Competing Historical Narratives on the Meiji Restoration

Analysis On the De-Asianization and Peasants, Rebels, Women and Outcastes

2022.2

In The Colonizers Models of The World, J.M. Braute argues that there aren't huge gaps in social development as a whole, and the imbalances in development are more due to geography.1 As an archipelago country, Japan is easier to form a cohesive and less complex culture than a continental country. Meiji Restoration is an essential point in Japanese history aiming for De-Asianization2, Japan was setting itself apart from Confucian culture as well as other East Asian countries during Meiji Restoration. By taking the initiative to learn western culture and technology, Japan became one of the colonizers while parts of East Asia became its colonies. Japanese officials, such as Fukuzawa, tout the success of the Meiji Restoration, but in reality, the reforms were incomplete3. Although this top-down bourgeois reform masked the stratification of the Japanese society with the fluidity of social identity, the conflicts between policymakers and policy practitioners led to less optimistic changes in the field of education, military, economy, and politics in Japan compared to what the official narrative had suggested. Modernization was concentrated only on the upper class and western scholar provided a different and even opposite narrative over the origins of the Meiji Restoration and the attitude of its policies by studying Japanese people from the lower class.

1James M. Blaut, The Colonizer's Model of the World (Guilford Press, 2000), 7. 2 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Anne Walthall, East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014), 349. 3 Mikiso Hane, Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 278. Both of them were influenced by Eurocentrism, recognized that advanced European culture was an indispensable catalyst for Japan's modernization, and agreed with the feasibility of colonizing foreign countries to resolve internal conflicts. But Fukuzawa was more deeply influenced and fully agreed with the superiority of Western culture, while Hane

did not deny the role of Western culture in the Meiji Restoration. Fukuzawa studied Confucian classics since childhood. In his early years, he was initially enlightened by modern Western scientific knowledge and travelled to the United States many times. As an intellectual and social theorist, he recognized that what Japan needed was not just simple political reform, but educational reform and enlightenment. He recorded Western political, legal, economic knowledge and writings in books, brought them back to Japan, and created Western-style schools. His famous De-Asianization thought had a significant impact on promoting the modernization reform of Japan's education, economy and legal system. But his ideas are at the national level, filled with a condescending elite tone. For example, in An Encouragement of Learning, although he affirms everyone's human rights, the view of "there are no individuals more pitiable and despicable than the ignorant and illicitate."4 increases discrimination against lower-class people such as peasants so that commoners do not enjoy the fruit of reform, but frequent famines. Therefore, his life experience and historical background restricted him to view the Meiji Restoration completely and objectively, but only expressed his approval and support for the Meiji Restoration from the perspective of the contemporary policymakers.

On the other hand, Hane, who was born in a Japanese family in the United States, analyzes how the lower class of Japan during the Meiji Restoration was actually lived by the policy through interviews and oral histories. His summary and understanding of the social policy of the Meiji Restoration period are comprehensive, with a time lag and cultural advancement. He does not deny that Western culture led the Meiji Restoration to modernize Japan, and at the same time believes that the political and social atmosphere at that time also had an irreplaceable influence: the reform was incomplete although it was top-down. Policies implemented to modernize such as the education system, conscription regulations, land tax reform and the Poor Party did not make breakthroughs in the lives of the lower classes. By comparing the comments of the upper class (Japanese government officials and Fukuzawa's On the De-Asianization) with the lower classes (Mikiso Hane's Peasants, Rebels, Women and Outcastes) on the Meiji Restoration policies and their implementations, I argue that due to different understandings of lower class and foreign culture’s power, different narratives have different views on the origin and specific policies of Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration's role is undeniable, but its origins are different between those recorded in Japan and the West. The Japanese official works mainly focused on the transformation caused by foreign culture with military oppression. In his work On the De-Asianization. Fukuzawa represented the attitude of the Japanese upper oligarchs. He wanted to prove the inevitability and legitimacy of the Meiji government under the threats of western power. He expressed the urgency of the Meiji Restoration and the heroism of the Japanese government in the face of danger. For example, he pointed out that people took the initiative to overthrow the government because of foreign invasion: " If we were to keep the government, civilization could by no means be introduced. "5 The failure of China's Opium War declared the inability of the closed-door policy in East Asia. The Black Ships the U.S sent to ensure the trade made Japan deeply aware of the power of western technology and their urgent need of modernization. To ensure the nation's independence before the invasion of the Westerners, the only way Japan can and only can do this is to overthrow the old government and learn the new cultural, political and social system from the West. In this way, Japan was able to get rid of the old government and customs and start a new trend of civilization.6

4 Fukuzawa, Yukichi, 1835-1901.; Dilworth, David A., 1934-; Nishikawa, Shunsaku., An Encouragement of Learning (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), 8.

5 “On De-Asianization by Fukuzawa Yukichi 1885” in The Meiji Japan through Contemporary Sources (Tokyo: Centre for East Asian cultural studies, 1970), 130. 6 Ibid., 133.

On the other hand, Mikiso Hane, author of Peasants, Rebels, Women and Outcastes, argues that problems persisted despite efforts at modernization and the Meiji government came to power because of internal problems—change of regime. Mikiso Hane mainly attributed the Meiji Restoration to the internal chaos with the help of western culture in Japan because he understood the truth from the perspective of the lower class such as peasants. He demonstrates that “Before the Tokugawa regime fell, imperial authorities sought to turn peasants under the Bakufu against it by permitting freebooting ranin (‘master- less warriors’) to spread word.”7 and revealed the murky history of broken promises that the Meiji government tried to hide. The imperial rulers turned the peasants against the old Tokugawa government and enlisted them in the army to promise a 50% tax cut. As a result of this coercion, the regime was transferred. But after the peaceful transfer, the new government did not intend to complete the promised tax cuts and vigorously suppressed the peasant uprising. After the Meiji Restoration, although the government tried to restructure social identity to reduce inequality, the bottom class of Japanese people did not enjoy welfare but still sacrificed their lives and resources for the interests of the elite.8 The Meiji Restoration carried out four main reforms in education, military, economy, and politics. But Fikuzawa and Mikiso Hane had different understandings of the policies. While Fukuzawa praised how Meiji Restoration policies were nicely designed by the upper class aiming to constantly abolish social restrictions and to achieve modernization, Hane studied the continuous outbreak of class contradictions from the perspective of the lower class. The Meiji government implemented the National Education System and conscription ordinances in education and the military. Under Fukuzawa's promotion of de-Asianization and thorough learning of western civilization, Japan used the theoretically free National

7 Mikiso Hane, “MODERNIZATION AND THE PEASANTS,” in Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016), 12. 8 Ibid., 4.

Education System to enhance the quality of its population while instilling filial piety and Shinto to discourage the appeal of west Christianity on attracting the public. Fukuzawa stated that "by the early years of this century illiteracy had practically disappeared from the Villages."9 Saying Japan's boast of eradicating illiteracy could boost its national self-confidence and international standing as it tries to shake off its unenlightened image alongside with other Asian countries. Athough he believes that "the principle of Heaven grants freedom from bondage to each individual person", he also agrees that the gap between the rich and the poor in society lies in knowledge.10 Therefore, he is urgently placed upon learning because everyone has different functions for the functioning of society, and they have to learn the principle of thing “in order to possess requisite talents and virtues”11 to contribute to society more effectively. Therefore, he strongly advocated education for all in the education reform, and even exaggerated the results of the policy, in order to let people see the positive effect.

But Mikiso Hane points out that “illiteracy disappeared” can only be said by people who are not familiar with the countryside. He based on the actual social situation and traditional customs in rural areas said the National Education System is not implemented well. This view strengthened people's understanding of the overall effect of the National Education System policy from the perspective of the grassroots level. Sending children to school costs not only tuition fees but also the loss of farm labour, so there are still a large number of illiterate people in the countryside. Other backward ideas like female education being useless also keep girls from school. At the same time, the excessive spread of patriotic and loyalty ideas through the education system gave Japan abnormal self-confidence, leading to its military aggression later.

9 Ibid., 21. 10 Fukuzawa, Yukichi, 1835-1901.; Dilworth, David A., 1934-; Nishikawa, Shunsaku., An Encouragement of Learning (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), 7. 11 Ibid., 9.

On the military side, there is disagreement about the reasons why compulsory military service, which is conscription ordinances, is not accepted by the masses. In the official interpretation, the unsuccess of conscription ordinances is due to the ignorance of ordinary people: "Both farmers and shizoku opposed conscription. The ordinance used the term ‘blood tax,’ meaning that all citizens should willingly sacrifice themselves for their country. " 12 The authorities thought Japanese peasants were ignorant and took it literally that the government really wanted their blood. This kind of thinking justifies the correctness of the policy and implies that the privileged class is arrogant of reality and disdains the lower class. But What Mikiso Hane found was that people weren't as ignorant as they were officially made out to be. Farmers believe that conscription is life-threatening, equivalent to working for free, and reduces the family's labour force. Such a viewpoint is more realistic and views the issue of conscription ordinances from a personal perspective. Militarily, as Japan wanted to become the center of Asia under the influence of Eurocentrism, it tried to gain benefits from colonialism. With the rapid development of Japan due to militarist aggression and its adoption of heroism, the Japanese people, having tasted the benefits, began to join the army while conscription ordinances were gradually accepted actively. In reorganizing social identities, breaking down classes and creating equality, the National Education System and conscription ordinances did more than any other reform to eliminate status distinctions and create equality of opportunity.13

Economically, the Meiji government's heavy land tax policy and deflationary policies left many peasants bankrupt and in debt. Official news and the Peasants, Rebels, Women and Outcastes gave different reviews towards this policy. The Japanese official expressed, "They must work harder, be thrifty, and save more."14 about the miserable life of countless poor

farmers. This is because the Meiji government only cares whether the profits of the upper oligarchs are affected, ignoring the peasants, the foundation of society. As the government reformed the land tax, farmers could privatize their land, but the official annual tax was changed to money instead of crops, so the tax began to be linked to the market price. Deflation was adopted because land annexation and inflation put Japan in financial jeopardy. But such policies have left millions of poor people homeless. Mikiso Hane criticizes this radical policy that doesn't take into account the realities of the poor: "While the rich and the powerful seek and acquire more wealth and power, what is to be done with the millions of contemplates who have no home or food and are starving to death?" This is because he knows the fact that life at the bottom was not good because of the policy: the poor were heavily in debt, money lenders became greedy but the upper classes neglect them. Hence, the peasant women work and caught tuberculosis in textile mills or went to brothels. men at the bottom worked in heavy industries for poor wages, and miners worked in dangerous jobs with low pay and prison-like conditions. Class and gender limit equality as the hope of social mobility masks a stratified society.

12 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Anne Walthall, “Meiji Transformation,” in East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013), 351. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid.,27.

Also, The Liberal Party, usually Shizoku and the Wealthy Commoners, used newspapers to spread their slurs against the Party of the poor, call them "a sickness that eats into the heart and guts of the nation" and "the onset of a most frightful disease."15This is because policymakers did not care about the interests and feelings of the poor because they saw any movement in which the poor practised as a threat to their privileged status.16 Newspapers, periodicals, and other mass media no longer serve only to exemplify and promote civilization and enlightenment but have political purposes. Overall, The Meiji Restoration was born in a complex domestic and foreign environment. It was undoubtedly a successful reform from a contemporary's view. The policies of the Meiji government in education, military, economy, and politics tried to abolish social restrictions and increase equality, but this did not mean equality. We can have a comprehensive understanding of the origin, policies, and effects of the Meiji Restoration through the different judgments of the Japanese official and Western works. While Japanese officials emphasize the origin of the Restoration was from outside pressure, Western work demonstrates it came from internal chaos. While Japanese official emphasizes the success of adopting the success of a series of policies like the National Education System, conscription ordinances, land tax reform and the Poor People's Party, Western work proves they are not successful for lower-class people. While the Japanese government flaunted Japan's modernization, Western literature argued that Japan's modernity was aimed only at the upper class and wealth was concentrated in oligarchs.17 Different narratives and different views on the origin and specific policies of Meiji Restoration are because of the different understandings of lower class and foreign culture’s power.

15 Ibid.,26.

16 Ibid. 17 Ibid.,14.

Bibliography

Blaut, James M. The Colonizer's Model of the World. Guilford Press, 2000. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, and Anne Walthall. “Meiji Transformation.” In East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013. Fukuzawa, Yukichi. An Encouragement of Learning. New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press, 2013. https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.7312/fuku16714 Hane, Mikiso. “MODERNIZATION AND THE PEASANTS.” In Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016. On De-Asianization by Fukuzawa Yukichi 1885. In The Meiji Japan through Contemporary Sources. Tokyo: Centre for East Asian cultural studies, 1970.