierarchy.
In this question of government there is still something further to be
explained. It should be understood that the Shōgun did not personally
rule any more than the Mikado. What for want of a better name may be
termed the figure-head system of government is noticeable throughout the
whole course of Japanese history. Real and nominal power are rarely seen
combined either socially or politically. The family, which is the unit
of society, is nominally controlled by the individual who is its head.
But practically the latter is in most cases a figure-head, the real
power being vested in the group of relatives who form the family
council. The same principle applied to the administration of feudal
territories. These were not administered by the feudal proprietors
themselves. The control was entrusted to a special class of hereditary
retainers. Here again, however, the authority was more nominal than
real, the direction of affairs being left, as a rule, to the more active
intelligence of retainers of inferior rank. Similarly the Shōgun was
usually a mere puppet in the hands of his Council, the members of which
were in turn controlled by subordinate office-holders. This predilection
for rule by proxy was encouraged by the customs of adoption and
abdication, the effects of which, as regards Mikado and Shōgun alike,
were seen in shortness of reign, or administration, and the frequency of
the rule of minors.
The highly artificial and, indeed, contradictory character which
distinguished all Japanese administration had certain advantages.
Abdication was found to be not incompatible in practice with an active,
though unacknowledged, supervision of affairs. It also provided a
convenient method of getting rid of persons whose presence in office was
for any reason inconvenient. In a society, too, where adoption was the
rule rather than the exception the failure of a direct heir to the
Throne, or Shōgunate, presented little difficulty. It was a thing to be
arranged by the Council of State, just as in less exalted spheres such
matters were referred to the family council. Questions of succession
were thus greatly simplified. In this contradiction, moreover, between
appearance and reality, in the retention of the shadow without the
substance of power, lay the strength of both monarchy and Shōgunate. It
was, in fact, the secret of their stability, and explains the unbroken
continuity of the dynasty on which the nation prides itself. Under such
a system the weakness or incompetence of nominal rulers produced no
violent convulsions in the body politic. The machinery of government
worked smoothly on, unaffected by the personality of those theoretically
responsible for its control; and as time went by the tendency of office
to divorce itself from the discharge of the duties nominally associated
with it increased everywhere, with the result that in the last days of
the Shōgunate administrative policy was largely inspired at the seat of
government by subordinate officials, and in the clans by retainers of
inferior standing.
The question of dual government, which has led to this long digression,
was more or less of a puzzle to foreigners from the time when Jesuit
missionaries first mistook Shōguns for Mikados; and it was not until
after the negotiation of the first treaties with Western Powers that it
was discovered that the title of Tycoon given to the Japanese ruler in
these documents had been adopted for the occasion, in accordance with a
precedent created many years before, in order to conceal the fact that
the Shōgun, though ruler, was not the Sovereign.