Makers of Japan

by J. Morris

It will be understood that at this time the present sovereign had only just come to the throne, and that the establishment of the imperial government at Kioto was the outcome of the resignation of his office of Shogun by the present Prince Tokugawa Keiki, who had a few weeks before surrendered his rights and privileges and retired into private life, though his adherents were still fighting beyond Tokio, and the war of the Restoration was not yet over. The Emperor, of course, was still in residence at the Kioto Dairi, or palace, and Kido realised that before a settled order of things could be hoped for the feudal system must be abolished, root and branch. He clearly perceived the necessity for centralisation as a first step in the direction of the introduction of a constitutional regime, and, with Kido, to see his duty before him was to act.

The daimio of Choshiu, his own chieftain, was then at Yamaguchi, and by way of estimating the chances of success for the bold proposal by which he was resolved to stand or fall, Kido set out for that distant town, determined to ascertain first of all how the lord Mori might be disposed to view so audacious a proposition as that to be submitted for the consideration of the territorial magnates.

Arriving at Yamaguchi, which stands at a distance from the coast, in a hilly district—as its name, lit.: “mountain’s mouth,” might imply—Kido lost no time in procuring an interview with the baron, and endeavouring to prove by every argument at his command how fatally feudalism was obstructing the progress of the empire. In conclusion he respectfully invited the lord of Choshiu to divest himself of his inherited estates and make a present of them to the Emperor!

Baron Mori listened to this astounding suggestion of his retainer with composure, and remained silent, Kido wondering, in all probability, what would be the nature of the punishment that would descend upon him for his temerity.

But to his everlasting honour the daimio raised his head and said, after a while,—“Let it be so: act as you think best.”

Although Kido knew that his lord’s patriotism was of a kind that would prompt him to make enormous sacrifices, and that with Choshiu as with Satsuma, the overwhelming superiority of foreign armaments had been so effectively demonstrated as to make it clear that unless Japan was to fall a prey to some enterprising foe she must bestir herself and reform her institutions to a degree that would enable her to present a united front to an aggressor, it was with a feeling of intense gratitude that Kido received his chieftain’s answer. He had had no expectation of obtaining so ready a consent to his excessively venturesome proposition.

As he was retiring the baron called Kido back and warned him, “You must be careful, for the samurai are excited with their recent achievements and may not take it quietly. You had better watch for a convenient opportunity before making my decision known.”

Kido’s joy at this initial success was great beyond measure, and he forthwith made his way to Kioto, where he found Okubo Toshimichi, and they entered deeply into the question of approaching the other daimios with a similar suggestion. Okubo thoroughly shared Kido’s views as to the imperative need of abolishing the feudal system, and was not less surprised than Kido himself had been at the willingness shown by the lord of Choshiu to relinquish his possessions. He accepted it, however, as a good augury in his own case when he should attempt to convince the lord of Satsuma, to which province he belonged, of the wisdom of adopting a course similar to that taken by baron Mori.

Representations were made most cautiously to one daimio after the other, and Kido drew up a paper in the form of a memorial to the Emperor, which the feudal chiefs were asked to subscribe to, and to which four of them at once appended their seals, they being those who had been most active in bringing about the situation which culminated in the fall of the Shogun from power. The very essence of this epoch-making document, conveying an unequivocal renunciation of their possessions and entire submission to the imperial will by the leading daimios throughout the land, was patriotic devotion to the sovereign and repose in his wisdom and virtue as their restored monarch. “We hereby offer up our possessions, our men, and ourselves to his Majesty,—let the imperial commands issue for the remodelling of the clans,—let everything henceforward be done exclusively in his sovereign name, and let the internal affairs of the country be so regulated and placed on a true and safe basis that the empire shall be able eventually to take its place side by side with the other enlightened countries of the world.” Such was the tone and in great measure the phraseology employed when the grandees of Japan spontaneously relinquished their positions as lords of the soil and unconditionally bowed themselves before the throne in readiness to conform to their ruler’s mandate, relying implicitly, for their future, on his justice and benevolence.

To Kido Koin, in the first place, must be assigned the credit of this truly diplomatic triumph, and in a second place to Okubo. Though Choshiu was willing, it would have been impossible without the approval of Satsuma to carry the proposal through, nor would it have been probable that some, at all events, of the less prominent daimios could have been induced to renounce their all but for the brilliant example set them by the powerful barons of the first rank (kokushiu) of the south.