Needstrat: The sun sets on the Shoguns

On 3 January 1868 a group of radical samurai in Japan declared the end of the Shogunate and a restoration of the Emperor. The Shoguns had ruled for hundreds of years, but had come under tremendous pressure as the US and European powers opened Japan to trade in 1854 by force. Eager learners and clear-minded and independent leaders implemented swift political, social and economic reforms. Japan modernized and industrialized rapidly over the next decades. From being a feudal introvert society, it became an industrialized, modern, outward-seeking power with huge creative and destructive power in a remarkably short period. The neighbors and the great powers would soon notice that.

Emperor Meiji

The Charter Oath

Background

The last Shogun Tokugawa Keiki.

The Shoguns had been the de facto, military, rulers of Japan in most of the period since 1192. From 1603 the shoguns came from the Tokugawa family and had residence in Edo (present-day Tokyo). The emperor was the de jure, legal ruler, but was in reality a figurehead responsible for religious ceremonies. Landholding lords, daimyo, were a feudal class of more than 200 who ruled locally. The samurai were members of the warrior class, who also developed a special tea ceremony and flower arranging that is still used. The greatest external threat during this period was the Mongol invasion from China in 1281. But the Japanese were prepared and supported by a typhoon called Kamikaze smashing the invasion fleet in a storm, they prevailed.

Contact with Europe and isolation

The Portuguese were the first Europeans that came to Japan in 1543 for trade, but also sent missionaries as they used to do. The Japanese were impressed, especially by the technology and the shotguns. Soon half a million Japanese became Christians, the biggest conversion in Asia at the time. But the Europeans didn’t walk their talk, the traders sold Japanese as slaves and the missionaries quarreled among themselves. Many Japanese lost their respect for them. The Shoguns Hideyoshi and Ieyasu were also afraid they might loose trade and political power, expelled all Europeans and forbid Christianity. Thousands were killed and a fear and hatred for foreigners became predominant. The country basically closed off relations with the rest of the world around 1640. The English and Dutch succeeded to establish a trading post on the small island Deshima outside Nagasaki. Under guard and completely isolated the people here were the main contact between Japan and the outside world for the next 200 years. Japan was peaceful in this period, but development stagnated and so did the power of the Shoguns.

A brutal awakening

The US expanded westwards on the North-American continent from the start of the first colonies. They continued into the Pacific and US whaling ships caught large quantities of whales outside Japan in the 1800s. Some shipwrecked and needed help, others needed bases for supply of coal. Peaceful outreaches were turned down. In 1846 a US naval officer was refused stay and negotiations in Edo. A new expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo in July 1853. A letter, in reality an ultimatum, from the US president demanding trade agreements was delivered. It was directed to the emperor as they didn’t know the Shogun was the real leader. And before they left Perry said they would come back the next spring for an answer. In February 1854 Perry turned up with 8 warships and the Japanese reluctantly opened two ports for trade. The British Empire, fresh from its subjection of China in the Opium wars forced through trade-opening in Nagasaki. British citizens in Japan were exempt from Japanese jurisdiction. The other great powers, including Russia in its eastern and southern expansion followed up, and Japan was opened for trade. Customs were set at a maximum of 5%.

US Commodore Mathew Perry.

Perry’s fleet in Edo in 1854.

Political turmoil

Revolutionary samurai from Satsuma,
fighting for the Empire during the civil war 1868-69

Most of the population was strongly against this contact and change. Some groups radicalized and turned to violence, several assaults on foreigners followed. But the external powers were overwhelming and demanded huge indemnities afterwards. Some young nationalistic samurai blamed the Shogun for the opening, and they got support of the daimyos in Satsuma and Choshu. But the Japanese were also eager learners; they were open for European technology, political organization and even clothing. New military units with European inspiration were formed, the samurai monopoly was broken. In the civil war that followed the protest against the Shogun Keiki, the new military units proved their efficiency against the Shogun’s forces. Keiki tried to compromise, proposing to become prime minister under the emperor, and keep his domain in central Japan. But the samurais of Satsuma and Choshu were eager for more radical changes, got a signature from the emperor in Kyoto declaring the restoration of imperial rule. Keiki and his supporters lost the ensuing battles and he retired, was pardonend and became a prince in 1902.

The emperor with foreign representatives at the end of the civil war.

A new society

Emperor Mutsuhito called Meiji, moved to Edo (now renamed Tokyo) in 1868 but he wasn’t restored to real power. He became the formal head of state and an important symbol. The young revolutionary samurais held together in a powerful core, first as advisers, later as political leaders. They didn’t want to copy the US and Europe in everything.

A Charter Oath was declared in April 1868. The five articles of were:
(1) “Deliberative assemblies shall be established on an extensive scale, and all governmental matters shall be determined by public discussion.” (2) “All classes, high and low, shall unite to carry out vigorously the plan of government.” (3) “All classes shall be permitted to fulfill their just aspirations so that there will be no discontent.” (4) “Evil customs of the past shall be discontinued, and new customs shall be based on the just laws of nature.” (5) “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world in order to promote the welfare of the empire.”

They had a few things very clear: to centralize power in Tokyo, make a strong efficient state and be independent from the outside powers. They succeeded in this in a rare process in modern world history.Daimyos were compensated and some became powerful industrialists, the samurai lost the right to carry swords, became ordinary citizens on a low pension and some entered the new army. The farmers paid more taxes and were enrolled to do military service (3 years) for the first time in centuries. The last article of the Charter Oath became very important, Japan sent out delegations to study the West. They learned and implemented what they found useful, organized industries with capital raised by taxes from the farmers and modernized the administration. Production of coal, merchant and naval ships multiplied.

An empire in embryo

Japan became very powerful in a few years, and was ready to project military and political power towards their neighbors. They took Formosa (Taiwan) by force in 1874, and beat China in 1894-95. They were in competition with the expanding Russian empire, and became the first Asian country to win over a European great power in 1904-05. The expansion continued by occupation of Korea and Manchuria. When the Meiji emperor died in 1912 Japan had been thoroughly transformed. Dramatic changes, wars with lots of suffering, peace and tremendous development were still to happen. I will deal with that in a later article.

Sources and more information

Grimberg, J. W. Cappelen forlag Oslo, Norway 1988, Volume 29 p. 298-528.

Encyclopædia Britannica

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/373305/Meiji-Restoration

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514017/Russo-Japanese-War

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/107679/Charter-Oath