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32 - Story of Japan by Robert van Bergen · Story of Japan

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty two of the Story of Japan. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Avai in January two thousand twenty one. The
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  Speaker 1: Story of Japan by Robert van Bergen, Section thirty two.
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  Speaker 1: The Tokugawa Regions step out. The new regent was the
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  Speaker 1: last man to uphold the office so long occupied by
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  Speaker 1: his ancestors. More of a thinker than a man of deeds,
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  Speaker 1: he preferred the quiet of a library to the duties
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  Speaker 1: and dangers of power, and it was with reluctance that
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  Speaker 1: he accepted the dignity offered him. He would have been
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  Speaker 1: well enough pleased in peaceful times to hand the responsibilities
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  Speaker 1: of his office over to an ambitious prime minister, but
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  Speaker 1: these were days when the regent himself must act. The
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  Speaker 1: Teno in Kyoto seemed to be well disposed toward the
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  Speaker 1: new regent, since he gave his sister in marriage to him,
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  Speaker 1: but this did not lead to peace. The agitation was
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  Speaker 1: more than ever kept up by Satsuma and Choshiu, who
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  Speaker 1: had been assured of the help of many powerful clans.
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  Speaker 1: Such was the situation when the Teno Kome died in
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of eighteen sixty seven, and the boy Mutsuhito,
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  Speaker 1: a lad not quite fifteen years old, succeeded to the
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  Speaker 1: title and dignity Hitotsubashi or a kiki. The Regent went
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  Speaker 1: to Kyoto to pay his respects to the Teno. How
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  Speaker 1: the times had changed in less than a score of years.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty years before, the Yedo government was all powerful, and
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  Speaker 1: the descendant of the Sun Goddess was a mere name,
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  Speaker 1: a shadow. And now the eyes of all Japan and
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  Speaker 1: of the foreign ministers also were fixed upon this boy,
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  Speaker 1: the heir to what it was more than probable that
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  Speaker 1: there would be a change, but one by which only
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  Speaker 1: the master or guardian would be effected. For if the
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  Speaker 1: idea of a united Japan existed at all, it was
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  Speaker 1: only in the minds of a very few men, Okubo
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  Speaker 1: of Satsuma, Kido of Choshiu and Sanjo, and Ivakura the Kuge.
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  Speaker 1: But the regent saw that his time had come, and
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  Speaker 1: on November ninth, eighteen sixty seven, he resigned. This resignation
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  Speaker 1: placed the leaders of the revolution in a quandary the
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  Speaker 1: clans opposed to the Tokugawa were in the majority in
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  Speaker 1: the palace, so that now they could use the emperor's authority,
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  Speaker 1: but they were perplexed as to what to do. A
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  Speaker 1: meeting of the Daimyo was called for the purpose of
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  Speaker 1: deciding the form of the new government, and in the meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: the Regent was told to continue in his office until
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  Speaker 1: further orders. But the daimyo did not appear, with the
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  Speaker 1: exception of one or two. They were helpless puppets in
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  Speaker 1: the hands of their samurai, men who had never been
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  Speaker 1: allowed to originate an idea or even to decide in
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  Speaker 1: matters strictly concerning themselves, and to call a meeting of
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  Speaker 1: the leading samurai of the clans would have evoked inter
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  Speaker 1: Klanish jealousies and perhaps a prolonged civil war. It was
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  Speaker 1: a dangerous period for Japan. The foreign ministers had come
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  Speaker 1: to Ozaka to be present at the opening of that
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  Speaker 1: port and of Hyogo, which was to take part on
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  Speaker 1: New Year's Day eighteen sixty eight. On the third of January,
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  Speaker 1: the combined clans seized the palace gates, and the regent,
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  Speaker 1: now afraid of personal injury, left Kyoto secretly on the
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  Speaker 1: evening of January sixth, and withdrew to the castle of Ozaka.
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  Speaker 1: The allied clans now summoned him to appear, but having
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  Speaker 1: been advised by the Tokugawa clan to be on his guard,
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  Speaker 1: he went, accompanied by about ten thousand samurai loyal to
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  Speaker 1: the Tokugawa house. The allied clans resolved to prevent him
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  Speaker 1: from marching upon the capital with his force, and for
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  Speaker 1: the third time in the history of Japan, the rice
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  Speaker 1: fields of Fushimi saw the fate of Japan decided. The
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  Speaker 1: regent was defeated and fled by sea to Yedo. One
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  Speaker 1: of his counselors urged upon him to commit tarakiri, but
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  Speaker 1: h thought Subashi declined the man who advised him was
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  Speaker 1: honest in the belief that this ought to be done,
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  Speaker 1: and to prove it, committed suicide himself. The allied clans
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  Speaker 1: decided first to subdue those northern clans who still remained
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  Speaker 1: faithful to the regent's cause. An army of samurai was
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  Speaker 1: easily collected, and to avoid jealousy, it was commanded in
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  Speaker 1: person the man highest in rank after the Teno Prince, Arisugawa,
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  Speaker 1: while the active command was taken by Japan's ideal samurai
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  Speaker 1: Saigo Takamori of Satsuma Yedo surrendered after a brief struggle
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  Speaker 1: in the temple on the Ueno Heights, but Enomoto, the
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  Speaker 1: admiral of the regent's fleet, escaped to Hokkaido, taking with
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  Speaker 1: him the foreign vessels bought by the regent's government. The
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  Speaker 1: northern clans made the best struggle they could, but the
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  Speaker 1: regent was ordered to withdraw to his castle at Shidzuoka,
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  Speaker 1: where he still lives, enjoying himself with experiments in photography.
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  Speaker 1: Enomoto first thought of forming a republic in Hokkaido, but
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  Speaker 1: the allied clans pursued him, and at last he surrendered,
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  Speaker 1: offering to commit harakiri if his companions were spared. But
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  Speaker 1: the leaders of the new government did not desire to
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  Speaker 1: arouse the clan spirit for the sake of revel They
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  Speaker 1: had one wish to be able to cope with the
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  Speaker 1: foreigners on their own terms, and for that purpose they
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  Speaker 1: needed a united Japan. Enomoto and the other Tokugawa leaders
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  Speaker 1: were taken into the service of the new government and
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  Speaker 1: were given positions of responsibility according to their ability. Thus
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  Speaker 1: Enomoto was Minister to Russia, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
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  Speaker 1: under the last Ito cabinet, Minister of Commerce and Agriculture,
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  Speaker 1: while Okubo, who defended Ueno against the Imperial troops was
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  Speaker 1: Minister of Japan in Korea. At the time the war
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  Speaker 1: between China and Japan broke out. But now the question
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  Speaker 1: was what was the new government to be. The only
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  Speaker 1: men able to rule were the samurai, and there were
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  Speaker 1: not a few leaders in their own clan who thought
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  Speaker 1: that they were the men best fitted for the purpose.
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  Speaker 1: Satsumi and Chushu were prominent on account of the share
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  Speaker 1: they had taken in causing the downfall of the Yedo government,
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  Speaker 1: and of the samurai. Of these clans, Okubo and Kido
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  Speaker 1: were by far the ablest. To avoid jealousy, it was
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  Speaker 1: decided that Prince Arisugawa, with the Kuge, Sanjo and Iwakura,
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  Speaker 1: should form the executive with a board of councilors comprising
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  Speaker 1: the most illustrious samurai. This was a wise resolution, for
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  Speaker 1: the three men selected ranked head and shoulders above the daimyo,
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  Speaker 1: so that no clan could feel slighted, whereas the real
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  Speaker 1: power remained where it had been for centuries in the
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  Speaker 1: hands of the best samurai. The first act of the
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  Speaker 1: new government was to ratify the treaties, and from this
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  Speaker 1: time the attacks upon foreigners ceased, except in isolated instances.
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  Speaker 1: Two of these must be told in detail end of
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  Speaker 1: Section thirty two.