Background Information to Assignment 107E1

T2 DR E3 M P E4 R O R M E I J I

T5 E TO H6 A R R I S T R E7 A T YK T MU Y S8 E9 M P E R O R K O10 M E I T11

G O A E K OA F I H12 R U C13 KW T14 O K U G A W A Y O S H I N O B U H UA A O N R U M15 O GI N T T S16 T A S AE Y17 A M A G A T A A R I M O T O T H WM G K I N S18 A T S U M A

T19 O K U G A W A I E Y O S H I N H H IC W M H O I E EH A O K20 O J M W SI R Y O I P A

I21 T O H I R O B U M I I C E DT H R A

K22 I D O T A K A Y O S H I RY

Across3. The only surviving son of Emperor Komei. He

came to the throne on the death of his father in 1867. All of the reforms of the "Meiji restoration" were done in his name, but it is very difficult to tell how much influence he really had. Certainly the initiative for these reforms came from his Satsuma and Choshu advisors, but they could not have happened without his tacit support. (7,5) [EMPERORMEIJI]

6. Treaty between Japan and the USA in 1858. It provided for traty ports, low importa tariffs, extraterritoriality anf most-favoured nation status for Americans. The shogunate (bakufu) asked the emperor to endorse this treaty, but was refused. The leader fof the bakufu's council was later assasinated by an outraged samurai. (6,6) [HARRISTREATY]

Down1. The original name of the city that is now

Tokyo. It was the centre of the Shogunʼs government. In 1869, the emperor was moved to this city, at which point it was renamed Tokyo. The emperor was installed in the Shogunʼs palace. (Some say to ensure that, when he grew up, he could not be a focus of opposition to the government as his father had been.) [EDO]

2. Treaty between Japan and the USA in 1854. It gave the USA athe right to trade in two Japanese ports and the right to establish a consulate on Japanese soil. Simiar treaties with other powers followed quickly. (6,2,8) [TREATYOFKANAGAWA]

Across9. 121st emperor of Japan (reign: 1846-1867).

He was angered by the actions of the shogunate during his reign. He opposed opening Japan to foreign powers. He refused to support the Harris treaty in 1858. In 1863, urged on by advisors from Satsuma and Choshu, he issued a decree ordering the expulsion of the “barbarians”. This inspired both futile efforts to attack the foreigners and attacks on the shogunate. Although the shogunate had little choice other than signing agreements with foreigners, the emperorʼs attitude meant that they lost the support of most ordinary Japanese. (7,5) [EMPERORKOMEI]

14. Shogun: 1866-68 (8,9) [TOKUGAWAYOSHINOBU]

Down4. An outcast group in Japan. They often

performed jobs considered unclean by other Japanese, such as butchering animals, tanning leather and disposing of dead animals. The rigid laws of the Tokugawa made it impossible for them to climb out of this status. In theory, they were liberated in 1871, but they still suffer from discrimination today. Nowadays they are called the burakumin. [ETA]

5. Shogun: 1858-66 (8,7) [TOKUGAWAIEMOCHI]

7. Eldest surviving son of the Meiji Emperor (lived 1879-1926, reigned 1912-26). He was quite sickly all his life. He suffered from meningitis (and possibly lead poisoning) as a baby which seems to have lead to ongoing neurological problems. Although he was good at languages, he was unable to complete a standard high-school education. This weakness meant that the reigns of power remained firmly in the hands of the emperorʼs advisors. (7,6) [EMPERORTAISHO]

8. Sometimes called the “last true samurai”. He was born into a low-ranking samurai family in Satsuma. In 1854, his daimyo took him to Edo to help promote better relations between Shogun and emperor. When the shogun cracked down on pro-imperial officials, he fled to Satsuma, where a new daimyo banished him to a remote island. He was pardoned in 1864 and was put in charge of a Satsuma army in Kyoto, home of the imperial court. He was sent by the shogunate to help put down the rebellious Choshu forces but he secretly made an alliance with them. At the time of the Meiji restoration, he opposed giving the Tokugawa special status. In the civil war of 1867-8, he commanded the imperial forces. He tried to get the government to go to war with Korea in 1873. When he failed, he resigned his positions. He led the Satsuma Rebellion against the central government in 1877. When defeated, he committed suicide (or got a friend to cut off his head – accounts vary). At first regarded as a traitor, his former colleagues in the Meiji government quickly rehabilitated him and he has gone down in history as a hero. (5,8) [SAIGOTAKAMORI]

Across17. Born into a low-ranking samurai family in

Choshu. He became involved in an underground movement aimed at overthrowing the shogunate and served as an officer of the imperial forces in the fighting of 1867-8. In 1869, he was selected by the new government to go on at fact-finding mission abroad (the Iwakura Mission of 1869-73). He was very impressed with the Prussian government and military system. When he returned, he recommended modeling the Japanese systems on the Prussian example. In 1873, he was appointed Minister for War. He introduced conscription and began modernizing the Japanese army. He led the Japanese army against the Satusuma Rebellion in 1877 (It was led by his former comrade, Saigo Takamori- After the battle he had Saigoʼs head washed and pronounced a meditation in his memory). To prevent future rebellions, he had the emperor issue the “Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors” in 1882. All soldiers and sailors had to memorize this. It laid out rules for their conduct. During the first Sino Japanese war he was acting War Minister and commanding General. He also commanded an army in the Russo Japanese War. He was part of a group of seven leaders who dominated Japan in the Meiji period. He held numerous government posts over the years, including one term as Lord Chancellor and two as Prime Minister. He used his influence to oppose democracy and promote the position of the military. (A position that brought him into conflict with Ito Hirobumi) For instance, he passed a law that only serving officers could be war minister or minister of the Navy (meaning the army effectively chose two cabinet Ministers). He made it clear that the army was to be independent of the government and subordinate only to the emperor. He also passed a law forbidding members of political parties to hold posts in the bureaucracy. In 1912, when the cabinet failed to allocate enough money to the military, he got the army and navy ministers to resign and all the officers in the army and navy refused to serve as their replacements. The cabinet had to resign. It was replaced by a cabinet more favourable to the army and navy. (8,7) [YAMAGATAARIMOTO]

18. Feudal state in Tokugawa Japan with a history of opposition to the Tokugawa. It was among the more financially stable feudal states. It helped lead the opposition to the shogunate between 1853-67. [SATSUMA]

19. Shogun: 1838-53 (8,7) [TOKUGAWAIEYOSHI]

Down10. Born into a low ranking samurai family in

Satsuma. He joined forces with fellow Satsuma and former schoolmate Saigo Takamori and allied with Choshuʼs Kido Takayoshi to organize the overthrow of he shogunate. After 1868, the three men formed a provisional government. Okubo served as Home Minister, in control of all local appointments and the police force. From 1871, he served as Finance minister in which capacity he revamped the land tax. He took part in the Iwakura mission of 1871-1873. When he returned, he helped to block his old colleague, Saigo Takamoriʼs hope of taking over Korea. When Saigo rebelled in the Satsuma rebellion of 1877, Okubu led the army against him. Many samurai saw him as a traitor for this reason and he was assassinated by a group of them in 1878. (5,10) [OKUBUTOSHIMICHI]

11. Shogun: 1853-58 (8,6) [TOKUGAWAIESADA] 12. A feudal state in Tokugawa Japan. [HAN] 13. Feudal state in Tokugawa Japan with a history

of opposition to the Tokugawa. It was among the more financially stable feudal states. It helped lead the opposition to the shogunate between 1853-67. [CHOSHU]

15. Amrican commodore who led a squadron of ships to Edo in 1853 and "convinced" Japan to open its doors. (7,5) [MATTHEWPERRY]

16. “Revere the Emperor; expel the barbarians”. A movement in late Tokugawa Japan among Samurai, especially in Choshu and Satsuma. To overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and replace it with a government centred on (but not exactly run by) the emperor. (5,3) [SONNOJOI]

20. The location of the emperorʼs court during the Tokugawa period. [KYOTO]

Across21. Born into a lower-class samurai family in

Choshu. He joined the “revere the emperor and expel the barbarians” movement. In 1863, he and four other promising young men from Choshu were sent to study at University College in London. They had to be smuggled out of the country, because it was still illegal to travel abroad. He spent only one year in London, returning to defend Choshu from attacks by the allied powers after its attacks on foreign ships in 1864. His experience in the UK convinced him that Japan had to adopt western ways. After the Meiji restoration, he served as junior councilor for foreign affairs. In 1870, he was sent to the USA to study Western currency systems. In 1871 he introduced a new tax system in Japan. He took part in the Iwakura mission from 1871-73. He would go to Europe again to study constitutions from 1882-4. He held various government positions including Minister of Public Works (1873) Home Minister (1878). He was effectively in control of the whole Meiji government from 1881 to 1909, serving as Prime Minister four times. He designed the new peerage system in 1874 (not entirely coincidentally, he was given the rank of “prince”), and wrote the Meiji constitution. In general, he advocated civilian government and opposed the growing power of the military. After 1901, facing increasing opposition in Japanese politics, he resigned. He served as the first Japanese resident general in Korea after that country became a Japanese protectorate after the Russo-Japanese War. He took steps to bring Korea more closely under Japanese control, but opposed efforts within the Japanese government to annex Korea officially. Ironically, in 1909, while in Harbin to meet a Russian representative in Manchuria, he was assassinated by a Korean nationalist. This assassination was used by his opponents in Japan as an excuse to annex Korea. (3,8) [ITOHIROBUMI]

Across22. Born in Choshu, his real father was of Samurai

rank but worked as a doctor. He was adopted by a different family and educated as a samurai. He was an early member of the conspiracy to overthrow the Shogunate. After Choshuʼs disastrous attempt to repel the Westerners, he began to study Western ship-building and gunnery. He designed Choshuʼs first modern ship in 1856. He served in Kyoto in 1862, but he and all the other Choshu were driven out by the Satsuma the following year. He was involved in a failed attempt to take back the city in 1864, but had to hide in the home of a geisha (whom he later married) and escape disguised as a shopkeeper. When the radicals took over Choshu in 1865, He led the new misxed samurai-peasant army which was armed with modern weapons and which defeated the shogunate armies sent against it. In 1866, he made an alliance with Saigo Takamori and Okubu Toshimichi of Satsuma. The three men combined their forces to overthrow the shogunate. They then formed a provisional government. He helped write the Meiji charter, helped abolish the daimyo, put down a samurai rebellion in Choshu in 1870, took part in the Iwakura Mission of 1871-73. When he returned, he advocated constitutional government. In 1874, he resigned his posts in protest after the punitive expedition to Taiwan, but he returned when the government agreed to put together a constitution. In the last two years of his life, he worked to improve the position of the lower classes, but the government was dominated by Okubu Tashimichi. He died of a brain disease in 1877. He left behind a diary which shows that he was torn between loyalty to Choshu and the interests of Japan as a whole. (4,9) [KIDOTAKAYOSHI]