1868-1878 Changes in Social Structure
and Tax Distribution:
1868.03.14 Emperor's 5-point Charter
Oath (gokajou no seimon):
= "Knowledge will
be drawn from throughout the world..."
1868.03.19 Govt issues 'Five Directions'
outlining basic legal principles.
1868.4b.21 Govt issues 'Constitution'
[seitaisho] loosely patterned after U.S.Constitution.
1868.05 Govt issues new currency,
causing losses to foreign investors.
1868~ Ookubo, Etou want capital moved
to Osaka: Maejima argues that Edo will be cheaper.
1868.07.17 Edo formally renamed Tokyo
(pronunciations vary: Toukei, Toukyou).
1868.09.08 Calendar formally renamed
to Meiji Period.
1869.01.20 Barrier system on major
routes terminated: travel papers no longer required
1869.02.24 Dajoukan government relocated
to Tokyo.
1869-1871 Mulberry-Tea Policy: Ex-warrior
lands in Tokyo used to grow mulberry and tea.
= policy
rescinded after general failure, and because it conflicted with urbanization...
1869.06.17 Hanseki houkan: Daimyo
return their land and people to the property of the emperor.
= met with
little resistance, because it freed daimyo from chronic financial difficulties
= old caste
system redesignated: kazoku (royalty), shizoku (samurai), sotsu (low samurai).
1870.02 Grants given to shizoku and
sotsu who decide to become farmers and merchants
?1871 Intermarriage allowed between
upper and lower classes.
1871.07 Tax system revision (under
Ookubo): taxes go straight to govt; no longer to domains
= early
promises to halve the 'nenkou' taxes had been quickly rescinded (Asukai
1985:166)
1871.08.09 Sanpatsu dattou rei: Shizoku
granted freedom not to wear topknots or swords.
1871? Ooe Taku issues proposal (kenpaku)
to abolish eta, himin (outcaste categories).
1871.08.28 Caste system abolished
(i.e., abolishment of classifications 'eta' and 'himin')
1871.09.03? Shinbunshi jourei revised:
1871.09 Restrictions on farming rescinded:
land can be freely farmed (Asukai 1985:166)
1871.11.22 Decision to allocate prefectures:
3 cities (fu), 72 prefectures (ken)
1872.01.29 Populace reclassified
as kouzoku, kazoku, shizoku, heimin, and shinheimin (?cf 1869.6)
1872.?? Department of Historical
Documents (shyuushikyoku) established.
1872.?? Kosekihou (Jinshinkoseki):
national public family registry system for all individuals:
= retains
caste affiliation
1872.02.15 Land sale prohibitions
lifted
= hereafter,
land titles referred to as 'jinshin chiken' (壬申地券)
1872.11.09 Western calendar announced
(implemented 1872.12.03, which became 1873.01.01)
1873.06.09 (?) Govt publicizes revenue
and expenditure figures.
1873.07 Chiso kaisei: Land Tax Revision:
land value assessed by govt, based on pre-Meiji records
= 3% yrly
tax to be paid in cash: constitutes 70% of govt inflow
= Revision
promises to reduce land tax to 1% when merchandise tax revenues reach 2m
yen.
= price
fluctuations force some farmers to sell land: furthers economic disparity
1874.05 LTR amended:
promise not to alter land assessments for 5 yrs, even if land prices change
1876 rice prices
fall, resulting in functional increase in land tax
1877 Ookubo gov't,
facing widening agrarian uprisings, reduces land tax (地租勢) from 3% to
2.5%.
1877? Regional
taxes (地方税) etc. reduced from 1% to 0.5%.
1875.09 Dajookan announces end of
kazoku and shizoku stipends (enacted 1876.8).
1876.08 Kinroku koosai: kazoku
and shizoku stipends commuted to public bonds.
1876.03 Gov't adopts 5-1/2 day week:
Sundays off, Sat's half-day.
1876.03.28 Haitourei: Sword-wearing
discouraged except for ceremonials, military, and police.
1878.04 Second overhaul of regionalization,
tax structure planned (Okubo).
1888 Choosonsei (町村制)
Determines structure of town, village organization
1890 (府県制)
??
1868-1882 New Administrative, Legal,
Martial institutions:
1868 Dajoukan established: 26 councillors:
3 with titulary power (in fact, 7 had real power)
1868 Giseikan (~1869): part of Dajookan,
formulates legislation
1869 Gyoobushoo (~1871): Ministry
of Law (Punishment) replaces Keihokan.
1870 Dajookan appoints Etoo Shinpei
to compile laws (hooten hensan); c.f. Minpooten ronsoo
1870 Shinritsu kooryoo: basic compendium
of laws and punishments: (w/ 1873 Kaitei ritsurei, lasted until 1882)
1870.02.09 Military Department separated
into Navy and Army
1871 Shihooshoo: Ministry of Law
(reorganization of Gyoobushoo)
1871.07.14 Haihan chiken:
Prefectures (ken) replace domain (han) system, centralizing
govt control.
1871.10 Govt disbands fuhei (army),
est's Torishimari-gumi (police), called rasotsu: 3,000 in all
= about 1,000
are from Kagoshima
1872.06? Journalists permitted to
attend court hearings and report them in press.
1873 Kaitei ritsurei: modification
of 1870 Shinritsu kooryoo (~1882);
= mitigated
punishments for kazoku, shizoku (e.g., in case of runaways).
= some death
sentences reduced to imprisonment (e.g., kosatsu)
1873.01.10 Draft Law (called Blood
Tax) to build army of commoners: angers peasants and ex-samurai.
1873.02.07 Murder for revenge declared
illegal
1874.02.05 Tokyo Police Bureau begins
official operation; police called 'junsa'.
1875.02.22 ? Public allowed to attend
civil suit hearings.
1875 Taishin'in: Supreme court established.
1875 Kankai (~1890): legal mediation
for citizen's affairs to supplement standard channels
1876 Tokyo arrests for year: 4495
urinating; 2727 fighting; 2091 nakedness.
1879.01.04 Practice of exposing heads
of executed criminals is discontinued.
1880.07 (治罪法)
New stipulation of criminal punishments, appeals: devised by Boissonard.
= enacted
1882
1880.12 Keihoo kunkai: revision of
legal codes, punishments
= accepts
argument of violence in self-defense; only women can be penalized for adultery
1882 New legal compilation announced
1882 Gunpou Gikai: Military court
established
1885 Hoorei zensho: monthly compendium
of legislation
1890 Minji soshou hou (民事訴訟法):
??
1875-1885 Laws Specifically Limit
Freedom of Expression: (see page on early Meiji media)
1868.? Newspaper Edicts (Shinbunshi
jourei): forbids publication without permission; temporarily stops newspapers.
1869.04.18? Shinbunshi inkou jourei:
revised newspaper law, did not require censorship (?)
?1868 or 69: Fukuchi Genichirou fined+imprisoned
for publishing Kouko shinbun.
1872??? Kyoubushou proscriptions
on literary publication; publication act?
?1873.10.19 Press Laws: forbid any
public official from openly writing about political affairs.
= prohibits
newspapers from publishing criticism of most forms of legislation.
= ? prohibit
criticism of 'kokutai'?
?? Inoue Kaoru, Shibusawa Eiichi
issue stinging criticism of government financial policy.
?? articles call for resignation
of gov't, due to domainal cliquishness.
1875.06.28 Libel Laws (Zanbouritsu):
Forbid criticism or satire of government officials.
in response to 1875.3 Hyouron shinbun
article, v.2, calling for ministers to be cut down.
1875.06.28 Newspaper Edicts (Shinbunshi
joorei) revised: punishments for criticizing gov't.
1876.07 Newspaper Edicts amended,
forbidding articles 'injurious to national security'.
Over 60 incidents of imprisonment:
= Suehiro
Tetchou:
= Narushima
Ryuuhoku: for scandalizing sex-life of ...
= Ueki Emori:
2 months for calling politicians 'monkeys' etc.
1878.3 Chouya shinbun halted after
publishing statement by Shimada, assassin of Ookubo Toshimichi.
1879 Numa Morikazu resigns over suppression
of freedom of speech.
1880 Newspaper Edicts revised to
forbid pornography (fuuzoku kairan).
1880.04 Public Meeting Act (shuukai
joorei)
1881.04.08 Saionji Kinmochi ordered
by emperor to resign editorship of Touyou jiyuu shinbun
1887 Newspaper Edicts eased, replacing
permission system with notification system.
1898.06.25 Hoan jourei abolished
1909 Newspaper Edicts revised, renamed
Shinbunshihou.
Changing lives of the Peerage (kazoku)
and Imperial Household:
1869 Shizoku, unlike kazoku, had
no special legal protections.
1870.02.05 Govt prohibits peerage
from using tooth-black, tenbi (eyebrow-dots?)
1872.01 Imperial Court announces
that Emperor will eat meat.
1872.01.29 Populace reclassified
as k凛oku (imperial family), kazoku (peerage), shizoku, heimin, ...
1874? Fire in Imperial Palace
1875.09 Dajookan announces end of
kazoku and shizoku stipends (enacted 1876.8).
1876.08 Kinroku koosai: kazoku
and shizoku stipends commuted to public bonds.
1889.02.11 Royal Family Code: ?requires
male heir, even if illegitimate:
Public Health and Education, and
Laws for the Lower Classes:
1869.02 Official prostitution system
discontinued in Tokyo (Yoshiwara).
1860s Nagasaki
prostitutes wear Western garb to attract Western clientele {Guth, positions}
1871.06
Brothels removed from Shintomi-machi (Chuuoo-ku). Had been there since
1868.
1869.06.22 Smallpox vaccinations
encouraged in Tokyo (required 1870.4.24).
= note Morse
comment on large blind population
1870? Ordinance? banning fraudulent
displays (Figal 1999:25)
1870.04.24 Smallpox vaccinations
ordered throughout prefectures.
1870.09.19 Commoners given permission
to use family names.
1870.09.25 Laws on tattooing lifted
1870.12.24 Commoners (shomin)
prohibited from wearing swords.
1871-1880 Hairstyles for a new era:
1871.05
{in Shinbun zasshi}: ditty, "Tap a short-hair head..."
= styles: hanpatsu, soohatsu, zangiri/tekihatsu, kanmurishita/nadetsuke,
boozu/teihatsu, {c.f. Shiba G}
1872.03
Proliferation of Western barber shops in Nagoya; est. 80% of men have Western
hairstyles.
1872.04.05
Women prohibited from wearing short hair.
1872.11.08
Tokyo laws on civil conduct: no nakedness, no women with short hair, no
public peeing...
1871.05.29 Fire destroys 2/3 of Yoshiwara
(brothel) area.
1871.06 Rinderpest (cattle plague)
outbreak from Siberia threatens growing beef/pork market.
1871.09.07 Free use of farmland recognized
1872.?? Central Sanitary Bureau established
by Nagato Sensai after visiting Prussia: coins term 'eisei'
1872.?? Ordinance banning display
of human deformities (Figal 1999:25)
=
ban on tattooing unsuccessful {McCallum, Marks of Civ., 1988 p124}
1872.01 Call for students for first
public women's schools: all-caste, 2-ryo/mo., 8-15 yrs,
1872.01 Call for students to attend
specialist schools.
1872.01 Tokyo warns citizens of dangers
of using flammable lamp oil.
1872.01 Tokyo firefighting gangs
reorganized to minimize violence.
1872.03 Women allowed to enter religious
ceremonial areas, Shinto and Buddhist.
1872.04 Horse-betting popular in
Yokohama; business attracts Westerners.
1872.10.02 Shoogi kaihoorei: human
bondage (i.e., for prostitution) prohibited
1872.11 Tomatoes introduced as Western
health food.
1873? Ordinance? banned makeshift
structures (used in misemono), for tax reasons (Figal 1999:25)
1873~ Lecturers sent on tours to
preach to public about modern reforms.
1873.01.10 Conscription Edict: Commoners
to be drafted into military
1873.05 Fire destroys Nishinomaru
area (which had been hastily rebuilt after 1863 fire).
1874.?? Sanitary Bureau renamed Eiseikyoku
(Hygiene Bureau)
1875.1.14 The first-born of twins
should be designated elder, not younger (Nichinichi)
1875.2.15 Commoners with unclear
ancestor names should take new names (Akebono: cf M3.9)
1877 ???? government survey of social
customs in order to formulate new social code
1877-1895 Cholera outbreaks {Tsuchida
Manbun; NKBT gappoo 14}
1817 (India)
outbreak of cholera
1822 First
outbreak of cholera in Japan: known as 'korori' {'drop dead kaput' Fujigawa
Yoo 1912}
1877.10-1877.12
Cholera outbreak Kagoshima army > Kobe > Tokyo: 12,000 infected, 6,800
die.
=
Repeated cholera outbreaks in 1879.8 (40,000 die), 1882, 1886,...
1883 Koch
identifies cholera bacillus
1895.08
Ozaki Koyo, Aobudoo: Ozaki's student Oguri Fuuyoo contracts cholera
???? Concubines (mekake) officially
recognized as ﾒsecond branchﾓ of family. (c.1869?1870?)
???? Laws require registration and
v.d. exams of prostitutes: creation of sub-population
1896.06.26 Sanriku: 110-ft. high
tsunami kills 28,000 people
1897 Densenbyoo yoboo hoo (伝染病予防法):
Laws for dealing with epidemics
Government fosters Industrial Development
1871.03 Public mail system (using
stamps and mail boxes) started under Maejima Hisoka.
?? Ookubo fosters Tomioka Textile
Mill as model govt-run factory, to employ shizoku
Ryuukyuu Islands:
1871(?) Meiji gov't declares Ryuukyuu
Islands to be part of Kagoshima Pref.
1872 Meiji gov't declares Ryuukyuu
islands to be a 'han'; king granted aristocrat status.
=
attempt to cut Ryuukyuus from China: opposed by Ryuukyuus and China
1874.10 ?as part of Japan-China agreement,
China recognizes Ryuukyuu people as 'Japanese'
1875 Meiji gov't tries to cut Ryuukyuus
from China again; protested by Ryuukyuu upper class??
1879 Meiji army and police disband
Ryuukyuu-han, declare Okinawa Prefecture part of Japan.
=
not recognized by China
1879 Shootai (1841-1901) last of
the Okinawa kings, moves to Tokyo
1880 Meiji gov't continues old Ryuukyuu
govt systems of taxation, etc. ????
Ogasawara Islands:
1876 Meiji govt declares sovereign
territory: is recognized
= England
had already declared it, but U.S. had balked
Mainland China:
1871.09 Nisshin shuukoo jooki: Japan
and China conclude commercial treaty (both sides equal)
1872.09.13 Chinese slaves freed from
captured Peruvian ship Maria Luz. Ooe Taku makes it public.
1874.10.31 Japan-China mutual treaty
signed (reparations from Taiwan invasion)
Taiwan (Formosa):
1871.11.07 Formosa aborigines kill
54 of 66 Ry枳y� people (fisherman?) who had shipwrecked. (Why?)
1874.05-1874.10 Formosa invaded (Saig� Tsugumichi,
Ookubo): 3,500 troops, heavy casualties (malaria, too)
=
C. W. Le Gendre, from the US, advises hard line against Formosa.
=
aboriginals taken captive and put on display in Ginza {Shiba G, 133}
=
of reparations, 66% went to emperor, 33% to army
1897, 1911, 1912, 1918, 1925 Aboriginal
leaders given 'tours' of Japan {L Ching 01:795}
1930.10 Musha Incident (Taiwan):
uprising
Korea: Japan and China vie
for control of Korean penninsula.
1868 Korean gov't refuses to recognize
embassy sent by new Meiji gov't.
=
? quibble over character for 'emperor' same as for Chinese emperor, thus
unusable?
1873? Korea issues (?) condemnation
of Japan for adopting Western ways.
1873? China assures Soejima that
Korea is not a 'tributary' state.
1873.10 Seikanron: Saig� Takamori
argues for attack against Korea (not carried out until K冖at� Incident)
= Japan
wants Korea to open relations
1875.08 K冖at� Incident: Japanese
military ship (Unyoo) to survey Korea: draws gunfire; Japan attacks
= Japan
sends embassy to Korea to demand recompense
1876.02 Korea Treaty of Kanghwa signed
w/ J. after military pressure by Kuroda Kiyotaka, Inoue Kaoru.
= declares
Korea "independent...with same rights as Japan," but favors Japan.
United States:
1871.11.12-1873.09 Iwakura Tomomi
leads mission to US and Europe to investigate modern political systems
1872.02.12
Ookubo, Itoo leave Washington DC to seek authorization to renegotiate treaties
1872.05.14
Iwakura formally authorized to renegotiate treaties with US
1872.06.19
Iwakura announces abandonment of attempt to renegotiate unequal treaties
1872.11
Mori Arinori gives speech in Washington D.C. on ﾒReligious Freedom in Japanﾓ
1873.08.06
Japan-US treaty signed on postal exchange
1878 Terajima Munenori gets
US to sign new tax treaty, but other nations don't sign: treaty fails.
England and France:
1868? English traders prosecuted
for importing opium:
=
in extraterritorial proceedings, English Consul dismisses charge, calling
the drug 'medicinal'
1870.08.28 Japan announces neutrality
in Franco-Prussian War.
1875.01.27 England, France announce
withdrawal of armies stationed in Yokohama.
Russia:
1875.05 Karafuto-Chishima agreement
(rev. of treaty of 1854): R gets Sakhalin, J gets Kuriles
1860-1880 Donning the Western Mask
of Enlightenment:
1871.10.10 First Kyoto Exhibition
1873 Vienna International Exhibition:
Japanese commission returns...
= advocates
emphasis of national characteristics to gain entry to world markets
1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition:
Japan exhibit draws immensely favorable reception.
= includes
Japanese made-for-export items
?? Ginza re-built with brick facades
as tourist attraction; poor construction, bad match with climate.
Clock-tower chimes mistaken by country
people for fire alarms.
1876? "Shimabara" gay quarters built
in Tsukiji for foreigners.
1877.08 National Industrial Exposition
(in Ueno): showcases traditional applied arts
1878 Paris Exhibition: guide book
notes that Japanese people lack energy [TTJ13]
1879.06.21- U.S.Grant visits Japan:
spate of narratives, reportage surrounds visit
= had met with
Iwakura Mission to renegotiate treaties in 1872.
= assists in negotiating
J-China treaty over Ryuukyuu problem.
= Meets Emperor
at Ueno Park, Fukuchi Ochi offers keys to city.
= Hasegawa Tatsunosuke
(Futabatei Shimei) quits Takaya Ryuuen's Chinese school in protest
1881.09 Yokohama kiito niazukarisho
jiken: J. thread manufacturers protest foreigner trade practices.
1870-1890 Instituting National
Education:
1871.07.18 Monbushoo (Ministry of
Education) established: University (daigaku) system disbanded.
1871.09
Division of Museums established: museum to be located at Yushima seidoo.
1871.11.01
First elementary school textbooks distributed.
1872.04 Kyoobushoo, Three Articles
on Education: advocates respect for nation, ethics, emperor.
1872.08.03 Establishment of Education
system
1872.09.08
Elementary school system est.: Katoo shoogaku (grades 1-4), Jootoo shoogaku
(grades 5-8)
1872.10.17
Est. of school textbook editorship system
1875.01.08 Education will be provided
for children 6-14 years old, govt decides.
1879.09.29 Kyooikurei: education
system revision: Mandatory elementary education (revised 1880)
1880.08.30 Monbusho issues list of
textbooks prohibited at elementary schools
1880.12.28 Kyooikurei kaisei: Revision
of education system to strengthen uniformity
1881.11 Shoogaku shookashuu: song
collection for national elementary schools
1881 edition
included Chou-chou; Hotaru no hikari;
1883 edition
included Kasumi ka kumo ka;
1884 edition
included Niwa no chigusa;
1895 Kimigayo
adopted for elem. school ceremonies; tune by Hayashi Hiromori; harmony
by Franz Eckert
1883 State system of school textbook
certification (Figal 1999)
1886 Mori
Arinori adds strict new guildelines to certification process.
1892.12.06
Kiyomizu Monjiroo accuses Ed. Min. of collusion with publishers over ethics
textbook
= EM Kawano denies accusation
1894.spring
Lower House again raises issue of govt-publisher collusion
1896.02.04
Umayahara Kage sponsors bill for state-funded ethics textbooks: debate
over necessity
1899.03.06
Andoo Kametaroo resolution passed to centrally fund and administer ethics
text...
1903? Ministry
of Education takes full control over textbook production
1903 Kokutei
shuushin kyookasho: first edition of national ethics textbook
1903 Textbook
Scandal: trial of screening committee members for bribery by publishers
Instituting Higher Education for
the Modern Era
=
note closing of Kangaku (Chinese studies) academies
Tokyo University (note many name
changes of antecedents): National public univ.
1855 Bansho-shirabesho
est: 1862 renamed Youshoshirabesho: 1863 renamed Kaiseijo....
1869 Kaiseigakkou
renamed Daigaku Nankou (later Tokyo U): mission to import Western learning.
1871 Kumamoto
Yoogakkoo (Western Studies Institute): English military expert Janes.
1872 Shojakukan:
first public library, set up in Yushima (Tokyo, Bunkyoku)
1877 Tokyo
University settles into present pattern.
1878.08.10
Ernest Fenollosa named professor of humanities
Keioo University (in Mita, Tokyo):
founded by Fukuzawa Yukichi. Private.
1858 founds
academy: 1868.4 opens Keiou Gijuku: 1871 moves to Mita.
Doojinsha 1873.2 Nakamura Keiu founds,
for Western studies, at Koishikawa Daikyoku? estate.
Rikkyoo Univ. (also called St. Paul's,
in Ikebukuro, Tokyo). Private.
1874 Missionary
named Williams founds St. Paul's School, also called Rikkyoo Gakkoo.
1882 renamed
Rikkyoo Daigakkoo.
1907 merged
with Osaka eiwa gakusha, renamed Rikkyoo daigaku.
Hokkaido University: 1876.8 Sapporo
Noogakkoo established.
1877.4 Clark
leaves Sapporo Noogakkoo
Doushisha University (in Kyoto) est.
1875 by Niijima J�: 1877 D冱hisha Womanﾕs College established.
1876.11
Koobusho (Min. of Construction) opens Bijutsu gakko (Art school).
Housei Daigaku:
1880 Tokyo
Hoogakusha: 1903 Housei Daigaku:
Gakushuuin () established 1877.10
1880.12
Education edict revised.
Chuuoo University
1885 Igirisu
Hooritsu Gakkoo established.
Kansai University
1886 Kansai
Hooritsu Gakkoo established
Meiji University (Surugadai): est.
1881.12.08 by Kishimoto Tatsuo et al as Meiji Hooritsu Gakkoo.
1886 moved
to Surugadai; 1903 renamed Meiji Daigaku.
Tetsugakukan: 1887 Inoue Enryoo founds
to counter beliefs in supernatural (Figal 1999:39)
Waseda University (in Tokyo) est.
1882 by Okuma Shigenobu as Toukyou Senmon Gakkou
1902 changes
name to Waseda Daigaku.
Kyoto University: est. 1897 as Kyoto
Imperial University.
Tsuda Juku Univ. est. 1900 by Tsuda
Umeko, as Joshi Eigaku Juku. Women's English studies.
= Tsuda
had accompanied Iwakura Mission; grad. of Bryn Mawr College;
Sophia Univ. (Chiyoda, Tokyo) est.
1911 by Germans ?Herman Hoffman, ?Joseph Dahlman