Lecture reading 2 - New Beginnings

Question 1

When was the Charter Oath written?

Answer 1

Fourteenth Day of the Third Month of 1868

Question 2

What were the five points in the Charter Oath?

Answer 2

1. Deliberate assemblies shall be widely convoked, and all matters of state shall be decided by public discussion.
2. All classes high and low shall unite in vigorously promoting the economy and welfare of the nation.
3. All civil and military officials, and the common people as well, shall be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, so that there may be no discontent among them.
4. Base customs of the past shall be abandoned, and all actions shall conform to the principles of international justice.
5. Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world, and thus shall be strengthened the foundation of the Imperial polity.

Question 3

What the term ‘Meiji’ mean?

Answer 3

‘Enlightened rule’

Question 4

Which three problems did the Charter Oath address?

Answer 4

1. National unity - clique of revolutionaries would not monopolise decision-making.
2. 3. Offering all people opportunities to ‘fulfill their aspirations’ regardless of status.
3. 5 Signalled to foreigners that Japan would become a stable, responsible member of international community.

Question 5

What were the two long-range goals of the new Meiji regime?

Answer 5

1. safeguard Japan’s national sovereignty

2. become a great and respected country

Question 6

What were the missions of the regime?

Answer 6

1. revise unequal treaties and remove Japan from semi-colonial status
2. further national unity
3. sweep away past problems, build strength and wealth

Question 7

What happened three decades into the Meiji period?

Answer 7

1. created a constitutional policy and convoked national unity
2. industrialised and inculcated capitalism
3. reorganised country’s social structure

Question 8

What was the priority for the revolutionaries who had driven the shogunate from power?

Answer 8

To create a centralised political state.

Question 9

What did the Constitution of 1868 (Seitaisho) do?

Answer 9

Vest all authority in the Dajoukan (Grand Council of State)

Question 10

Which five revolutionaries claimed a monopoly within the Dajoukan and which domains were they from?

Answer 10

Iwakura Tomomi, Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, Ito Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo.

From Satsuma and Choshu

Question 11

How did the Dajokan suggest they fix the problem of political fragmentation?

Answer 11

Replace old domains with modern prefectures.

Question 12

What did the leading figures in the emerging central government do?

Answer 12

Persuaded daimyo to relinquish their land to the Emperor, deprived daimyo of autonomy.

Question 13

When did the final abolition of the domains take place?

Answer 13

1871.

Question 14

What did the government clique do to deter opposition?

Answer 14

Mustered 10,000 troops under the command of Saigo Takamori.

Question 15

What were the four reasons centralisation succeeded?

Answer 15

1. Saigo’s army intimidated many.
2. Daimyo tired of trying to rule in chaotic times.
3. Daimyo attracted to generous stipends.
4. Daimyo concluded that centralisation of authority was vital to Japan’s survival as a unified country.

Question 16

How did the government reclassify the population?

Answer 16

Nobility, upper aristocracy, lower aristocracy, peasants.

Question 17

What were all commoners then permitted to do?

Answer 17

Take surnames.

Question 18

What were ex-warriors deprived of?

Answer 18

1. The right to carry a sword.

2. Hereditary stipends.

Question 19

Who came up with the idea of creating a conscript army and why?

Answer 19

Yamagata Aritomo, to mobilise energies of the people behind the state and forge ties of loyalty between government and citizenry.

Question 20

What did Okubo Toshimichi introduce?

Answer 20

New principles of taxation.

Question 21

Give three examples of opposition to the Meiji regime.

Answer 21

Mass demonstrations, petitions, and physical attacks on government representatives.

Question 22

What was the reason for the Seikanron?

Answer 22

Korea refused to acknowledge the Meiji government so as not to jeopardise its tributary relations with China.

Question 23

Who led the Seikanron?

Answer 23

Saigo Takamori.

Question 24

What was Okubo’s view on the Seikanron?

Answer 24

Japan had to lay foundations of national strength and wealth before dealing with foreign countries.

Question 25

Who agreed with Okubo on the Seikanron?

Answer 25

Kido Takayoshi.

Question 26

How was the Seikanron settled and what happened afterwards?

Answer 26

The emperor endorsed the peace party’s views and Saigo resigned in protest.

Question 27

Who emerged as the leading members of the Meiji oligarchy after Saigo’s resignation?

Answer 27

Iwakura, Okubo, Ito, Yamagata, Kido and Matsukata.

Question 28

What did Saigo do after he resigned?

Answer 28

Satsuma Rebellion: returned to native Kagoshima, established academies where he trained up young samurai, launched attacks against government, defeated by conscript army and committed suicide.

Question 29

What four factors did the Meiji Dream consist of?

Answer 29

• national independence
• treaty revision
• equality with the West
• domestic tranquility and prosperity

Question 30

What did the Meiji leaders look to the West for?

Answer 30

Lessons on how to:

• organise political institutions
• create economic wealth
• foster social harmony

Question 31

What did the era of learning from the West become known as?

Answer 31

Era of ‘Civilisation and Enlightenment’

Question 32

What was the turn to the West facilitated by?

Answer 32

Dutch Learning.

Question 33

What did foreigners instruct the Japanese on?

Answer 33

• political administration
• medical practices
• legal philosophies
• technological advances
• education systems

Question 34

What were the objectives of the Iwakura Mission?

Answer 34

• goodwill visits to heads of fifteen countries that maintained diplomatic relations with Japan
• renegotiate unequal treaties
• study and collect information on trade, industry, banking, taxation, and currency
• investigate education systems and philosophies

Question 35

How many people were part of the Iwakura Mission?

Answer 35

49 officials.

Question 36

Name three specific members of the Iwakura Mission.

Answer 36

Ito Hirobumi, Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi.

Question 37

What was the condition that Japan had to fulfill before treaty revision became possible?

Answer 37

Japan had to prove its modernity by reforming domestic laws and institutions to make them more similar to those found in the West.

Question 38

What two questions did the officials on the Iwakura Mission ask?

Answer 38

1. How did the West arrive at its contemporary condition?

2. How might Japan become like Western powers?

Question 39

What would be the consequences for not embracing modernity?

Answer 39

Colonisation or extinction.

Question 40

What were the highest priorities for Japan at this time?

Answer 40

Political reform and industrialisation.

Question 41

Who coined the term ‘Civilisation and Enlightenment’?

Answer 41

Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Question 42

What did Fukuzawa think of Japan?

Answer 42

It was weak and backward and needed to replicate the cultural practices of the West.

Question 43

Which slogan became popular after the return of the Iwakura Mission?

Answer 43

‘Prosperous Nation, Strong Military’

Question 44

What happened to education in 1872?

Answer 44

The country was divided into university, middle school, and elementary school districts and mandated four years of compulsory education for all children beginning aged six.

Question 45

What did the new education curriculum stress?

Answer 45

• practical arts and sciences
• self-improvement
• development of the individual

Question 46

What else did the Meiji government encourage?

Answer 46

Western-inspired dress, food, and architecture.