A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (42 page)

Table 3.2
   Key values and practices in the Tokugawa period

Certain other points help explain earlier paradoxes. For example, the harsh enforcement of collective accountability helped suppress the expression of obvious self-interest. This suggests the earlier medieval paradox of blatant self-interest despite legal norms of collective responsibility was due to the failure of authorities in those days to enforce the law with sufficient vigour.

P
ART
F
OUR

B
UILDING A
M
ODERN
N
ATION:
T
HE
M
EIJI
P
ERIOD
(1868–1912)

4.1   Consolidating the Restoration

The ‘restored’ Emperor Mutsuhito, at 15 years of age, was hardly likely to proceed without guidance in his ‘enlightened rule’. Not surprisingly, his advisers were the samurai leaders who had supported his cause. These were mostly from Satsuma and Ch
sh
, with a few from other domains such as Tosa (in Shikoku) and Hizen (in Ky
sh
). There were also a few court nobles such as Iwakura Tomomi among the group of advisers, mostly to add legitimacy to what was in effect the new government.

From Satsuma came
kubo Toshimichi (1830–78), Saig
Takamori (1827–77), and Matsukata Masayoshi (1835–1924). From Ch
sh
came Kido K
in (1833–77), Inoue Kaoru (1835–1915), It
Hirobumi (1841–1909), and Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922). They were all young, most in their early thirties. Most of them were also originally of fairly low rank within the samurai class.

It
Hirobumi, who was to become the dominant figure in Meiji, represented a classic ‘pauper to prince’ story. Born into a poor farmer’s family, in his early teens he was adopted (along with his father) into the family of a low-ranking samurai. For his subsequent exploits, which included the burning down of the British Legation, he was made a samurai in his own right in 1863. During Meiji he was to become prime minister on four occasions, and eventually obtained the title of ‘prince’.