1889-1900 Constructing a Legal
Basis for Imperial Rule:
= slogan terms:
fukoku kyoohei; kokutai; kokumin dootoku;
1889.02.11 Imperial Constitution:
to be effective starting 1890.11.29
= neither guided
the exercise of power nor protected the limited freedoms and rights of
J subjects {Bix 255}
1889.02.11 Mori
Arinori killed by assassin Nishino Fumitaro on day Constitution announced
1889.02.11 Imperial
family codes published: emperor must be male; illegitimate child if necessary;
1890.07.01 First
General Diet Election: Daidoo Club=55; Kaishintoo=46; Aikokutoo=35; total=300
seats
1890.11.29 National
Diet meetings commenced:
1890.10.30 Imperial Rescript on
Education: Confucian-style loyalties needed for a modern Empire
1890s proliferation
of commentaries (200+) on rescript
1898.06.21 Civil Code (Minpoo):
asserts male dominance: Emperor, family head, certain professions, etc.
= woman
must take man's name when married, etc. Revised since 1867, drew
mainly on French law.
1900.03.10 Peace Police Law
(Chian keisatsu hoo): foreclosed activities of romantics/Christians/unionists
1908. Imperial Rescript (Boshin
no chokusho): to revive old fashioned ethics, combat new individualism
1912 Death of Meiji Emperor, followed
by suicide of General Nogi
1890-1900 Parties realign with
first elections (cont. from Meiji-PRM)
1886 Yuubin hoochi shinbun revamped
1890 Minyuusha publishes Kokumin
shinbun: Tokutomi Sohoo, Roka, Doppo, Yamaji Aizan
= sought
westernization of all parts of society and culture: social egalitarianism:
1890.05.05 Aikokutoo (Love of Country
Party) reestablished by Itagaki Taisuke
1890.09.15 Rikken jiyuutoo (Constitutional
Freedom Party) formed:
=
conglomeration of Ooi Kentaro's Jiyuutoo, Aikokutoo, and Daidoo club.
1891.04 Mumei Kenkyuukai started
at Tokyu U. to alleviate class friction via liberalism.
1891.10 Jiyuutoo toohoo: party organ
1898-99 Debate: Tani Takehi vs Taguchi
Ukichi on supporting country vs city economies
1890-1900 To Resist Western Domination,
Japan must Conquer Asia
1890 Fukumoto Nichinan: essay: national
unity best served by colonization of South Pacific
1890 Yano Ryuukei, Ukishiro monogatari
(Floating Fortress): novel
=
Merchant ship sets out to conquer Madagascar and Congo for the Japanese
empire
1891 Miyake Seturei, Shinzenbi nihonjin:
essay: Japan should take pride in Asia, protect it from West.
1891 Toohoo kyookai (organ of Seikyoosha):
articles identify national identity in terms of Asian ties
1894 Shiga writes in praise of Japanese
natural beauty: mountain climbing {Pyle}
1899 Population of Westerns in Nagasaki
is 575 (660 in 1900)
1890-1895 Japanese involvement
in Korea and Taiwan (cont'd) leads to war with China
1890.07 ?Chinese fleet makes friendly
visit to Japan: inspires awe and concern (? 1886 Nagasaki?)
1894 Outbreak of hostilities between
Japan and China/Korea/Britain
1894.early ??? J. Gov't seeks damages
for Korean trade prohibitions; China hampers process.
1894.early ??? Kim Ok-kyun kidnapped
from Japan to Shanghai, then shot in Japanese hotel.
=
? China sends assassin with Kim's body to Seoul: Assassin is lauded; Kim's
body is mutilated.
1894.6.1 Koogo (ŤbŚß)
Agrarian War: Tonghak group leads Cholla peasants to attack on Chonju:
=
Tonghak (“ŚŠw: Eastern Learning = anti-Catholic,
anti-Japan) movement had begun in 1850s
1984.06.07
Japan informs China it will send troops to quell Tonghak uprising.
1894.06.08
China sends 1500 troops to aid Min Government
1894.06.12
Japanese troops (4000) land at Inchon:
=
Ch+J troops refuse to withdraw: hostilities escalate
1894.07 ? Anglo-Japanese Treaty of
Commerce and Navigation (to end extra-territoriality after 1899)
1894.07 ? Japan navy sinks British
ship carrying Chinese reinforcements
1894.07.20 ?Ambassador Ootori demands
Chinese government sever religious ties
1894.07.23 Japanese army occupies
Imperial Palace
1894.07.25 Japanese and Chinese ships
exchange fire at Hootoo Bay (–L“‡‰«)
1894.08.01 Imperial Rescript: Japan
declares war against China
1894 late: Japan navy overpowers
Chinese; army pushes through Korea, deep into Manchuria
=
Europe surprised at these advances: in Germany, Wilhelm II advances Yellow
Peril theory
1895.04.17 Treaty of Shimonoseki:
Formosa, Pescadore Isles, Liaotung Penninsula ceded to Japan
=
War cost Japan ´200m (30% of annual revenue): indemnity totalled ´360million:
impoverished Ching govt.
1895.04.23?
Tripartite Intervention (Russ, Ger, Fr) demands Japan return Liaotung for
30-mill taels
1895.10 Korean Queen Mon Ki-hi killed
with help of Japanese envoy Miura;
=
Korean king seeks refuge in Russia, which then has leverage over Korea
1896 Korea: So Chaep'il founds Independence
Club, first modern nationalist organization, anti-J.
1897 Eastlake & Yamada,
Heroic
Japan(in English): official J account of Sino-Japanese War
=
"to let the world know that Japanese are [militarily] the compeers of [western
nations]"
1896? Russia compels Japan to return
Liaotung peninsula to China.
1896 Ch-Russ secret alliance: R.
gets rights to build Manch.-Sib. rail.
1898 Russia forces China to grant
25-yr lease of Liaotung peninsula and connecting rail
1898.02.01 China requests extension
on reparations payments to Japan
1898.05.07
payments completed
1908.11 Takahashi Sh™g™ro and Elihu
Root (US) sign pact on equal economic opportunities in China
Social Policies in the Colonized
Territories
1899 Ainu Law: Ending forced social
integration policy, concretized discrimination against Ainu.
1898 General Kodama Gentar™ appointed
governor of Formosa, starts massive modernization program
Literary reactions to War with
China: {see Keene}
Yosano Tekkan:
pro-war tanka
Fukuzawa
Yukichi (1835-1901): China interfered with the spread of enlightenment
Uchimura
Kanzoo: described it as a righteous war (but he was later disillusioned).
Japanese victory will free the way for progress: gov't, religion, commerce,
education
Mori Ogai:
extensive war diary (arrived Pusan 1894.9.4)
Kunikida
Doppo (1871-1908): articles for Kokumin shinbun;
1908 Aitei Tsuushin: posthumous collection of pro-war letters to brother
during S-J war.
Masaoka
Shiki: volunteered to fight: arrived 1895.4: sickened by atrocities.
Kubota Beisen:
drew illustrations of fearless Japanese soldiers, terrified Chinese.
Tokutomi
Roka: 1894.9 Nisshin sensoo yumemonogatari:
Izumi Kyooka:
1894.10 Yobihei: in Yomiuri shinbun: at end of story, a medical lieutenant
collapses
during practice and dies of sunstroke, heroically clenching his sword.
Emi Suiin
(1869-1934): pro-war stories in Chuuoo shinbun earn him big salary.
Hakubunkan
publishers: tri-monthly Nisshin sensoo jikki: later became Taiyoo.
Shunyoodoo
publishers: tri-monthly Nisshin Koosenroku: indefinitely postpones any
publication of fiction.
Yomiuri
shinbun: 1894.8 announces competition for war songs to inspire hatred.
Toyama Masakazu:
claims to have invented the war song genre (p268).
Yokoi Tadanao
(1857-1928): depicts China as a menace to civilization.
Nishiki-e market booms:
= Kobayashi
Kiyochika (1847-1915), Beisen, Kinsen, Migita Toshihide (1862-1925), Adachi
Ginkoo, et. al.
= Japanese
portrayed with Euro-like faces, Chinese as subhuman.
Atrocities?:
Japanese
pride in abiding by Geneva Conventions: criticism of Chinese for torturing
prisoners, etc.
Theater:
1894.8.31
Kawakami Otojiroo, Nisshin sensoo: expounds international law.
Goverment Promotes Stories of S-J
War Heroes (see Keene on S-J War):
Matsuzaki
Naoomi: captain, hit in head by bullet.
Shirakami
Genjiroo: bugler, died with bugle pressed to his lips, but name soon expunged
Kiguchi
Kohei: fictional re-naming of Shirakami, died with bugle pressed to lips
Harada Juukichi:
Scaled the Gembu Gate at Pyongyang.
Anonymous:
hero extinguishes a fire aboard the Matsushima before dying.
1890-1902 Literary romanticism
evokes social contradictions
1890-98 Creation of histories of
Japanese literature: canon formation
1890 Mori Ogai, Maihime: Japanese
student overseas, loves and leaves German girl: self-critical
1892 Kume Kunitake ousted from Tokyo
U. for calling ancient Japanese histories ŇmythsÓ
1893 Kitamura Tookoku founds journal
Bungakkai [proving grounds for later Naturalist writers]
1894 Kitamura
Tookoku commits suicide at age 26
1892-96 Higuchi Ichiyo (d.96) stories
1896 ChildŐs
Play (Takekurabe): Children lose innocence on modernizing city streets
1896 Ozaki Kooyoo Tajootakon:
1897-1900 Ozaki Kooyoo
Konjiki
yasha
(Golden Demon):
=
Girlfriend Omiya jilts student Kan'ichi to marry a rich man sporting a
huge diamond.
=
Kan'ichi turns to money-lending, all subsequently live unhappy, unfulfilled
lives.
1898 Tokutomi Roka,
Hototogisu:
=
family problems: "I wish I had never been born a woman"
1900 Myoojoo: romantic poetry journal:
Yosano Akiko, Yosano Tekkan, submissions...
=
forward-looking; concern with social problems;
1900 Izumi Ky™ka, K™ya hijiri:
Priest goes into mountains, resists temptation by ghosts
1902 Tokutomi Sohoo complains that
people nowadays "revere money and despise the bureaucracy"
1899-1905 Japanese presence in
China leads to confrontation with Russia
1899-1900 Western 'Open-Door' free-trade
policy towards Ch (West preoccupied with its own probs)
1899 Japan gains juridical autonomy
vis a vis Western powers
?1900 Giwadan jiken:
1900 Boxer Rebellion: Japanese
troops take part in suppressing Boxer Rebellion in North China
1900.06.20
Boxer Rebellion at height: German minister killed, Beijing legations attacked
1900.06.~
Eight nations seize Beijing, mass killlings of Chinese (only Japan acted
civilly)
= Shiba Goroo gained respect for conduct as head of Japanese army
1900.08.14
Seige lifted, but Russia remains to occupy entire Manchuria
1902.01.30 Anglo-Japanese Alliance:
J. acts as police force in Korea to contain Russian expansion
1900-1906 Seven PhDs Affair: Tomizu
et al argue for more belligerent stance towards Russia
=
Tomizu et al evicted from Tokyo University
1904.02.06 Russo-Japanese War
begins: J. declares war against R. for not leaving Manchuria:
=
J. army slowly gains ground up Liaodong
1905.01.22
St. Petersburg: police fire upon workers protesting defeats by Japan.
1905.05
Japanese navy overwhelms Russian navy at Tsushima
1905.09.05
Portsmouth
Treaty:
= J gets: Manchuria, Korea, southern Sakhalin, Liadong tax rights: but
no indemnity payments
1905.09.05
Hibiya
Riots: to protest insufficient treaty: org. by Koono Hironaka:
= looting, burning, fatalities, 2000+ arrested
1906.01
Katsura resigns, Saionji takes over (Tomizu of 7PhDs is reinstated to Tokyo
Univ.)
1907,1910,1912,1916: R-J secret agreements,
to keep western nations out of China.
1911 Komura Jutaroo negotiates tariff
autonomy v. U.S.
1911.06.24
Treaty with Germany on shipping and mutual tariffs
Literary Reactions to War with
Russia:
= Opposition by
Yosano Akiko, Kootoku Shuusui,
1904.08.07 Tolstoy, in
Heimin
shinbun: essay begging Russian not to kill Japanese.
1904.09.01 Yosano Akiko,
Kimi
sinitamau koto nakare: anti-war poem, in Myoojoo.
1889-1908 Creating a Hygienic State
by controlling sexual behavior
1889 Goto Shinpei, Principles of
National Hygiene (Kokka eisei genri): views emperor as head of national
organism.
1890 Eisei shinshi: on medical hygiene,
pub. Mori Oogai: calls for public action to reduce bacterial infection
epidemics
1898.01.08 School hygiene system
established to control infectious diseases, esp. sexual
1898.11 Jidoo kenkyuu: first pediatric
journal published
1900 Health checks required for prostitutes
(to control infectious diseases) ?? c.f. 1870s
1901 Fujikawa Yuu: article on child
sexuality and masturbation
1906.03.20 Mishima Tsuuryoo advocates
sex education to prevent masturbation
1908 Mukoo Gunji: advocates separate
sleeping rooms, parental discussion of sex
1920s-30s boom in sexology centers
on evils of masturbation
Regulating Academic Freedoms
1895 Imperial Literature Society
(Teikoku Bungaku Kai):
= Prof's,
students, and graduates of Tokyo University organize to promote nationalism
= Teikoku
bungaku: society journal
1896 Imperial Education Society (Teikoku
Kyouiku Kai):
1897 Imperial Library (Teikoku Toshokan):
1897? Philosophers Incident?
(Tetsugakkan jiken) academic freedom versus govt interference?
1902 ?Textbook Scandal: Gov't takes
over textbook industry, to rid corruption
1906 Principles Regulating Student
Behavior: govt issues curbs on academic freedom
1906 Imperial Scholars Academy (Teikoku
Gakushi-in)
1907 Govt begins regular series of
art exhibitions: to define national visual aesthetics
1907 ?Min. of Ed. extends compulsor
education from 4 to 6 years
1910? Ministry of Ed. establishes
Literary Board:
= intended
to de-politicize literature
1910? prohibits
Mori Ogai's Vita Sexualis
1910 Great Treason Incident:
Socialist writer Kootoku Shuusui implicated in plot to kill Emperor
1910.05.25 Investigation/crackdown
(kenkyo) begins
1910.06.01 Kootoku
Shuusui arrested
1911.01 Socialists
from other countries oppose court proceedings
1911.01.18 Supreme
Court (Daishin'in) delivers death sentence to 24 involved
1911.01.19 Sentences
for 12 of 24 are reduced to life imprisonment
1911.01? Kootoku
Shuusui hanged; 11 others also executed;
1911.02.23 ?Declaration
of Responsibility (monseki ketsugian) is rejected by Diet (shuugiin)
??? Ishikawa Takuboku
reacts "Nihon wa dame da! (Japan is worthless!)"
1910.07 Kawada Shiroo, The Woman's
Problem (Fujin mondai):
?? 'slips' out
of print (i.e., by covert govt censorship): ?threatened to undermine family
system?
1910.late ??? Sakai Toshihiko released
from jail.
1911.06 Okamura Tsukasa (Kyoto U.
Prof.): lecture criticizes civil code, family system
?? receives
light punishment {Harootunian 1974:24}
1911 Nambokuchoo seijun mondai (North-South
Legitimacy Problem):
?? Kida
Teikichi et al issue textbook questioning legitimacy of 15th century imperial
succession
?? conservative
diet members protest
?? PM Katsura
Taroo criticizes Kida
?? revised
textbook expunges Northern Court claims, "North-South Period" renamed "Yoshino
Period"
1911 petition to 27th diet: to promote
nationalist morality in wake of Great Treason Incident
1911.03.01 Imperial Theater (Teikoku
Gekijou) opens: Western style (actually a private company)
1912 Govt issues Union of Three Religions
(Sankyoo goodoo): Buddhism, Shintoo, Christianity
= designed
to limit spread of anti-govt/socialist Christianity
1906~ Groups in Japan advocate
overthrow of Ch'ing Dynasty:
=
note that in 1906, some 13,000 Chinese students were in Japan
?? Kakumei Hyooronsha:
Miyazaki Torazoo, Ike Kyookichi, Wada Saburoo, Kita Terujiroo (Ikki)
?? Chungkuo t'ungmenghui
(Chinese Alliance): based in Tokyo: sought revolution in China
Hsingchunghui (Revive China Society) faction: mainly from Canton area
Huahsinghui (Restore China Society) faction: headed by Huang Hsing, from
Hunan:
Kuangfuhui (Restoration Society) faction: headed by Chang Ping-lin, from
Shanghai area:
1905.12 Minpao: organ published
?? Gen'yoosha: Tooyama
Mitsuru
?? Kokuryuukai (Black
Dragon Society): Uchida Ryoohei
Jiji gekkan: organ published
1907.02 Sun Yat-sen ordered to leave
Japan:
= incurs resentment when he disburses only small portion of funding donated
to him
?? Chungpu t'ungmenghui
(Alliance Central Bureau): organizes low-level military officers for Revolution
1911.10.10 Revolution erupts in Wuchang
1913.03.20 Sung Chiao-jen shot at
Shanghai
=
evidence he was killed by Peking gov't plot, but Kita insisted he was killed
by Sun Yat-sen plot
1913.04.08
Consul Ariyoshi Tadakazu orders Kita to leave Shanghai
Economic and Political Developments,
and Miscellaneous
1897.3.29 Japan goes on gold standard
(Matsukata is minister of finance)
1897.8.2 Nihon Kangyoo Ginkoo (bank)
opens
1910 97.38% of school-age women attend
school
1910 Imperial Agriculture Society
(Teikoku Nou Kai)
1911.05.09~05.19 Volcano emerges
in Hokkaido: 20+ points of eruption
1897-1911 Socialism and Social
Protest (linked with proto-Fascism)
Strikes, petitions, protests:
1891.1.23 Tokyo stone-cutters
strike for 6 days.
1897.3.2 Ashio Copper
Mines: 800 farmers inform gov't of poisoning from mines.
1897.6.5 Yokohama dock
workers strike.
1900~ Ashio copper mine
pollution; protest led by Tanaka Sh™z™
1905.5.1 Heiminsha organizes
May Day strike, "Sawakai" (Tea Party).
Political parties, unions and study
groups:
1897.4.3 Shakai Mondai
Kenkyuukai started by Nakamura Tahachiroo, Tarui Tookichi
1897.4 Shokkoo giyuukai
(Friends of Artisans) started by Joo Sentaroo, Takano Fusataroo
1897.6.25 first symposium
on labor problems: Katayama Sen, Sakuma Teiichi, Shimada Saburoo.
1897.7.5 Roodoo Kumiai
Kiseikai formed: Katayama, Takano, Sawada Hannnosuke
1897.12.1 Iron Workers
Union formed under Roodoo Kumiai Kiseikai
1898.11 Shakaishugi
Kenkyuukai breaks off from Tarui Tookichi's group
1900.1 Shakaishugi Kenkyuukai
becomes Shakaishugi Kyookai, works with Roodoo Kumiai Kiseikai
1901.05.18 Socialist
Democratic Party: est. by Abe Isoo: to close social class gap:
1901.05.20 party banned
1903 Shirayanagi Shuukoo
joins Kootoku Shuusui, Sakai Toshihiko in Heimin Undoo
???? Shirayanagi forms
Shakai kairyoo dantai
1905?? State Socialist
Party: est. by Yamaji Aizan:
1907.02 Japan Socialist
Party Second Congress:
= Anarchist Kootoku Shuusui prevails over Tazoe Tetsuji, who advocates
legal actions only
Journals, books, novels, influential
articles, declarations:
1895.3 Shakai zasshi,
socialist magazine published by Shakai Gakkai
1897.12.5 Roodoo
sekai (Labor World): journal
1899 Yokoyama Gennosuke,
Nihon
no kasoo shakai (Japanese Lower Classes)
1899 Murai Chishi, Shakaishugi
(Socialism)
1899 Fukui Junzoo, Kinsei
shakaishugi (Early Modern Socialism)
1900 Hisamatsu Yoshinori,
Kinsei
shakaishugi hyooron (Critique of Early Modern Socialism)
1901 Abe Isoo, Shakai
mondai kaishaku hoo (Methods to Interpret Social Problems???)
1901 Katayama Sen, Nihon
no roodoo undoo (The Labor Movement in Japan)
1901 Nishikawa Koojiroo,
Shakaitoo
(The Socialist Party)
1903.11.15 Shuukan heimin
shinbun: Kootoku Shuusui, Sakai Toshihiko
1904.3.13 Heiminsha
opposes Russo-Japanese War.
1904.3 Kinoshita Naoe,
Hi
no hashira (Pillar of Fire): anti-war, anti-capitalist.
1904.8-1906.6 Kinoshita
Naoe, Ryoojin no jihaku: a wealthy farmer fights corruption.
1905.1.29 Heimin
shinbun discontinued after repeated fines and punishments.
1906.05.09 Kita Ikki,
National
Body Politic and Pure Socialism:
= 1906.05.19 book banned by Home Ministry
1902-1911 Japanese Literary Naturalism:
emotional, sexual, down and dirty life
1895.8 Ozaki KooyooŐs student Oguri
Fuuyoo contracts cholera: Ozaki writes ???ŇSeitonkanÓ
1898 Shiga Shigetaka,
Nihon fžkei
ron: Inventing a democratic Japanese concept of natural scenery
1898 Kunikida Doppo,
Musashino:
Student walks in beautiful woods, without having to meet people
1898 Kunikida Doppo,
People I
Cannot Forget: Rustic scenes, people to look at but not interact with
1899 Yokoyama Gennosuke,
Nihon
no kas™ shakai: Ethnographic studies of urban poverty
1902 Shimazaki T™son,
Kyžshujin:
Maid gets back at city mistress by revealing affair (censored)
1902 Nagai Kafž writes Zola-esque
works; 1903 departs for US then France
1906 Shimazaki T™son,
Broken Commandment:
Student is forced to acknowledge his outcast lineage.
1907 Tayama Katai, Futon:
Teacher falls in love with student; she leaves him clutching at her futon.
1907 Futabatei Shimei (d.1909), Ordinary:
1909 Mori Ogai, Kamen: student
with tuberculosis
1909 Tayama Katai, Country Teacher:
1909-12 Ishikawa Takuboku,
Diary
in Roman Script: Personal, often sexual search for inner self.
1909.12 Ishikawa Takuboku: essay
declares naturalism is meaningless if it doesn't deal with state.
1910 Yanagida Kunio,
T™no monogatari:
EthnographerŐs collection of rural folk tales.
1910 Shimazaki T™son,
The Family:
1911.9 Seitoo (Blue Stockings) est.
by Hiratsuka Raichoo: women are victims, demand equality.
1906-1912 Literature in the wake
of Naturalism:
= note 'I-novels'
(watakushi-shosetsu): Kunikida Doppo, Iwano Hoomei, Shimamura Hoogetsu,
Chikamatsu Shuukoo,
Kasai Zenzoo, Tayama Katai, Shiga Naoya, Hasegawa Tenkei, Masamune Hakuchoo,
1905.01-1906 Natsume S™seki,
I
am a Cat: Newfangled literary trends lampooned by a teacher's pet cat
1906.01 Natsume S™seki,
Tower
of London:
1906 Natsume S™seki,
Botchan:
= Takahama Kyoshi edits manuscript to naturalize Matsuyama accents
1908 Nagai Kafž returns from France
1909 Sumidagawa:
1909 Iwano H™mei, Tandeki:
1909 Tanbi-ha [Aestheticists; anti-naturalist]
is led by Nagai Kafž; journals are:
1909~ Subaru: journal est.
by Mori Ogai, Ueda Bin
1910~ Mita Bungaku: journal
est. by Kafž
1910~ Shinshich™: journal
est. by students of Univ. of Tokyo
1910 Tanizaki Junichir™:
Tattoo:
1911 Committee for Wholesome Literature
established by Ministry of Education
1911 Tokuda Shžsei,
Kabi(Mold):
1915 Soseki, Michikusa:
1915 Tokuda Shžsei,
Arakure:
Middleclass woman withstands vicissitudes of tailoring business
Articulating Japanese Imperialism
to Western Readers: writings in English
1906 Okakura Kakuz™,
The Book
of Tea:
???? Okakura, The Ideal of the East
1912 Nitobe Inazoo, The Japanese
Nation
??? Nitobe, Bushido