Part 1 of the Ishin report by barbara sharidin

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The Three Great Men of the Meiji Restoration

Compiled by Barbara Sheridan from information obtained from The Yamato Dynasty by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave; Broadway Books; 1999 ISBN 0767904966


Part 1

The Major Players




The real power behind the throne of Mutsuhito, the Meiji emperor, rested in the hands of ranking members of the coalition responsible for the coup that overthrew the Tokugawa regime. They were: Kido Takayoshi (formerly known as Katsura Kogoro) and nicknamed "the Pen", Saigo Takamori "the Sword", and Okubo Toshimichi "the Despot". Though they shared the background of coming from samurai families they were quite different in personality.

Kido (Katsura) was born the son of a wealthy Choshu doctor. He received a fine education then was sent to Edo to be the "eyes and ears" of his clan. While gifted as a writer and speaker he wasn't a very good spy. The Seagraves refer to him as being too preoccupied by his own thoughts to pick up on various undercurrents around him and cite the incident where his lover and later wife Ikumatsu helped him flee for his life. (Though no specifics are given I believe this incident was during a raid by the Shinsengumi). Consequently a play based on this incident became very so popular during Katsura's lifetime that it gave his rivals a reason to destroy him.


Saigo, a large man for the time (close to 6' & 200 lbs), was born into a family who were bodyguards for Satsuma's Lord Shimazu. The Seagraves say that his tragic flaw was sincerity which often led to him being manipulate by people like Okubo. it was Saigo who actually led the charge which had taken control of the Imperial palace in Kyoto and the "brass ring" of government which was the emperor. He became the Minister of War in the new Meiji government and was quite popular with militant samurai.


The last of the big three, Okubo, "the Despot" comes across as the worst of the lot, a very behind the scenes manipulator. Born the son of a Satsuma bureaucrat, Okubo was a frail youth not up to "the sweaty ordeal of swordplay" like most of his contemporaries.However, like his father he had a knack for organization and numbers. His first real position was as an assistant in the office of the Satsuma clan's archives where he had access to a host of "secret" information on the leading men in Japan and their enemies. He moved up to become a tax collector and really honed his skills fleecing victims. He matured into a brilliant but ruthless man not above using intimidation and extortion to get his way. The Seagraves say he was totally lacking in popular appeal which only served to make him that much more dangerous.


To quote the Seagraves who say it all so well ----"These three exceptional men had a broad education in Western subjects and were well prepared for the challenge facing Japan. Yet, as all revolutionaries learn, consolidation of power and the creation of a government are vastly more complex than than simply killing the old guard and seizing control. Victory devours her young." (italics mine)


[And in this author's opinion it couldn't happen to a better bunch.]


The new State Council largely left the running of things to these three. They rarely consulted with the emperor except to have him rubber stamp the Imperial Rescripts which were basically official licenses for them to do what they wanted to get Japan on an equal footing with Europe in terms military and economic strength. [ commentary--no wonder it took more than a decade for Japan to have a written constitution. Why have official rules when you can make them up as you go along]


The Seagraves go on to say that after putting down small outbreaks of armed rebellion the Three took on the task of financial consolidation by seizing the vast assets of the Tokugawa family who'd had direct or indirect control of the majority of Japan's land and wealth. Much of this was, in turn, given to the ruling families of Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Hizen and the lesser partners as a reward for backing the overthrow of the Shogun.

[Commentary----I really wish the Seagraves would have gone into detail on the "putting down outbreaks of armed rebellion" because it appears to me that this concerns those who gave their all in the battles of Aizu, Nagaoka and Hakkodate and the creation and ultimate destruction of the Sekihoutai. Why they chose to leave out something like how the new regime went to great lengths to come down so harshly on Aizu and her people could only be a result of this book technically focusing on the imperial family and how they became figurehead rulers.]


Katsura's main job was dismantling the old han system and setting up the new system of prefectures and governors, purging the old chains of command and setting up a new one composed of all new people. Saigo was promoted to general and was responsible for creating a national conscripted army to replace the private armies of hereditary samurai. Minister of Finance made it his job to confiscate assets to underwrite the government and army and to begin the foundation of a private fortune for the imperial family which was seen as the only way to make it insensitive to those who might wish to overthrow the new regime. [commentary--it was either Romulus Hillsborough or Donald Keene who said "He who controls the emperor controls Japan]


Meanwhile all three were involved in reinventing the emperor. Katsura thought Meiji should set Japan a moral example, and should be an accessible monarch in touch with he problems of humanity. Saigo wanted his version of Meiji to be like the ancient warrior kings of old, a man on horseback at the head of an army devoted to him. He would lead his people to prosperity through conquest and military might. Okubo believed it was the emperor's job was to set the tone in look as action of a Western monarch and leave the real business of governing to a small group of extremely talented bureaucrats, not unlike himself. After all he was a man who "knew how to knock heads together, squeeze wallets and get things done."


While vastly different, Katsura, Saigo and Okubo all agreed that Japan must be ruled exclusively by the elite. Ordinary Japanese citizens had never been allowed to participate fully in government. These men who abolished the class system (italics mine) wanted Japan to have not an actual democracy but a synthesized one that would impress the outside world with Japan's modernity but that would actually be contrived by and for the benefit of the power elite.


Unfortunately for them, Messers. Katsura, Okubo and Saigo didn't have a concrete plan to make this pseudo-democracy happen so they were at each other's throats and "set up a number of governmental organs that rose and fell in rapid succession." The highly visible emperor was used to cover up their backstage in-fighting. Because the Meiji Restoration was accomplished by brute force and covered with smoke and mirrors it had to be "reinforced by the creation of practical political and administrative organizations that would be held together by the new myth of Japan's unique and divine imperial tradition. Thus dawned the great age of nationalism when all Japanese citizens were expected to support the national agenda to build a powerful state.


Meanwhile, the big three had to save their emperor from himself.

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On to PART 2 (coming soon)



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