Welcome to the JSNW Members Blog. This is the place to share your views, news and suggestions. Click on the date below each item (its "permanent link") to view all the comments on that item. Click "comments" to leave a comment. Anyone can leave a comment, but if you'd like to post an item on this page, you need to join our blog team. To join our Members Blog team, email the webmaster.
Meiji Period
Above is a picture of the Battle of Shiroyama.
The Choshu Five, left Japan at a time when travel into and out of Japan was punishable by death, they studied in England from 1863 at University College London under Professor Alexander William Williamson. Inoue Kaoru and Ito Hirobumi, destined to be two of the greatest Japanese statesmen in the Meiji Government, worked as deckhands aboard the 1500 ton steamer Pegasus as they made their way to Europe. (See previous Blog.)
The Meiji period (明治時代, Meiji-jidai), is the 45-year reign of Emperor Meiji, running from October 1868 to July 1912. During this time, Japan started to modernise and rose to become a world power.The Meiji oligarchy, as the ruling class of Meiji period Japan is called by historians, was a privileged clique. The members of this class were adherents of kokugaku. This draws heavily from Shinto and Japan's ancient literature and upon ancient Japanese poetry (predating the rise of the feudal orders) to show the 'Emotion' of Japan. A famous emotion is 'Mono no aware'. (物の哀れ,”the pathos of things")
Two of the major figures of this group were Okubo Toshimichi (1832–78), son of a Satsuma retainer, and Satsuma samurai Saigō Takamori (西郷 隆盛, 1827–77), who had joined forces with Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen to overthrow the Tokugawa. Okubo became minister of finance and Saigō a field marshal.
The Meiji oligarchy set out to abolish the four divisions of society through social reforms starting in 1871. To provide revenue and develop infrastructure, they financed harbor improvements, machinery imports, schools, overseas study for students, salaries for foreign teachers and advisers (o-yatoi gaikokujin, お雇い外国人), modernisation of the army and navy, railroads, and foreign diplomatic missions.
Difficult economic times and increasing incidents of agrarian rioting led to calls for more social reforms. The 1873 Korean crisis resulted in the resignation of military expedition supporters Saigō and Eto Shimpei (1834–74). Three years later, the last major internal armed uprising occurred, the Satsuma Rebellion. Saigō, with some reluctance, raised a rebellion in 1877; both sides fought well, but with modern weaponry the government forces prevailed finally at the Battle of Shiroyama. Saigō was not branded a traitor and has become a heroic figure in Japanese history.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for many useful links.) 日本の手紙.
posted by Message from Japan on Saturday, April 07, 2007
