Term Papers on The Role Of The Japanese Emperor In The Meiji Restoration

Term Paper Title	The Role Of The Japanese Emperor In The Meiji Restoration
# of Words	3101
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	12.4

The Role of the Japanese Emperor in the Meiji Restoration

By Jody Kitcher

     Japan is a society whose culture is steeped in the traditions and symbols of the
past: Mt. Fuji, the tea ceremony, and the sacred objects of nature revered in Shintoism.
Two of the most important traditions and symbols in Japan; the Emperor and
Confucianism have endured through Shogunates, restorations of imperial rule, and up to
present day. The leaders of the Meiji Restoration used these traditions to gain control
over Japan and further their goals of modernization. The Meiji leaders used the
symbolism of the Emperor to add legitimacy to their government, by claiming that they
were ruling under the "Imperial Will." They also used Confucianism to maintain order
and force the Japanese people to passively accept their rule.

     Japanese rulers historically have used the symbolism of the Imperial Institution to
justify their rule. The symbolism of the Japanese Emperor is very powerful and is
wrapped up in a mix of religion (Shintoism) and myths. According to Shintoism the
current Emperor is the direct descendent of the Sun Goddess who formed the islands of
Japan out of the Ocean in ancient times. According to these myths the Japanese Emperor
unlike a King is a living descendent of the Gods and even today he is thought of as the
High Priest of Shinto. Despite the powerful myths surrounding Japan's imperial
institution the Emperor has enjoyed only figure head status from 1176 on. At some points
during this time the Emperor was reduced to selling calligraphy on the streets of Kyoto to
support the imperial household, but usually the Emperor received money based on the
kindness of the Shogunate. But despite this obvious power imbalance even the Tokugawa
Shogun was at least symbolically below the Emperor in status and he claimed to rule so
he could carry out the Imperial rule.

     Within this historical context the Meiji leaders realized that they needed to
harness the concept of the Imperial Will in order to govern effectively. In the years
leading up to 1868 members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans were part of the
imperialist opposition. This opposition claimed that the only way that Japan could
survive the encroachment of the foreigners was to rally around the Emperor. The
Imperialists, claimed that the Tokugawa Shogunate had lost its imperial mandate to carry
out the Imperial Will because it had capitulated to Western powers by allowing them to
open up Japan to trade. During this time the ideas of the imperialists gained increasing
support among Japanese citizens and intellectuals who taught at newly established
schools and wrote revisionist history books that claimed that historically the Emperor had
been the ruler of Japan.The fact that the Tokugawa's policy of opening up Japan to the
western world ran counter to the beliefs of the Emperor and was unpopular with the
public made the Tokugawa vulnerable to attack from the imperialists. The imperialists
pressed their attack both militarily and from within the Court of Kyoto. The great
military regime of Edo which until recently had been all powerful was floundering not
because of military weakness, or because the machinery of government had broken but
instead because the Japanese public and the Shoguns supporters felt they had lost the
Imperial Will.
     The end of the Tokugawa regime shows the power of the symbolism and myths
surrounding the imperial institution. The head of the Tokugawa clan died in 1867 and
was replaced by the son of a lord who was a champion of Japanese historical studies and
who agreed with the imperialists claims about restoring the Emperor.So in 1868 the new
shogun handed over all his power to the Emperor in Kyoto. Shortly after handing over
power to the Emperor, the Emperor Komeo died and was replaced by his son who
became the Meiji Emperor because the Meiji Emperor was only 15 all the power of the
new restored Emperor fell not in his hands but instead in the hands of his close advisors.
These advisers such as Prince Saionji, P...

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