Japan: From the Japanese Government History

by Unknown

A PICNIC ON THE ASUKA HILL IN THE FLOWERY SEASON

In 1856, Townsend Harris, consul-general, came duly accredited by the government of the United States, and proposed that relations of friendship should be established between the two countries, at the same time asking on his own part for an audience with the shōgun. The Rōjiu Hotta Masaatsu (Bitchu-no-kami), who had taken charge of foreign affairs in place of Abe Masahiro, allowed Harris, after considerable hesitation, to repair to the Edo castle. It was, however, decided not to give a favorable answer to the American proposal without the sanction of the emperor. Hitherto, despite the great importance of foreign affairs, the Tokugawa administration had been allowed to take any steps it pleased with reference to them without consulting the sovereign. But despite the large measure of power enjoyed by the Edo government, it was no longer able to effectually control the feudal barons. Hence it resolved to consult the imperial wishes, and also to secure the advice of the feudal chiefs. Such a vacillating and dependent method of procedure was entirely opposed to the policy pursued by the Tokugawa ever since the days of Iyeyasu. Now they exposed themselves to the criticism and interference of both the court and the people, so that in this question of foreign intercourse is to be sought the proximate cause of the downfall of the Tokugawa.

At that time the throne was occupied by Kōmei, father of the present emperor, who was in favor of keeping the country closed against the ingress of foreigners. He therefore withheld his sanction when the shōgun's representative came to Kyōto to seek it. At the same time, the American envoy continually pressed the government to sign a treaty, and, to make the matter worse, another trouble simultaneously presented itself, namely, that, the shōgun having no son, friction arose about the succession. Several of the most influential feudal barons desired that Yoshinobu, son of Nariakira of Mito, who represented the Hitotsubashi branch of the Tokugawa, should become heir in consideration of his high abilities; but many of the principal officers and the court ladies were opposed to the policy of Nariakira. The shōgun himself was not desirous of making Yoshinobu his successor, but the steadily increasing influence of the anti-foreign party in Kyōto, the recognized head of which was Nariakira, gave new force to the claims of the latter. Meanwhile, as the need of coming to some terms with the United States became more urgent, the shōgun appointed to the post of tairō the courageous Ii Naosuke (Kamon-no-Kami). Ii was not a man to be guided by others whose opinions he did not share. Under his counsel, it was now agreed that the five ports of Nagasaki, Hakodate, Hyōgo, Kanagawa, and Niigata should be opened to foreign trade, a convention in that sense being concluded without reference to the emperor. This took place in June of 1858, and a little later treaties of similar import were signed with Russia, England, the Netherlands, and France, a report being sent to Kyōto, after the event, to the effect that these measures had been unavoidable. In the matter of the succession, Ii overrode the advice of the feudal barons, and Iyemochi, then little more than a child, son of the lord of Kii, became the fourteenth shōgun. The Tokugawa government thus disposed finally of the question of foreign intercourse, but the domestic affairs of the country grew more complicated than ever.

The officials of Edo who were opposed to foreign intercourse claimed that the country had been subjected to the shame of concluding a commercial treaty under duress. The spread of this idea aroused indignation against the Tokugawa government, and many of the barons, especially Nariakira of Mito, addressed memorials to Kyōto, complaining that the opening of the country to foreign trade and intercourse was contrary to the best interests of the nation. Under these circumstances, the relations between the courts in Kyōto and Edo were of the least intimate character. Presently it began to be alleged against the shōgun's councilors, even by men of Owari, Mito, and Echizen, who stood in a position of close relationship and intimacy with the Tokugawa, that by concluding treaties with five foreign countries without reference to the emperor, the sovereign had been directly insulted. Loyalty to the throne and the expulsion of aliens became rallying cries of the exclusive party, and conflicts occurred in various places between the people who would close the country and those who advocated its opening. Loyalty to the throne was no new thought to the nation, but it now acquired a new significance under new circumstances. The Tokugawa shōguns had, like all other great military families that acquired administrative control in Japan, asserted their authority largely at the expense of that of the emperor, and the fact had begun to cause keen regret to many among the samurai. Already, when Iyeshige was shōgun a rōnin named Takeuchi Shikibu, lamenting the decline of the imperial power, urged the officials of Kyōto to devote themselves to military and literary pursuits, so as to be able some day to overthrow the shōgunate. He was exiled by the Tokugawa, who also arrested and put to death several others of the same party.

With the growth of a taste for pure Japanese literature reverence for the sovereign was intensified and propagated. Its influence was most potent in Mito, the lord of which edited the "Dai Nihon Shi" (History of Great Japan), which as scripture of loyalty was widely read. Another work which exercised a similar influence was the "Nihon-gaishi" by Rai Sanyō. Various motives so largely contributed to the growth of loyal sentiment that ultimately a secret imperial rescript was issued to the Mito vassals, instructing them to unite with the tozama barons and assist the shōgun to expel foreigners from the country. The Tairō Ii, vehemently attacked for exceeding the powers that properly belonged to him, now took another resolute and decisive step. He dismissed all the senior officials who opposed his policy, and retained in office only those in harmony with him. He further announced that any person placing obstacles in the way of measures adopted by the government should be severely dealt with, and in pursuance of this declaration he placed in confinement or dismissed from office civil nobles of highest distinction, and inflicted penalties on six feudal barons of the greatest magnitude. An equally drastic course was adopted in the case of the leading Edo officials, and more than fifty prominent retainers of noblemen, as well as rōnin, scholars, priests, and even women, were seized and sent into exile. These decisive proceedings procured for the period the name of the "Ansei Jail," but the tairō had at least the satisfaction of knowing that he had shown his courage and competence to deal summarily with his opponents. Great excitement prevailed, however, among all classes of the people, above all, the Mito samurai. On the snowy morning of the 3d of the third month, 1860, as the Tairō Ii was en route for the palace of the shōgun, he was attacked and killed by eighteen Mito rōnin under the leadership of Sano Takenosuke, and a year later the Rōjiu Andō Nobumasa, was attacked near the Sakashita gate of the castle. In order to restore harmony between the courts of Kyōto and Edo, the latter now arranged a marriage between the Shōgun Iyemochi and the emperor's sister, but though the sovereign sanctioned this union, it brought no peace for the country. Not only did the anti-Tokugawa agitation continue in noble and official circles, but also rōnin, partly in obedience to the exclusion policy, but chiefly seeking to increase the embarrassments of Edo, attacked foreigners and burned their houses, the shōgun's administration showing itself powerless to check these outrages. By degrees the samurai, who had separated themselves from their fiefs in order to carry on the agitation, assembled in Kyōto, where were already gathered great numbers of influential persons interested in the burning question of the day, and where the emperor himself lent the sanction of his indorsement to the doings of the malcontents. To the two most powerful among all the barons, Shimazu Narishige, lord of Satsuma, and Mōri Yoshichika, lord of Chōshū, secret commissions were specially given by the emperor. Before anything decisive could be accomplished, however, Narishige died and was succeeded by his younger brother, Hisamitsu, who, together with the Chōshū chief, remained in Kyōto at the head of a large force of samurai, with the avowed intention of restoring tranquillity to the country. There they were joined by Yamanouchi Toyonobu, lord of Tosa, and this triumvirate of puissant barons, Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, began to be spoken of throughout the length and breadth of the land as the certain saviors of the situation.

The imperial court, in accordance with the advice of these three powerful councilors, now dispatched an envoy to Edo conveying a command that the shōgun should repair to Kyōto, that order should be established in the affairs of the administration, and that foreigners should be expelled from Japan. Prior to the receipt of this rescript the Tokugawa government had released the persons then in confinement, had dismissed all officials of proved incompetence, and had effected various reforms in the state organization. After the arrival of the imperial rescript these measures were supplemented by other changes, and punishments were meted out to Andō and other officials who had been removed from office. At the same period a most significant step was taken by the shōgun's government: the system that required the presence of the feudal barons in Edo was abolished—a step indicative of the marked decadence of the Tokugawa power. For the first time in two centuries and a half the power of the imperial court overshadowed that of the castle in Edo. An event now occurred that tended to precipitate the impending crisis. As the Satsuma chief, Shimazu Hisamitsu, was escorting the imperial envoy on his return journey from Edo to Kyōto, a party of four English equestrians met the procession near the village of Namamugi in Musashi, and attempted to break through its ranks. This violation of Japanese official etiquette, an act unpardonable in the eyes of the samurai, was violently resented. Two of the foreigners were severely wounded, one of them shortly afterward falling from his horse and dying by the roadside. Incensed by this affair, the British government demanded that the men who had perpetrated the deed and the personage under whose direction it had been carried out should be arrested, and that an indemnity of a hundred thousand dollars should be paid as blood-money, a demand that greatly embarrassed the shōgun's ministers, who knew that, even if they had possessed the power to comply in full, the attempt must lead to the gravest domestic troubles.

In 1863 the Shōgun Iyemochi repaired to Kyōto. This was the first visit paid to the imperial capital by a Tokugawa shōgun since the days of Iyemitsu, two hundred years previously, and the event naturally produced a strong impression upon the nation. At that time the numerous and constantly increasing body of samurai whose motto was "sonnō jōi" (revere the sovereign and expel the foreigner) were exerting all their energies, going hither and thither to popularize their views, and not hesitating even to use the sword against those who opposed them. When the shōgun arrived in Kyōto they brought strong pressure to bear on him with the object of inducing him to adopt their policy, and after long discussion he finally agreed to do so. Notice of this important decision was given to the feudal barons on May 15 in the same year (1863). The shōgun then returned without loss of time to Edo, apprehending that his presence in Kyōto might lead to fresh complications and being further advised that affairs in Edo needed his presence.

The Edo government now found itself in a dilemma. At once unwilling and unable to give effect to its anti-foreign policy, it had nevertheless received and accepted the imperial order to that effect. The ministers, therefore, adopted the only course opened to them, namely, conveyed to the foreign representatives an intimation that it would be necessary to close the ports and put an end to foreign commerce, and, at the same time, dispatched ambassadors directly to the Occident to explain the state of affairs in Japan. These measures, however, proved of course abortive. The anti-foreign sentiment was still further inflamed a few months later by openly hostile acts committed by the feudal baron of Chōshū, who fired upon foreign vessels attempting to pass the Strait of Shimonoseki. Nevertheless, even in Kyōto there were some influential men who boldly espoused the Tokugawa cause and placed themselves in opposition to the party working for the overthrow of the Edo government. A serious obstacle to the success of that party still existed in the fact that no effective union had yet been brought about between the powerful fiefs of Satsuma and Chōshū. The former advocated reconciliation between the courts of Kyōto and Edo, and urged that both should coöperate for the expulsion of foreigners; whereas the Chōshū folks were in favor of more precipitate measures, involving the downfall of the Tokugawa. In Kyōto the partisans of the extreme view urged the emperor to honor the Chōshū chief by visiting him in his own fief, subsequently worshiping at the sepulcher of Jimmu Tennō, and then, after a visit to the shrine of Ise, to openly declare war against the shōgun. But the programme encountered strong opposition in Kyōto at the hands of a few other barons who regarded with deep regret and apprehension the strong course to which the imperial court seemed in danger of being committed. These nobles, forming a union with certain princes, zealously opposed the court view; and finally succeeded so far as to procure the expulsion from Kyōto of the Chōshū lord, who, on his return to his fief, was accompanied by Sanjō Sanetomi, afterward destined to play a prominent part in the events of the restoration, and six other court nobles. The policy of the court was now directed to the reëstablishment of friendly relations with Edo, and the dissatisfaction engendered by this attitude led to émeutes by rōnin at Yamato, Tajima, and other places, but they were speedily reduced to order. In the following year, 1864, the Shōgun Iyemochi again proceeded to Kyōto, where his reception by the emperor was much more gracious than it had been on the previous occasion, various commissions being given to him, with the result that harmony was for the time restored between the two courts. Prior to this a British squadron had proceeded to Kagoshima to exact an indemnity on account of the Namamugi affair, and a sharp engagement had taken place between the ships and the Satsuma forts. The Edo government, however, paid the indemnity demanded by the foreign representatives. The affair was thus brought to an amicable issue, and foreign intercourse continued as before, though the policy of the shōgun's government toward it remained apparently as undecided as ever.

In Mito "Rekkō" Nariakira had died, and the samurai of the fief were divided into two parties, one following the late lord's policy and the other dissenting from it, which carried their enmity to such an extent that great numbers of persons fell victims to the sword. Finally in April, 1864, some of the ultra-conservative men of Mito renounced their service to their lord, and assembled in arms at Mount Tsukuba, where they were joined by a number of other malcontents, and became the center of a widespread disorder. It was quickly subdued by the Tokugawa forces, but while the Tsukuba insurgents were still in the field the Edo government found itself involved in an open quarrel with a vastly more formidable rival, the fief of Chōshū. The lord of Chōshū had been forbidden to enter Kyōto in consequence of his obdurate hostility to the policy of the Tokugawa, and the issue of such a mandate naturally caused great umbrage to his lieges. In June, 1864, they presented a memorial to the throne, setting forth their loyalty and praying that the ban of exclusion from the capital might be removed from their feudal chief and his son, as well as from Sanjō and the six other court nobles who had fled with him to Chōshū for refuge. By degrees rōnin from Chōshū assembled in the environs of the imperial city, and after some collisions they entered Kyōto. But they were totally defeated by the troops of Aidzu and Satsuma, who guarded the city. This act of contumacy provoked an imperial edict depriving the elder and younger lords of Chōshū of their rank and commissioning the Shōgun Iyemochi to chastise Chōshū. An expedition was organized in obedience to this edict, a very powerful army being raised in western Japan. Just at this time a squadron composed of British, American, French, and Dutch vessels of war entered the Straits of Shimonoseki to exact reparation from the men of Chōshū who had, as has already been related, fired upon foreign vessels passing through the strait. Attempts to avert hostilities by negotiation having proved abortive, the Chōshū forts were bombarded and dismantled by the foreign vessels, and a peace was afterward concluded, the Chōshū folks pledging themselves to give free passage to foreign ships, and to pay an indemnity of three million dollars. This large sum, though subsequently paid by the Tokugawa government, was denounced as excessive by foreign jurists as well as Japanese statesmen, and the portion that fell to the share of the United States of America was returned to Japan more than twenty years afterward.