Japan: From the Japanese Government History

by Unknown

Chapter XIV

INTERNAL AFFAIRS. 1868-1893

The organization of the new government had been started and pushed with vigor even before the final deposition of the Tokugawa power took place. In January, 1868, the daijōkwan, council of the state, was created, which was soon divided into seven sections, namely, religion, home affairs, foreign affairs, army and navy, treasury, justice, and law. The ablest men of the various fiefs were selected to fill the posts of councilors and legislative officials, and by degrees the government was so organized as to put an end to the old system of hereditary office, samurai of comparatively low rank being nominated for high positions according to their merits. On March 4 of that year the emperor proceeded to the Shishinden palace, where, in the presence of the court nobles and feudal barons, he solemnly pronounced the famous oath in five articles, which has become the foundation of the constitutional government of new Japan, that henceforth administrative affairs should be decided by general deliberation; that both the government and the people should labor for the good of the nation; that encouragement should be given to industrial pursuits; that the evil customs hitherto prevailing should be corrected; and that the country should be strengthened by adopting the systems of defense employed in foreign lands. Shortly afterward the administrative organization was recast, with the rule that no official should be appointed at the same time to legislative, executive, and judicial posts. The term of office was also fixed at four years, and the system of appointment by merit received further development. Officials, however, who showed themselves able and obtained popularity were allowed to remain in office after the expiration of their first term of service. On August 27 the coronation rites were duly performed at the Shishinden palace. In accordance with the custom of changing the year-name on the accession of an emperor, the era was called Meiji (enlightened government). The emperor removed the capital to Tōkyō, formerly Edo, and took up his residence in the castle there.

As regards local administration, the first division of the country after the abolition of the shōgunate was into 28 fu, 273 han, and 21 ken, the fu and ken being governed by officials appointed by the sovereign. The han, however, being still under the government of their former feudal chiefs, no uniformity of administration was possible. Moreover, of the total revenue of the state, namely, eleven million koku of rice, only 1-4/5 millions belonged to the fu and ken, which were under the direct control of the central government, the remainder constituting the income of the han. The resources of the imperial treasury proved quite inadequate to meet the heavy calls made upon them, in spite of the fact that some of the barons contributed liberally. Kido Takakoto, a distinguished samurai of Chōshū, then holding the post of councilor of state, appreciating the fundamental necessity of the time, made such powerful representations to his liege lord that the latter agreed to surrender his feudal domains and their revenues to the sovereign. Kido subsequently took council on the same subject with Ōkubo Toshimichi, a not less distinguished retainer of Satsuma, and by the latter's advice the Satsuma lord was induced to follow the course taken by Mōri of Chōshū. The barons of Hizen and Tosa followed the example, and on January 20, 1868, these four great nobles addressed to the throne a memorial over their joint signatures, declaring their desire to restore their territories to the sovereign, and their conviction that all the lands in the empire should come under the direct control of the central government. Thereafter the various other barons signified their wish to follow the same course, and in the sequel of a consultation held with all the feudal chiefs, whom the emperor summoned to Tōkyō for the purpose, an imperial edict was issued, directing that all the fiefs should be restored to the sovereign, appointing the feudal lords to the post of governor, and remodeling the administrative organization of the han so as to bring it into conformity with that of the fu and ken. One-tenth of the revenue accruing from the fief lands was apportioned as the salary of the governors. The distinctive terms of "court noble" (kuge) and "feudal lord" (shōkō) were abolished, and all the nobles were included in the general appellation of kwazoku. Relatives of the kwazoku and samurai were all classed as shizoku, their pensions being at the same time duly fixed.

Although the organization of the local government had been placed on a fairly complete footing and uniformity of method had begun to be discernible, both the military classes and the commoners in the various fiefs were still disposed to pay more respect to their former lords than to the new officials appointed by the central authorities. Under these circumstances it was suggested by a governor, who had himself been a great feudal baron, that the military monopoly of the samurai should be abolished and their pensions commuted, and that the army should be recruited alike from the shizoku and commoners. The versatile Kido again recommended that the han (fiefs) should be replaced by ken (prefectures), so as to thoroughly centralize the administrative power. It is remarkable that the view was at once seconded by many barons, who memorialized the throne begging the latter to reorganize all their fiefs into prefectures. The policy was finally adopted in 1871, when the 263 han were completely abolished and replaced by 372 new ken, and ample rewards at the same time given to the few baron-governors who had taken the lead in urging this change. Thus the central government came into full control of the lands and people that had been under the sway of feudal chiefs ever since the Kamakura epoch. Subsequently, various changes of boundaries were made, until in 1890 there were 43 prefectures (ken) and 3 cities (fu), besides one board of administration (cho) of Hokkaidō.

The abolition of the han had its grave financial problem, for it now became necessary for the central government to assume the responsibility of the fiduciary notes previously issued by the various feudal lords. To meet this liability the government issued, in lieu of the fiduciary notes, bonds redeemable within fifty years, and for the purpose of satisfying the claims of the shizoku an envoy was sent to England to raise a sum of ten million yen. This, Japan's first foreign debt, was contracted in 1872. In the following year the system of commuting annuities was fixed, those whose incomes ranged from 100 koku downward being allowed, on application, to commute at six years' purchase, half of the commutation money being paid in cash and the remainder in public bonds. The system was subsequently extended to larger incomes, and in August, 1876, the method of commutation was made compulsory, applicable to the income of all the shizoku, bonds being handed to them in the following year. These bonds, carrying interest at different rates, were to be liquidated annually by lot, their total redemption to be effected in thirty years. At the same time, the shizoku, who from ancient times had devoted themselves to military and literary pursuits, despising industry and trade, now found themselves detached from their feudal lords on whom they had relied, and deprived of their lands and pensions. Receiving sums of money in commutation of their hereditary incomes, many of them, without training or experience, turned at once to commerce and agriculture, and in numerous instances those who had become merchants fell victims to their own want of knowledge and to the craft of others, losing everything they possessed and incurring the contempt of the mercantile classes whom they had so long counted their inferiors.

The overthrow of the feudal tenure naturally affected the military organization of the nation. Hitherto soldiers to form the imperial guard had been raised in Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, and the remaining force had consisted of five garrison corps (chindai), quartered at different places and recruited from cities and prefectures in the proportion of five men per 10,000 koku of rice crop.

In 1872 the military department (hyōbushō) was replaced by two separate departments of war and the navy, and an imperial ordinance provided that soldiers should be recruited from all parts of the empire and all classes of the people, the monopoly of military service held by the samurai being thus abolished and the method existing a thousand years previously restored. At the same time it was clearly indicated that the command in chief of all the forces devolved on the sovereign. All persons of twenty years or upward were liable for conscription, and the army was divided into troops with the colors (jōbi-hei), the reserve (kōbi-hei), and the militia (kokumin-gun). Subsequently all of the castles in the fiefs were dismantled with the exception of fifty-five, which were handed over to the war department, and the number of the garrison corps was increased to six, their headquarters being Tōkyō, Sendai, Nagoya, Ōsaka, Hiroshima, and Kumamoto. Various new regulations relating to military matters were afterward issued from time to time, or revisions of the old effected, a colonial militia for Hokkaidō being among the new measures. Meanwhile, the naval department established naval stations, built dockyards and ships of war, and opened colleges, so that the organizations of the two branches of the military service were placed on a satisfactory footing.

All these changes were radical in nature, and it was inevitable that the conservative instincts educated among the people through centuries of feudal training should often burst forth in opposition to the drastic social revolution. Men conspicuous as advocates of innovation were sometimes attacked and assassinated, and armed resistance was occasionally planned. Sakuma Shōzan, Councilor Yokoi Heishirō, and Senior Vice Minister of the Army Ōmura Masujiro all fell under the swords of assassins in consequence of their ardent liberalism; while, on the other hand, Kumoi Tatsuo of Yonezawa plotted with the old samurai of Aidzu and Shizuoka to restore the feudal system by force. But this as well as some minor attempts of a similar character in other parts of the empire were quickly dealt with, the nation as a whole being emphatically favorable to the new order of things. It was not so easy, however, to pacify some of the larger insurrections which occurred in the southern part of Japan. In January, 1874, Etō Shimpei, a member of the cabinet, being opposed by the majority of his colleagues with respect to the policy to be pursued toward Korea, retired from the government and gathered about him in Saga, in Hizen, a number of discontented people who were desirous of restoring feudalism and attacking Korea. They plundered a sum of 200,000 yen from the Ono Company, and made a successful raid upon the prefectural offices of Kumamoto. The garrison corps of the latter place received orders to subdue the rebels—Ōkubo Toshimichi, minister of home affairs, being dispatched by the sovereign to direct the operations. The insurgents suffered several defeats, and were finally imprisoned in Saga castle, but they managed to effect their escape thence under cover of darkness, and to cross the sea to Kagoshima, where they landed, with the intention of striking a second blow by the aid of Saigō Takamori, whose rebellion will presently receive our attention. Failing in their purpose, however, they were unable to offer any further resistance. Etō and the other ringleaders were executed in April, and when Prince Yoshiaki arrived, who had been dispatched from Tōkyō at the head of a considerable naval and military force to crush the rebellion, he found that order had been restored. Two years later there were simultaneous uprisings in Kumamoto and in Hagi of Nagato, which were quickly subdued by the imperial forces.