Meiji Restoration

How the Meiji Restoration bought in elites. Japanese samurai did not just accede to the total destruction of their way of life and status in society, but actively fought for it. How did the architects of the Meiji Restoration convince samurai to accept change?

First, there were elites of various stripes before Meiji. “Samurai” is not an actual distinction. “Shi” is the official class which people sometimes mean when using the term “samurai”. Elites existed across ALL classes 士農工商 (shi, nou, kou, shou). The “architects” were the emperor, his courtiers, and several entities within the shi class. Some of the architects were NOT considered elite (though they were considered samurai of low rank) until they became the Meiji government).

I am not sure it is true that any samurai actively fought for their way of life or status in society. Some wanted to die. Almost all of the upper elites retained their elite status, usually through some combination of being paid directly for their holdings and treated like royalty, or simply finding new elite jobs within the new government. All the elites from the village heads and merchants saw legitimacy added to their existing elite status.

We can look at all of the “rebellion” recorded in history to measure who was fighting for what. Mostly, There was a group of warriors who wanted to go to war with Korea (why?) (Saga Rebellion), and they were put down by the government because they could not deal with a war while trying to finish restructuring. But all of the Saga manifesto points were actually achieved by the Meiji government eventually (even annexing Korea!). I think Shinpuren was a death cult trying to commit suicide without achieving anything. And for that matter, the biggest rebellion (satsuma) was also a death cult, with only the vaguest objective of simply “inquiring” what the government’s intentions were with sending spies to claim ammunitions reserves from Satsuma. Satsuma rebellion was either following a living legend (dangers of trust) “following Saigo could not be a mistake, whatever he’s doing”, or other fanatics piggybacking off of the fervor.

The main lessons are to make sure the elites are along for the ride, so at every turn, elites were given invitations to join. Even Keiki was pardoned by the architects, and Hisamitsu and all daimyo.

  1. Have a ramp for elites, either an onramp to equivalent influence in the new system or an offramp of riches and royal treatment
  2. Invite “true” unofficial elites to the official elite table
    1. village heads, merchant leaders always had influence, but now are officially acknowledged as not lesser and can take government positions
  3. have a vastly urban society that already has learned to comingle and exchange ideas and services
    1. where so many economically powerful people were used to having no social status and having to adapt
    2. kabunakama were government (tokugawa)-sanctioned monopolies SHogun basically gave monopoly rights to merchants keeping the daimyo poor!
      1. n rōjū Mizuno Tadakuni attempted to do away with the kabunakama, but could not
  4. pay off all the elites (even to the point of government bankruptcy and fire sale of state industrial assets)
  • Emperor
  • Imperial courtiers
  • Shogun
  • Shogunal retainers
  • Daimyo
  • Daimyo’s retainers

You could think they called it a “Restoration” to try to whitewash how MAGA it really was. Not a “revolution”, a “restoration”. Don’t call it a comeback, we’ve been here for years.

Confucian system of class was actually INSTITUTED by Tokugawa, shi, nou, kou, shou. The shi was TRADITIONALLY scholars with military experience. Tokugawa RESTORED this Confucian ideal by having the WARRIORS evolve into TRADITIONAL scholars!

did the schools entertain new class systems?

adaptability

callbacks to tradition

always setting an ideal while finding a way for the old way to evolve into that ideal

  • tokugawa place the ideal of samurai as a scholarly class, but provided for the evolution of them into that over time
  • meiji removed legal distinctions between classes while providing a way for the existing classes to retain their membership in classes in practice.

a history of documents

  • emperor disapproves of Ii’s actions in secret decree (1858-09-15)

  • 1859-02-02 - Murdoch says there is a “famous Imperial decree… which ordered the Bakufu to perfect its military preparations and expel the barbarians… at the earliest possible date”

  • March 1863: Imperial Order to Expel Foreigners (攘夷実行の勅令)

  • June 1867: Hyogo opened, Yamanaka Zenyemon and 19 others allowed to form company and allowed to wear swords

  • Nov 1867: Shogun resigns power to Emperor

  • Jan 3, 1868 Imperial Declaration of Restoration (王政復古の大号令)

  • Charter Oath (Apr 6, 1868) (五箇条の御誓文)

    • “Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all matters decided by public discussion”
    • “All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of affairs of state”
    • “The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall each be allowed to pursue his own calling”
    • “Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature”
    • “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule”

  • Apr 1868 神仏判然令

  • Sep 1868 Edo renamed Tokyo

  • 1868: Shinbutsu Bunri (神仏分離) - Separation of Shinto and Buddhism

  • July 25, 1869 版籍奉還

    • return han to emperor
    • no practical changes to daimyo leadership
      • still received stipends, still ruled over the han
    • simultaneously created shizoku and kazoku classes

  • March 28, 1871: Class Equality Decree (四民平等)

  • August 29, 1871: Abolition of Han System (廃藩置県,

    • han become prefectures

    • daimyo out of power, centrally appointed governors are in

      • Hisamitsu is the ONLY daimyo expressing dissent for this
      • AND Satsuma was the only prefecture allowed a native son to govern (Oyama)

    • central govt takes over domain debts (a financial relief for many)

    • stipends converted to govt bonds

  • 1871: Postal System Establishment

    • Creates modern postal service connecting major cities
    • Facilitates communication and commerce

  • 1872: Education System Ordinance (学制)

  • 1872: Railway Construction Begins

    • First railway line opens between Tokyo and Yokohama

  • January 10, 1873: Conscription Ordinance (徴兵令, Chōheirei)

  • 1873: Ban on Christianity Lifted

  • April 14, 1875: Osaka Conference Declaration

    • Promises gradual introduction of constitutional government
    • Responds to democratic pressure from former samurai
    • Sets timeline for political reform

  • 1876: Sword Prohibition Edict (廃刀令, Haitōrei)

  • 1876: Stipend Commutation Act (金禄公債証書発行条例)

    • Converts samurai stipends to government bonds
    • Effectively ends economic basis of samurai class
    • Many samurai face financial ruin
    • Now, shizoku are only different from heimin in the registry (nominal only- no special privelege)

  • October 1881: Imperial Rescript on Constitutional Government

    • Emperor promises constitution by 1890
    • Establishes timeline for parliamentary system
    • Response to growing Freedom and People’s Rights Movement

  • 1884　July 7: Peerage Ordinance (華族令, Kazokurei)

    • Creates new aristocracy from former court nobles and daimyo
    • European-style noble titles (duke, marquis, count, viscount, baron)
    • Designed to provide upper house for future parliament

  • February 11, 1889: Promulgation of Meiji Constitution (大日本帝国憲法)

First, a financial crisis was mounting in Japan at the time. Commodore Perry’s unfair treaties were a catalyst causing a political crisis for the shogunate, but the financial issues needed resolution so something big had to change. The shogun is really to blame for not continuing to be the main power and retaining something more like the shogunate instead of the eventual restoration. The architects of the Meiji Restoration even attempted such schemes which were only rejected by the shogun.

The question becomes how would the financial crisis be addressed if Perry hadn’t caused the immediate shogunal political crisis?

Also, seems like Britain was on the western, imperial Meiji side, and France was backing shogun. Wow, so SHogun was backed by Napoleon III (hot off a Crimean War) and Satcho by Britain. The French built Kotetsu for the COnfederate Navy and eventually was bought by the shogun?