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Introduction

In the current day, Japan is widely renowned for its history, landmarks, and pop culture. With over 33 million tourists visiting the country in 2024 alone, Japan continues to be a hotbed of international travel and interaction (Japan Tourism Statistics | ÈÕ±¾¤ÎÓQ¹â½yÓ‹¥Ç©`¥¿ 2024). While various aspects of Japan work to build its global image, including its world-renowned technological exports, unique cuisine, and blend of traditionalism and modernism, one aspect does little in shaping the country¡¯s image to outsiders: the Japanese government. The Government of Japan¨Cor Nihon Koku Seifu¨Cconsists of a branched structure quite similar to the American model, as enumerated in the Constitution of Japan. The Government of Japan is also home to the emperor, or Tenn¨­, who serves as an effectively powerless figurehead not unlike a monarch in the United Kingdom. However, when comparing the governmental power of the current emperor, Naruhito, to that of his grandfather, Hirohito, the difference is staggering. By highlighting the political history of Japan prior to the Taish¨­ era, ?I aim to give context for the important developments in the Japanese governmental structure in a period that is largely unknown to Western audiences. I will accomplish this by focusing on institutional changes to the governmental structure, especially in regard to the emperor¡¯s status under both the shogunate and constitutional models of government. By better understanding Japan¡¯s political history, we can better forecast the future of its government as Japan continues into an ever-uncertain Reiwa era.

Pre-Meiji Era

The Age of the Court and the Shogunate

????The history of Japan can be divided into several distinct eras, usually separated by major regime changes. One of these major changes came at the end of the classical Heian era, which was characterized by a love for the arts and a traditional court system headed by the emperor. The Heian era, which ranged from the 8th to the 12th century, came to an end when the warrior-based Kamakura shogunate, led by Minamoto no Yoritomo, usurped political power from the Imperial Court and ushered in the age of feudalism in Japan. The shogunate consisted of the shogun, who was the effective political and military leader of Japan, the daimyo, who were feudal lords that ruled over different prefectures and regularly employed samurai warriors, as well as the bakufu, who were members of the government administration directly under the sh¨­gun. The shogunate of Japan took political power from the imperial Heian Court after much infighting and subsequent battles for control of the Court. Minamoto no Yoritomo and his military allies established the first shogunate towards the end of the 12th century and brought about the age of Japanese feudalism (Kamakura period | Samurai culture, Shoguns & Buddhism | Britannica n.d.). This new government was a massive change for Japan, as for centuries, the emperor was the undisputed ruler of Japan. Truly believed to be descendants of the Shinto deity Amaterasu Oomikami, the Imperial Household maintained unwavering power over Japan for centuries prior to the rise of the Kamakura shogunate (Mori 1979). The religion of Shintoism is central to the Japanese identity, and the emperor was seen as the embodiment of Shinto belief itself. This claim is one of the major motivations behind the Meiji Restoration and why the imperial line still exists today.

While the shogunate took political power from the court and established feudal practices across the entire island of Japan, the Imperial Court was technically allowed to remain in power. The emperor, still believed by the shogunate to have descended from Shinto gods, would continue to rule over feudal Japan in name alone from the former capital of Heian-ky¨­¡ªmodern-day Kyoto¡ªwhile the shogunate actually ruled Japan from Kamakura, closer to where modern-day Tokyo is. For centuries, lineages of emperors would primarily act as heads of state and be relegated to ceremonial duties under the control of the shogun. The feudal system would continue to be the prevailing governmental system in Japan until the late Edo period, as although there would be massive changes in the shogunate and infighting between the daimyo, the structure of military rule would last until the mid-19th century.

Rise and Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate

The Imperial Court managed to survive the rise and fall of several different shogunate governments during the feudal era of Japan. The end of the Sengoku Period in the mid-16th century is widely considered to be the most ¡°turbulent period in Japanese history¡± due to numerous warring factions attempting to take control of the central government, multiple attempted invasions and massacres in places like Korea, and the introduction of European missionaries to Japan ?(Japan, 1400¨C1600 A.D. | The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2002). Military conflict between different factions was the norm during this time, but by the end of the Sengoku period, the warring factions were eventually subdued by the Tokugawa shogunate, ushering in the Edo period of Japan. Rule under the Tokugawa shogunate was characterized by a period of comparative peace, in large part due to the country¡¯s sakoku policy of strict isolationism. Under the sakoku policy, Japan would be shut off from the rest of the world in terms of allowing visitors to enter the country and allowing Japanese citizens to leave. Aside from selective trade with the Dutch that aided efforts to modernize the country in science, medicine, and Western thought (Matsui 2018), Japan was effectively closed off from the entire world for a period of almost 200 years under the edicts of the Tokugawa shogunate. The city of Edo¡ªnow modern-day Tokyo¡ªbecame the heart of Japan. During the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, Edo was characterized by urban expansion, economic modernization via internal trade, and a return to the classical-inspired arts (Dunlop 2018). This development, however, was all but separated from the Imperial Court, which was still located in Heian-ky¨­. While Edo was booming, the daimyo were still lording over their respective lands throughout the rest of the country. Little did those daimyo know that their power would be completely removed within just a few short years.

The Tokugawa shogunate would maintain power until the mid-19th century, when sakoku came to an abrupt end. When United States Naval Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, the future course of Japanese politics would be changed forever. On behalf of President Millard Filmore and the rest of the United States government, Commodore Perry and his band of kurofune, or black ships, arrived in the bay of current-day Tokyo in 1853, demanding that Japan open its borders to Americans. After intense negotiations with the Americans, the representatives of the emperor eventually acquiesced nearly in full to Commodore Perry¡¯s demands. In the finalized treaty between both countries, Japan was to end its sakoku practices and open two harbors for American ships; it was in these treaty ports that American citizens were granted free movement and where coal, handmade goods, and other materials were exclusively traded (Brief Summary of the Perry Expedition to Japan, 1853 1953). Perry¡¯s ¡°gunboat diplomacy¡± marked the end of Japan¡¯s era of isolationism, as other countries like France and Russia also began to interact with Japan during this period. The actions of Commodore Perry inadvertently set the stage for the Meiji Restoration, as a weak shogunate that bent the knee to the Americans lost the faith of the people. This loss of faith directly led to the restoration of the emperor as the sole figurehead of Japan going forward into the Meiji era.

Meiji Era

The Bakumatsu Period and the Uncertain Meiji Government

????After the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 and the subsequent dissolution of the isolationist sakoku policy under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan entered into an uncertain period in its history. The 15 years between the arrival of Commodore Perry and the beginning of the Meiji era is known as the Bakumatsu period, which directly translates to the end of the Bakufu, or rule of the shogunate. It was during this period that there was massive infighting between the remaining dominant daimyos and the shogunate. Much of this infighting between the leaders of Japan derived from conflicting ideologies on how to handle the Western powers. While some argued for a kaikoku policy that encouraged open borders and free trade with the West, there were others who advocated for a Joi policy, where relations with the West would be limited as to preserve the Japanese way of life (Totman 1980). While the kaikoku policy eventually won out, these internal debates and lack of decisive action directly contributed to the falling support of the Tokugawa shogunate. Perceived as weak and ineffective by caving to American demands, middle- to low-ranking samurai from the Satsuma and Ch¨­sh¨± clans overthrew the increasingly unpopular Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, marking the end of the feudal era in Japan.

However, as noted by Â鶹ӰԺ Professor Maricia Yonemoto in a 2008 essay, the end of the Bakumatsu period was seen as samurai fighting against a system that they directly profited from, which, on its face, does not make much sense. However, it was lower-ranking, disgruntled samurai from regions impacted by famine and drought¡ªwhich the shogunate did little to address¡ªthat ultimately were pushed to the edge when the shogunate effectively sat and watched Japan enter a ¡°semi-colonial¡± status under the United States (Yonemoto 2008). These samurai would dispose of the shogunate and the feudal system in order to re-install the emperor as the head of the Japanese government in 1868, which is known as the Meiji Restoration. The fall of nearly 700 years of feudal rule in Japan can be largely attributed to Commodore Perry¡¯s expedition. The complacency and inaction of the Tokugawa shogunate was the last piece of motivation needed for the unhappy, outsider Satsuma and Ch¨­sh¨± samurai to take decisive action to reinstall the Meiji Emperor in a bloodless revolution.

During the month of January in 1868, the Meiji Restoration was officially underway as the Meiji Emperor, otherwise known as Mutsuhito, signaled his approval to the forces standing against the Tokugawa shogunate. However, soon after the emperor was restored and the capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, the new leaders of Japan were at a crossroads concerning what direction this new government should take. These leaders, such as Iwakura Tomomi, Saig¨­ Takamori, ?kubo Toshimichi, and Kido Takayoshi, wanted to steer Japan in a different direction than that of the shogunate. These leaders were all fairly young, inspired individuals who wanted a better future for their country than the shogunate was promising them. ¡°Unbound by the networks and mores of traditional leadership¡±, Iwakura, Saig¨­, ?kubo, and Kido, among others, were strong advocates for a strong Japan unbound by the inefficiencies and weakness of the shogunate; to this end, even if they had to learn and adopt the governmental style of the West and reject their own historical precedents, they would do so for the sake of their country (Huffman 2021). The significance of the rise in Japanese nationalism under leaders like Iwakura and the Meiji Emperor cannot be understated. The Meiji Restoration was a flashpoint that set Japan on an irreversible path towards becoming a fascist global power due to the coalescence of national pride in the emperor and the new Meiji government. The effects of this rise in nationalism would not be seen explicitly until the early 20th century, but this nationalism that supported Sh¨­wa-era expansionism and later brought the United States into World War II can be directly traced back to the Meiji Restoration.

?The primary goal of this new Japanese government was to modernize into a competitive country on the global stage that could expand beyond the imperialist influences of the United States, France, and Russia. However, this new government did not know exactly how to reach those ends. In April of 1868, a charter oath issued by the new imperial government ¡°promised to unify the classes and seek knowledge from around the world in order to strengthen the Emperor¡¯s rule¡±, but this oath did not have any specific provisions on exactly how this goal was to be accomplished (Huffman 2021). Iwakura and other statesmen took this as an opportunity to learn from the current world powers how to form a new, powerful country now that the period of isolation under the Tokugawa shogunate¡¯s sakoku policy was over.

To this end, several of the new governmental elite ventured by sea in what would become known as the Iwakura Expedition. The Iwakura Expedition of 1871 took a band of approximately 100 Japanese statesmen and scholars¡ªincluding Iwakura, Kido, ?kubo, and the soon-to-be important It¨­ Hirobumi¡ªto cities across the United States, various European capitals like London and Paris, and growing Chinese metropolises like Hong Kong and Shanghai (The Iwakura Mission 2019). During the expedition, the leaders of the new Japanese government learned that for a modern country to succeed, ¡°technological advances, a fruitful interweaving of trade and industry, and a hard-working populace¡± were necessary (The Iwakura Mission 2019). This time abroad was very influential to Japanese political thought during the early years of the Meiji era, as it proved the need for a strong central government, a strong, globalized industrial sector, and a deeply patriotic populace for a country to become an imperial power.

The Iwakura Expedition inspired many of those who would have an influential role in the origins of the Japanese parliamentary democracy. ?kubo, Kido, and It¨­ were all members of the Iwakura Expedition, and all three were core to determining the direction of the still-developing government by providing guidance during the turbulent periods of governmental restructuring. The first of these major conflicts was the tensions with Korea in the early 1870s. As Japan was opening its borders, it had its eyes set on Korea as a regional ally, as well as a potential location for future imperial expansion. After discussions fell through and perceived offenses towards Japanese diplomats enraged leaders like Saig¨­, the other leaders had to step in and cool off relations with Korea after Saig¨­ and his supporters demanded an apology from the Korean government that could have been a precipitating factor to war (Kitaoka 2018). This decision to cool off relations rather than potentially go to war was not one of fear of the Korean government but rather the potential that a war could collapse the developing Japanese industrial complex (Huffman 2021). This caused a rift in the early Meiji government that would make it increasingly unpopular, as although the other Meiji leaders were not any less patriotic than Saig¨­ or his supporters, the establishment believed that it was in Japan¡¯s best interest not to pursue this further. After Saig¨­¡¯s departure from the government, the remaining Meiji leaders were left to recoup their losses and continue to work towards a stronger government based on what they had learned from their time on the Iwakura Expedition.

The second major period of turbulence in the early Meiji government was the Satsuma Rebellion. Although the Meiji Restoration brought about the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the newly formed Meiji government still conflicted with the remaining daimyo and samurai, who were clinging to their fleeting influence based on their family names. However, the Meiji government¡ªwhich was effectively an oligarchy where a cabinet under the Emperor was formed and ministerial positions were held by those who helped overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate (Rights and Responsibilities: Looking at the Meiji Constitution 2025)¡ªwas moving forward, deciding that the old system needed to be rooted out once and for all. The daimyo were forced to offer their land to the emperor in 1871, thus eliminating the feudal system and making the emperor even more powerful (Kitaoka 2018). The last relic of the shogunate that still remained was the class of samurai across the region. After instituting an act enforcing national conscription, the samurai felt even more threatened by the potential that their services were no longer needed; this was confirmed by the 1876 Sword Abolishment Edict, where the Meiji government banned the very symbol of the samurai class and subsequently removed their hereditary stipends (Kitaoka 2018). This outrage directly led to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, where the remaining population of samurai, under the direction of the still-infuriated Saig¨­, took their last stand against the Meiji government. After much bloodshed and economic loss, the rebellion was quelled, and the Meiji government became the undisputed power across Japan.

Meiji Constitutionalism and the Freedom and People¡¯s Rights Movement

After snuffing out the last embers of rebellion, the leaders of the Meiji government began to take a brand new direction for this government. In the 1880s, Japanese scholars began to discuss what a new Japanese government should look like. With the old guard of the early Meiji government no longer having much of a say in government policy¡ªas Kido died of cancer in 1877, Saig¨­ died in battle during the rebellion in the same year, and ?kubo was assassinated in 1878¡ªa new direction for the government was being formed. Specifically, it was It¨­ who was the main driver behind the document that would become the Meiji Constitution. It¨­, a member of the Iwakura Expedition himself, took inspiration from others¡¯ opinions on how a new government for Japan should be formed. After returning to Japan, Kido remarked that Japan should adopt an ¡°autocratic constitution¡±, where the emperor would ¡°share sovereignty¡± with the people, but where the government would have immense power in order to bring the populace together and spread the advancement across the country instead of just in major cities (Takii 2023). ?kubo also gave the opinion that Japan ¡°should not thoughtlessly copy another country¡¯s institutions¡±, as he believed that Japan¡¯s new constitution should take inspiration from the West but reflect the intrinsic factors that are embedded into the Japanese identity (Takii 2023). These suggestions, alongside his own experiences abroad in Prussia and Austria (Kitaoka 2018), would become the basis for the shape of the Meiji Constitution. By 1890, the Meiji Constitution was promulgated and ratified, placing the Imperial line as the sole, sovereign entity of the nation, but also providing for a legislative body in the form of the Japanese Diet.

It was in the development of the Constitution that the concept of Nihon kokumin, or Japanese citizens, became evident. Prior to the Korean incident and the Satsuma Rebellion, the Japanese people were still divided along feudal lines and never truly viewed themselves as one part of a whole citizenry. By the time the samurai rebellions were quelled and the Meiji government ruled without contestation, the Japanese people began to feel as if they were all under one flag. This rise in nationalistic pride also came along with the desire of the people to be represented within the government. Prominent figures like Itagaki Taisuke led the Jiy¨± Minken Und¨­, commonly translated as the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, in the years leading up to the drafting of the Meiji Constitution. This movement, which spanned from 1874 to 1887, argued in favor of increased suffrage for the people of Japan, as they believed that the people should have a voice within the government (Irokawa 1967). This push for liberal ideals found in Western countries came into conflict with the aristocratic members of the Meiji government, which included renowned figures like It¨­ and Yamagata Arimoto.

These members of government believed that the emperor was the true sovereign and would only need counsel from the political elite such as themselves. Responding to this popular movement, however, figures responsible for the new constitution like It¨­ and Yamagata would effectively perform a ¡°carrot-and-stick¡± maneuver, where they would appease the popular movement by permitting a weak parliament under the emperor while enacting harsh laws that prohibited only those with wealth and power to participate in that government (Akita 1962). The Freedom and People's Rights Movement forced the hand of the Meiji oligarchs to provide a constitution and a parliament for the Japanese people, which would be one of the first steps towards the Japanese government that can be seen today. Despite It¨­ and Yamagata intending for these concessions to be small so that they could continue to hold power alongside the emperor, it eventually led to the structure that would become the current-day Japanese parliament. Without those who sacrificed their time, money, and even their lives to support the Freedom and People¡¯s Rights Movement, there is a strong possibility that Japan¡¯s government could have looked completely different by the Taish¨­ era. Despite the hope for the future that this may have caused, it was still several years before true change would be seen, as It¨­ and Yamagata would be the first two prime ministers, or Naikaku S¨­ri-Daijin, of this new Japanese Diet.

Japanese Imperialism Begins

Japan, an island nation that had effectively been closed off for the last 200 years, had quickly advanced to the point that they had a revolution, explored the world, and are using those experiences to create a brand new constitution within just 40 years. This rapid growth would continue beyond the constitution, as Japan was on a crash course with other world powers that were once thought to be beyond Japan¡¯s reach. The most significant of the military conflicts that would follow the ratification of the Meiji Constitution was the First Sino-Japanese War that took place between 1894 and 1895. Going as far back as the Sengoku period, Korea has been a territory that Japan has desired to take control of for military, economic, and social purposes to set them on par with other major colonial powers (Lengerer 2019). After the Emperor of Korea requested support from the Chinese military for domestic issues alongside long-standing political conflicts, the Japanese government saw this as their chance to move in and take over the ¡°perpetual menace to the peace of the Far East¡± (Sk?ivan Sr 2017). China, which had been the dominant force as the ¡°Middle Kingdom¡± between the West and the East, was the betting favorite against the newly formed Japanese government. It was this rise in nationalism and the determination from the Meiji oligarchy caused by the Meiji Restoration that allowed the Japanese to have the confidence that they could go toe-to-toe with a historical power like China.

Despite China¡¯s near-hegemonic power in the region, Japan ended up winning the naval and land battles with the Chinese government and eventually was successful in their invasion of Korea. This result shocked not only Japan but also China and the Western powers that had vested interests in the region (Dower 2008). The First Sino-Japanese War would officially end with the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed by It¨­, where the Japanese would receive not only their desired territories within Korea, but also the island of Taiwan and a large sum of silver as an indemnity (Treaty of Shimonoseki n.d.). The Treaty of Shimonoseki remains an incredibly important document, as it demonstrated the power of the Japanese to Russia, America, and various European countries. The defeat of the Chinese and the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki was a wake-up call for those other nations to take Japan as a serious threat and re-assert themselves as the global elite. The West¡¯s response resulted in the Triple Intervention, where Russia, France, and Germany intervened on behalf of the Chinese and asserted that the Japanese annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula was going too far against the defeated Chinese government. Not wanting to get into a battle they could not win and hoping to remain politically neutral, the Japanese acquiesced and did not take the peninsula. However, the Triple Intervention would infuriate the Japanese government and citizenry alike, as they viewed the West¡¯s interventionism as an insult to Japanese autonomy and right to be an imperial power (Ikl¨¦ 1967). Japanese officials in the early days of the Meiji government were still mostly rich landowners, so imperialism was the logical next step for Japan to further modernize. However, the West was threatened by the potential power and competition that a fully realized Japan would pose to their interests.

The West¡¯s intervention in the affairs of the Japanese imperial pursuits would be the precursor to further conflict in the form of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and territorial conflicts in the years leading up to World War II. It was the Triple Intervention that marked the point that Japan and Russia would eventually come into conflict with one another, as Russia was the hegemonic European power that was encroaching on the territory that the Japanese believed was rightfully theirs for the taking. The Russian government was given the lease to the Liaodong Peninsula after the Triple Intervention (Ikl¨¦ 1967), only worsening the relations between the Japanese, Chinese, and Russian governments. In addition, the Russian government had its eyes set on the Manchuria region and the Korean Peninsula as targets for further imperial expansion, which came into direct conflict with the desires of the Japanese government. Despite attempted negotiations between the Japanese and Russians over the territory, talks would fall through as Japan¡¯s proposals were ¡°certainly unacceptable to the Russian side¡± as they were described to have the ¡°character of an ultimatum,¡± (Pak 2022). Finally driven to war, the Japanese forces launched a surprise attack at Port Arthur in early 1904, starting down a path that would drive Japan towards becoming the dominant force in the eastern hemisphere for years to come.

The Russo-Japanese War was underway after the attack at Port Arthur, and it would continue for over a year until the Japanese gained the territories they desired. After many naval battles that leaned heavily in the favor of the Japanese, the Japanese began moving relentlessly into the Manchuria region. This result was unexpected for the Russians, as the Czar and his military officers believed that the Japanese forces would not be enough to overpower the might of the Russian Empire (Russo-Japanese War 2018). However, much in the same case like China just a few years prior, the Russians underestimated the tenacity of the Meiji Japanese government and its military forces. After nearly two years of bloodshed that accounted for the deaths of over 150,000 soldiers and 20,000 Chinese citizens, Russia ultimately lost the conflict after the Battle at the Tsushima Straits that destroyed what few reinforcements the Russian military had left (Russo-Japanese War 2018). The Japanese, once again, shocked the entire world as they took territory from another hegemonic power. What set this victory apart from the Sino-Japanese War was that this battle demonstrated that an Asian power could not only rival, but outright beat a European power. The Treaty of Port Arthur, which settled terms between the Russians and the Japanese, was mediated by President Theodore Roosevelt. As noted by John W. Steinberg, the United States intervening in the business of the Japanese government again would set the two countries down the path towards conflict that would ultimately lead to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entering World War II (2008). The Russo-Japanese War can be the point at which Japan can truly be called an empire, as upsetting the Western-dominated global hegemony would change geopolitics forever, especially as a precursor to World War I and eventually World War II.

Conclusion

The dreams of figures like Kido, ?kubo, It¨­, and Yamagata were all realized by the end of the Meiji era in 1912, as they had finally escaped the shadows of the weak Tokugawa Shogunate and became a legitimate global power. Despite wanting to play nice with the Western powers that they still depended on for trade, the Meiji government knew that it had the potential to become a true superpower not only in East Asia, but potentially across the entire world. Nationalism would rise year after year, as the Japanese government appeared stronger than it ever had before. The imperial pursuits of the Japanese Empire depended on the people to fuel the industrial engine that was propelling Japan. Spanning from the age of the weak Heian Court to the era of powerful rule by Shoguns to the era of the Constitutional Monarchy, Japan¡¯s government evolved greatly over the centuries to become a global superpower.

This evolution, however, did not come without sacrifice and bloodshed of not only its own people, but also innocent bystanders of Japanese imperialism. Specifically in Korea and China, the Japanese were ruthless in their expansion efforts, and would ultimately lead to the rifts that are seen today. The Meiji government continued to evolve and grow even after the death of Mutsuhito, as his son Yoshihito took Japan in a more democratic direction and expanded the Diet into the form that resembles the modern-day Diet. Figures like It¨­ are undeniably responsible for bringing Japan into the modern era in the Meiji era, but discussion still persists today on the degree to which the modern Japanese government should take responsibility and apologize for the actions that occurred during these periods.

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