1874-1880 Continuing Intrigues
of the Upper Echelons of Meiji Government
1875 Kido Takayoshi resigns to protest
Formosa Expedition;
1875 arrests of Mutsu Munemitsu,
Hayashi Yz, , Ooe Taku, Okamoto Kenjirou etc.
1877.05.26 Kido Takayoshi dies (middle-roader
between Ookubo and Itagaki)
1878.03 [Sangi] Kuroda Kiyotaka,
drunk, kills wife: cover-up attempt under Ookubo; resigns 78.5
(MBKZSv.14
inner cover, dated M11.9, lists him still receiving 1400-yen in stipends????)
1879 Rift in govt: Iwakura, Itou,
Yamagata; versus Ookuma
1879 Numa Morikazu resigns over suppression
of freedom of speech.
1874-1877 On the 'right': Shizoku
organizations, uprisings lead to Seinan War.
1869 Dattai Sd: Choushuu soldiers
oppose conscription policy: 1870 suppressed by military force
1870.10.24 Mutsu Uprising: soldiers
protest loss of stipends
1870.12.26 Yonezawa-han soldiers
Kumoi Tatsuo et. al (12 total) executed for conspiracy
1874.02.01~ Saga Uprising: at Seikan
rejection: Etou Shinpei (executed); Ookubo leads suppression
1874.07.10 Attempted assassination
reported of Iwakura Tomomi, by shizokufrom Kchi.
1875 Kyshisha group formed: ?Toyama
Mitsuru, Hiraoka Ktar, Hakoda Rokusuke
1875? Keishisha:
?Toyama Mitsuru, Hiraoka Ktar, Hakoda Rokusuke
1875? Kyninsha:
?Toyama Mitsuru, Hiraoka Ktar, Hakoda Rokusuke
1880? Kysha:
Hakoda Rokusuke
1881 Gen'ysha:
previously Kysha; Hakoda Rokusuke
1876.09.10 Hagi (Yamaguchi) Uprising:
Maebara Issei (executed)
1876.03.28 Meiji govt prohibits sword-wearing
(hait kinshi):
1876.10.24 Jinpuuren Uprising (Kumamoto):
in response to sword prohibition
1876.10 Akizuki Uprising (Fukuoka):
Seikanron supporters follow Jinpuuren, are quelled
1876.10-1876.11 Shgetsu Uprising
(Hakata):
1877.02-1877.9.24 Seinan War: Rebellion
in Kysh led by Saigou (suicide); crushed by Ookubo
1877.09.24
Final attack on Saigou's Army
1878.05.14
Ookubo Toshimichi assassinated for leading non-shizoku army against Saigou
= assassin was Shimada Ichirou (from Ichikawa)
1878.07.29 Attempted assassination
of Itou Hirobumi
1878.08.23 Takehashi Sd: 260 imperial
guards rebel against reduced stipends, etc.
1878.10.15
trial concluded: 53 death sentences, etc.; spurs gov't to issue Army regulations...
1874-1880 Creating the Modern Political
Party: People's Rights Mvt (Jiyuu minken undou)
= note that
'right' and 'left' at times coincide
1873.11.11 Kainangisha (South Seas
Party): Kataoka Kenkichi, Hayashi Yuuzou
1874 absorbed
into Risshisha
1874.01.17 Memorial requesting the
establishment of a popularly elected assembly (minsen giin)
= Itagaki,
Gotou, Etou, Soejima, Furusawa, ?Yuuri K.., Komuro Nobuo, (not Saigou)
= argue
that people who pay taxes should have a say in their own governance
= generally
acknowledged as the beginning of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement
= Etou was
in Saga Uprising two weeks later (Asukai 1985:169)
1874.01 Aikokutou (Patriot Party):
first political party in Japan
= Natural
rights theory: petition for election rights: beginning of Freedom and Popular
Rights Movement
= Itagaki,
Etou (killed '74), Gotou, Soejima, ?Komuro Nobuo, Furusawa Shigeru...:
= dissolves
when Etou involved in Saga no ran, and Itagaki goes campaigning.
1874.04 Risshisha (Men of Will) formed
to support popular rights. Formed in Kouchi;
= Itagaki,
Kataoka Kenkichi, Ueki Emori, ?Sakamoto Nankai,
1877 Kataoka
Kenkichi becomes pres; petition to establish National Diet (risshisha kenpaku)
1880 joins
with Kokkai kisei doumei as foundation for 1881 Jiyuutou (Freedom Party).
1875.02.22 Aikokusha (Patriot Club)
formed: first pan-regional party: Formed in Osaka; Itagaki et al.,
1878 second
mtg in Osaka: gets new strength with farmers participating
1879 third
mtg: petition to establish National Diet
1880.04
fourth mtg: 114 reps: Kouno Hironaka petitions for Nat'l Diet: 870,000
signatures.
1880.03 Kokkai Kisei Doumei (Diet
Formation Alliance) formed from Aikokusha, Risshisha
1880.11?
Second meeting: planned establishment of Jiyuutoo:
= ?? "aid to families of those killed in incidents" law???
1881.10 Jiyuutou (Freedom Party)
formed (see below): based on Kokkai kisei doumei
1868-1880 On the 'bottom': Peasant
and worker uprisings:
=
note that conscription, mandatory schooling, and land-based taxes all put
new burdens on people
=
compare this with chronology of tax and property laws
=
also note continuity with pre-Meiji uprisings: perhaps there were deeper
reasons for uprisings?
1868.10 Aizu peasant rebellion: economic
collapse after Aizu war
1869.02.29 Takayama Insurrection.
Umemura Soodoo.
???1870 Atago Rebellion
1870.03.20 Nomura Uprising (Uwajima):
15,000 participate
1870.07.27 Yokohama Shootaroo (from
Kagoshima) commits suicide
1871.02 Nakano Soodoo: large-scale
revolt in north Shinano
1872.05.02 news reports of soldiers
clashing in Kumamoto
1872.09-10? Peasant uprising against
land tax revisions in Yamanashi-ken; troops summoned
1872.11.16 Takashima coal miners
rebel after confrontation with foreign overseers
1872.12 Peasant uprising in Ooiwake
after high inflation.
1873.03 Tsuruga Prefecture (Fukui)
Uprising: 3,000 Shinshu followers protest legalization of Christianity
1873.05~ Riots against conscription
of commoners, abolition of outcaste identification
1873 Okayama
Riot: leader Fudeyasu Shigetaro spreads rumor of blood-taking foreigner
(Figal 1999:34)
1873.05.26
Hoojoo Prefecture (Ehime) Uprising: 15 executed: 26,900 punished
1873.06 Peasant uprisings in Fukuoka
after high inflation in rice prices.
1873.11 Wappa Insurrection: in Sakata
(=Yamagata) area, opposing continuance of old tax system
1872 Matsudaira Shinkai (Saigo ally)
ignores Meiji tax restructuration, continues old system
1872-74 Insurrections mount
1874 Wappa Insurrection calls for
opening tax books and returning back taxes
1874 Mishima
Michitsuna appointed to suppress movement (which he did ruthlessly)
1875 Genroo
(imperial councillors) begin investigation of movement claims
1876 Trial
begun at Tsuruoka to provide forum for peasant claims
1878 Decision
favorable to peasant claims; but Mishima continues severe treatment of
peasants
1874~ Uprisings continue against
conscription, high land taxes.
1876 Rice prices fall, resulting
in a functional increase in land taxes.
1876 Okada Saheiji pulls together
over 1,000 farmer support groups to form Htoku main branch
1876.12.19-12.23 Ise Soodoo (Aichi,
Gifu, Sakai): 50,000 punished; Gov't lowers taxes to 2.5%.
1878.07.27 Takashima Coal Miners
riot (2000 participate) ?made public in 1888?
1878.08.23 Tokyo artillery riot:
260 advance near Akasaka Imperial residence; most are killed
1880-1890: Government Outsiders
Struggle to Oppose Satsuma-Chooshuu Domination
= Sat-choo
group: Upper-class conservatives: Itoo, Inoue Kaoru, Yamagata, Matsukata,
Kuroda, ...
= Nobility:
Iwakura, Sanjoo: favors slow development of Representative Assembly: Okuma
wants it faster
1879 Ulysses S.Grant, visiting Tokyo,
warns "Liberties once granted cannot be taken back"
1880.04.05 Public Meeting Act
1881.10.21 Matsukata Masayoshi named
Minister of Finance: issues reforms: cut govt expenses;
= sell govt
factories to private buyers; redeem paper money; founds Bank of Japan...
1882.03.01
Matsukata proposes paper currency, central bank,
1881?? Rice-selling panic causes
deflation, while silk areas hit by inflation;
= note also
1880? fall in yen
1881.03 Okuma proposes to have Constitution
with party-oriented (?) Cabinet.
1881.03.18 Ty jiyuu shinbun(anti-govt)
pub. Saionji Kinmochi, articles by Nakae Chomin.
?? After
Sat-Cho threats to kill Saionji, Iwakura pulls strings to get Saionji to
resign.
1881.04.08
Saionji given imperial command to resign from paper
1881.10.12 Government announces promise
to establish a representative assembly by 1890.
1881.10 Meiji Fourteen Coup:
Itoo et. al. force Okuma (+20 non-Satchoo politicians) to resign.
1881.08.01~
Hokkaido Land Development Scandal:
= Gov't reveals Kuroda Kiyotaka spent 15m yen of gov't budget on Hokkaidoo
land, sold it to Nakano Goichi for 300,000 yen;
= Kuroda also lent 380,000 yen no-interest to Satsuma buddy Godai Tomoatsu,
for Kansai trade association.
= Scandal taken up immediately by Numa Morikazu in Tokyo-Yokohama mainichi
shinbun, then other papers.
= Okuma and other pro-rights bureaucrats protest: use the scandal to argue
in favor of Diet
1881.10.12
Itoo et al (Inoue, Iwakura) cancel Kuroda's money
1881.10.12
Okuma forced et al to resign, thus securing Satsuma domination of
government,
1881.10.13
Yano Fumio, Ono Azusa, Inukai Tsuyoshi, Ozaki Yukio et al resign to protest
Okuma firing
??? as distraction
they have Emperor go on tour of Toohoku area (dates don't add up...)
1882.02.08
Hokkaidoo Development mission withdrawn: 3 prefectures formed = Hakodate,
Sapporo, Nemuro
1881.10.18 Jiyuutou (Freedom
Party) formed (~1884):
= Itagaki,
Nakajima, Gotou, Baba, Ueki, Taguchi, Komuro Shinsuke (=Angaidou), Miyazaki
Muryuu, Suehiro:
= French
revolutionary ideology, supported by wealthy agrarians, want assembly immediately
= party
organs: Jiyuu shinbun, Jiyuu no tomoshibi, E-iri jiyuu shinbun
1881? Constitutional
Proposal: Democratic govt, single diet, plus other revolutionary? elements.
1881.11.01
Ueki Emori protests tax on sake.
1882.04.06
Itagaki stabbed at Gifu speech: Komuro says "Itagaki may die, but freedom
will never die."
1882.05.01
Ueki et. al. open Sake-sellers Conference.
1882.09.09
Itagaki overseas travel funding criticized (Ito had asked Mitsui to pay
him, to split party):
1882.11.11 Itagaki, Gotoo Shoojiroo depart for U.S.
?? Baba, Suehiro, Taguchi resign after scandal causes split (Ito's plan
triumphs).
1884.10.29
Jiyuutoo dissolved after Gunma, Kabasan incidents get out of hand.
1882.03.18 Rikken Teiseitoo
(Imperial Government Party) formed:
= Fukuchi
Gen'ichiro, Maruyama Sakuraku, Mizuno Torajiroo
= conservative
support from ex-samurai, Shintoists, Buddhists, Local Officials, Gov't
suppliers;
= power
resides in emperor; bi-cameral legislature; limited elections;
= plagued
by weak organization; attacked other parties for opposing gov't;
= party
organs: Fukuchi's Tookyoo nichinichi shinbun, Maruyama's Meiji
Nippoo,
1883.09
disbanded after gov't sets plan for constitution and becomes aloof from
parties.
1882.04.16 Rikken Kaishintoo
(Constitutional Progressive Party): formed on Okuma Shigenobu's coattails:
= English
constitutional law, supported by city bourgeois (they say, but news circulation
says otherwise):
= gov't
panics when many students join, gets Fenollosa to give address discouraging
politics:
= Mita group:
Okuma, Yano Fumio (=Ryuukei), Inukai Tsuyoshi, Ozaki Yukio (=Gakudoo)
= Oto group:
Ono Azusa, Takata Sanae (Shakespeare)
= Oomeisha
group: Numa Morikazu, Shimada Saburoo
= other
Okuma associates: Kno Binken, Maejima Hisoka; ?Hattori Bushoo;
= party
organs: Yuubin hoochi shinbun, Tookyoo-Yokohama mainichi shinbun, E-iri
chooya shinbun,
1882.02.12
Okuma et. al. form Tooyoo giseikai:
1884 Kaishinto
turns to pro-nationalist ideology
1884.12.17
Okuma Shigenobu resigns from party: party is effectively dissolved.
1882.05 Tooyoo Shakaitoo (Socialist
Party) est. by Tarui Tookichi.
1882.06
First meeting, banned for violation of Public Meeting Act.
1883.01
Tarui publishes Party Manifesto: Tarui imprisoned for one year.
1882.12 Shakaitoo (Ricksha-Railway
Party): Jiyuutoo offshoot; Ooi Kentaroo;
= disbanded
when Okumiya, Miura arrested.
1883.01.18 Baba Tatsui, Tenpu jinken
ron: The right to self-gov't is endowed by nature, not emperor
1883.04 Reformed Press Laws put additional
limits on public discussion of political matters.
1883.07.02 Kanpoo: Government
publishes its own newspaper:
= allows
other papers to escape perception as government organs
= causes
severe drop in readership of
Tookyoo nichinichi shinbun.
1885.12 Beginning of cabinet-style
government: Okuma foreign minister
1887?? Minyuusha formed
1888 Seikyousha (Political
Teaching Alliance) anti-Westernization, pro-nationalist, pro-traditionalist.
= Miyake
Setsurei, Shiga Shigetaka, Sugiura, Inoue; later Taoka Reiun, Koutosku
Shuusui...
= kokusui
(national essence) ideology; publishes Nihonjin, etc.; disbanded 1945.2
1888 Kuroda Kiyotaka cabinet succeeds
Itou cabinet (resigns after failure to revise treaties).
1888 Okuma becomes Foreign Minister
to Kuroda cabinet
1889 Okuma
wounded by bomb, resigns
1889.02.11 Meiji Constitution
made public, to be effective starting 1890.11.29
1889.02.11 Mori Arinori killed by
assassin Nishino Fumitaro on day Constitution announced
1890.07.01 First General Diet Election: Daidou Club=55; Kaishintou=46;
Aikokutou=35; total=300 seats
1890.11.29 National Diet meetings commenced:
<< continued on file 'late
meiji' >>
Women have a rough time seeking
political representation:
Fukuda Hideko (1865-1927)
1885 Arrested
in Osaka Incident. Later marries Ooi Kentaroo.
1907 starts
magazine Sekai fujin.
Kishimoto Toshiko, Tomii Oto, Shimizu
Shikin
Statistics, Fires, and other items:
1881.1 Fire in Kanda, Nihonbashi
destroys 10,000 houses.
1885 Crime: prison inmates/detainees:
44,000 in 1882; peak at 78,332 in 1885 (5% female).
=Murder
conviction rates: 1883=253; 1884=328; 1885=484; peak in 1898=643;
1886 Gov't officials decrease: 1885
= 99,196: 1886 = 55,184: number declines until 1893.
1882-1886 Protests, encouraged
by PRM, become massive and gruesome
1881.04 Dai Nippon Noukai formed
(also in this month, formation of Min. of Agriculture).
1882.11 Fukushima Incident:
Freedom Party advocates suppressed by Pref. Gov. Mishima Michitsune.
1882 Mishima
put in charge of Aizu-Mikata road construction:
= orders men and women ages 15-60 to work 1 day per month for 2 yrs.
1882.05
Freedom Party dominates Pref. assembly, elects Koono Hironaka head, opposes
plan.
1882.06
Prefectural Government starts collecting funds for construction.
1882.07
Aizu peasants organize opposition mvmt. under direction of FP member Uta
Seiichi.
1882.11
Freedom Party supplies outside funding; opposition escalates; Uta arrested.
1882.11.28
Several thousand peasant assemble, ask for his release: 2000 taken into
custody.
1883 Koono
defended in trial by Hoshi Tooru (imprisoned for 'zekka jiken')
= Koono et al convicted of trying to topple government; imprisoned, later
released.
1883.03 Takada Incident: ends
Jiyuutoo activity in Hokuriku (north-central coast).
=
Hasegawa Saburoo spies on Jiyuutoo, reveals plan to assassinate gov't ministers.
=
Jiyuutoo rep's in Niigata are arrested; Akai ?? imprisoned, escapes, executed.
1884.05.13-16 Gunma Incident:
led by Jiyuutoo; anti-government; Shimizu Nagasaburoo, Hibi ??, Yuasa Rihei:
=
agrarians who were suffering from deflation policies; plan attack on officials
at opening of Takasaki Station:
=
stopped by gov't; but Hibi leads 3,000 in attack on police and money-lenders;
leaders caught, sentenced in 1887
1884.07.23 Kamo Incident:
in Mino; anti-tax; 400 people.
1884.09.23 Kabasan Incident:
in Ibaraki; led by Jiyuutoo; planned attack with bombs to avenge Fukushima
suppression:
=
16 people attack money-lenders and police; next day attack Utsunomiya gov't
office, fight with police, disperse:
=
are caught, tried; 7 executed, 7 given life imprisonment.
1886.07.03
Verdicts handed down at Tokyo, Chiba, Tochigi, Yamanashi courts:
1884.10.31-11.11 Chichibu Incident:
in Saitama; led by Inoue Denzoo; crushed by army.
1884.10 Nagoya Incident: Hisano
Kootaroo et al of the Nagoya Jiyuutoo are arrested for robbery and murder
=
motive was to gain funds to support peasant insurrections
1884.12 Iida Incident: Nagoya
Jiyuutoo plans for militia are divulged; Muramatsu Aizoo et al arrested.
1885.11 Osaka Incident: Jiyuutoo
left wing plans coup d'etat in Korea, for Korean independence.
=
Plan is leaked; 139 arrested in Osaka, Nagasaki; 31 imprisoned; Fans Japanese
nationalism (??).
=
Oi Kentaroo, Kobayashi ??, Isoyama ?Seibei, Kageyama Eiko, Tarui Tookichi...
1886.06.12 Shizuoka Incident:
Jiyuutoo plan to attack Hakone Palace? discovered:
1887.10 Sandai jiken kenpaku:
anti-Itoo mandate: freedom of press, lower tax, foreign trade.
1887.12
Hoan joorei: proclamation to preserve public order, following Sandai jiken
kenpaku.
=
570 participants in Sandai.. are evicted from Tokyo, arrested, etc.:
End of People's Rights Mvmt.
1880-1890 Relations with Korea,
China, and the Western Imperial Powers
1882.07 Jingo Incident (pßR):
Riot in Pyonyang by old army, against Queen Min and J. interference;
= Restores
rule of Tai Won-kun; J. Minister escapes to Japan via British navy ship.
= Japan
and China send armies; China aids return of Queen Min to Seoul, ousts Tai
to Tientsin.
1882? Chemulpho Convention (J-K)
complains China interfered w/ J. helping Korea modernize.
= Korea
pays J 500,000 yen damages; consents to J troops stationed in Seoul for
'emergencies'.
1882? Korea-U.S. treaty declares
Korea "independent"
1882? Korean internal disturbance:
China sends troops
1883? Korea-Great Britain treaty.
1884? Korean internal disturbance
(again): China sends troops
1884.08-1885 Sino-French War:
France invades China (to prevent it from controlling Vietnam?)
=
Vietnam (vassal state to China) falls under French rule
1884.08.18
Komuro Shinsuke departs for Shanghai to report on war for Jiyuu shinbun
{Tsuchiya}
1884? Jiji shinpoo runs map showing
future partitions of China (Jansen, Brill 291)
1884.12: Kooshin Incident
(Inchon?:
b\):
= ? "Pro-Min
forces attack J. Legation in Seoul; many J. residents killed by Ch forces"
(Eastlake)
= ? Coup
by pro-J group against Queen Mon Ki-hi, assisted by J army, rebuffed by
Ch army
= Independence
Party: Takezoe Shin'ichiro, Kim Ok'kyun àÊÏ,
Pak pjF escape
to Japan
= Jidaitoo
(?): pro-China, pro-Mon Ki-hi,
= after
failure, anti-Chinese sentiment grows in Japan
1885? Korea revolt
(again): China sends troops
1885 Treaties with China at Pyonyang
and Tianjin fan public anger against China.
1885.01 Pyonyang
Treaty:
1885.04.18 Tienjin
Treaty: Itoo Hirobumi v. Li Kooshoo?: J & Ch on equal footing v. Korea;
= remove both armies within 4 mo's, remove mil. advisors
= requires mutual communication before sending military forces to Korea.
1885.11 Osaka Incident: Oi
Kentaroo et. al. plan Korean coup d'etat for independence: fails.
1886.08 Chinese Peiyang Fleet visits
Nagasaki: displays warships more modern than Japan's.
1886.08.13
Nagasaki
Incident: 100 Chinese navy sailors skirmish with J. police: 100 dead.
=
newspapers campaign for donations to help families of dead and injured
police {Kitahara 6}.
1886.10 Normanton Incident:
British trade ship Normanton sinks off Kishuu:
= 26 Brits
escape, all 25 (23?) Japanese and 12 Indians drown:
= Captain
Drake sentenced by extra-territoriality court to 3 months incarceration
= newspapers
campaign for donations to families of deceased {Kitahara}
1890 Sino-German War: Germany
invades China
1891 Ootsu jiken: Tsar Nikolas
II attacked by Tsuda Sanzoo
= Judge
Kojima Iken (1837-1908) gives Tsuda life sentence instead of death.
1886-1887 Tokyo conference w/ US,
Eng, Ger, to revise unequal treaties
1880-1890 Can Japan Join the West
while Maintaining Independent Identity?
1878 Fukuzawa writes "A handful of
friendship treaties are not worth a basket of ammunition."
1883 Itagaki: "It would be harmful
for the West to associate Japan with Asia" {Pyle ch7:2}
1885.03.16 Fukuzawa,
Datsu-a ron:
"Japan should stop being part of backwards Asia, and join West."
1886 Sugiura Juugoo: advocates sending
outcasts (eta) to the Philippines!
1880s US mail-order catalog (A.A.Vantine)
offers wide range of Japan-made decorative items for US homes
= these
items were later expunged from collections because they were not 'authentically'
Japanese