A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (55 page)

Militarily, Japan learned fast how to fight western-style with modern weapons and a conscript army. After a fortunate opportunity to practise
against its own discontented samurai in the Satsuma Rebellion, it was able to defeat a weakened China and then an inconvenienced Russia. Territories gained directly or indirectly by these victories, especially Korea, were milestones on the road to empire-building.

Japan’s modernisation had not always been smooth. There had been more unplanned developments, more trial and error, and a greater role for chance than the nation’s leaders would have liked. They borrowed, improvised, studied, and planned as best they could, and were helped by good fortune and sheer determination to succeed. Not all the nation’s people were happy or proud, but most were, and if succeeding was to be measured in terms of being recognised as a strong western-style power with a colony or two, then Japan had succeeded.

The main developments in its path to success are summarised in
Table 4.1
.

Table 4.1
   Key developments in the Meiji period

Table 4.2
   Key values and practices in the Meiji period

The Meiji period has also revealed many values and practices of great relevance to present-day Japan, usually at the same time showing a continuity with Japan’s past. These are summarised in
Table 4.2
, in what is a rather long list.

In a mere half-century Japan had gone from being virtually dismissed by the west as an obscure and rather backward country to be being recognised as a major world power. It was arguably the most remarkable achievement of any nation in world history over such a short period.

P
ART
F
IVE

T
HE
E
XCESSES OF
A
MBITION:
T
HE
P
ACIFIC
W
AR AND ITS
L
EAD
-U
P

5.1   The Fragile Democracy of Taish
(1912–26)

When Emperor Meiji’s son Yoshihito (1879–1926) acceded to the throne in 1912, things were looking good for Japan. The auspicious name ‘Taish
’, meaning ‘Great Righteousness’, was chosen to mark the new era.
¹
It suggested self-assurance as a world power, and promised wisdom and justice.

For Yoshihito personally, however, things did not look so promising. There were increasing doubts about his fitness of mind and body. This was generally attributed to meningitis just after birth, but he was now in his thirties and the effects of such an illness would have long since stabilised. Almost certainly, it was some other – and presumably more embarrassing – disorder that was now troubling him. Doctors passed him fit to assume the throne, but his condition soon deteriorated markedly. Within three years he was unable to walk or talk properly. The awkward situation continued for a few years, till his son Hirohito (1901–89) took over as regent in November 1921.

Yoshihito’s uncertain reign started with a political crisis. Late in 1912 the Saionji cabinet refused to agree to extra divisions for the army, which was keen on expansion. The army minister resigned and the army refused to replace him, bringing the cabinet down. Approached by Yamagata and the other oligarchs, Katsura Tar
agreed to form his third cabinet. However, he was an unpopular choice with the public and with the political parties, who saw him as a symbol of continued oligarchic
authoritarianism. The main parties now included not only the (
Rikken
)
Seiy
kai
but the newly formed (
Rikken
)
Kokumint
(Constitutional Nationalist Party). These two parties initiated the Movement to Protect Constitutional Government (
Kensei Y
go Und
), which attracted many thousands of supporters from amongst the public.