METHODIST

QUARTERLY REVIEW.

JULY, 1882.

ART. I.-NEW JAPAN.

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THE title of this article is neither an anachronism nor exaggeration. The radical transformation through which the nation has voluntarily passed during the past few years fully authorizes the use of the designation, "New Japan,” which we have applied to it. A simple reference to the more prominent changes that have transpired is sufficient to establish this point. Among these events we may allude to the abandonment of its policy of seclusion and isolation; the formation of treaties with the leading nations of the world; the restoration to the Mikado of the authority which both de jure and according to primitive usage belonged to him; the establishment of what is at least approximately a constitutional form of government; the initiation of a national parliament; the utter destruction of the feudal system; the neutralization of its laws against Christianity; the introduction of a new system of coinage adapted to the demands of modern commerce; the adoption of the most improved methods for mining; the construction of railways and telegraphs, and the organization of lines of steamers both for domestic and foreign trade; the development of an advanced system of education; the acceptance and promulgation of the "Code Napoleon" as the laws of the empire; the reconstruction of its judicial administration in accordance with this code, under the supervision of eminent FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXIV.-27

jurists invited from Western nations; and, lastly, the proclamation just issued by the Mikado fixing the year 1890 as the time for introducing the completed form of representative government originally promised by him in 1868, and now in .active process of preparation.

The foregoing condensed statement amply indicates the ¡propriety of our using the title placed at the head of the present article, and ought to be sufficient, one would think, to convince all parties both of the sincerity of the Japanese Government in its progressive movement, and also of its ability to perform the task in hand. Bearing in mind that the existing period of reform in Japan was not preceded by a time of adequate preparation; that the movement commenced somewhat suddenly; and that, from the outset, it has been retarded by unavoidable complications and embarrassments arising from foreign as well as native sources, the success already achieved is certainly creditable to Japan, and, at the same time, highly gratifying and assuring to her friends in all countries. The character and ability of reformers are frequently indicated quite as much by what they do not as by what they do attempt. Judged by this test, the leaders of the progressive movement in Japan are entitled to high praise. It is noteworthy, in reviewing the course of events in that country during the past twenty-seven years, to see how few, comparatively, are the mistakes or injudicious measures into which the authorities of the government have been betrayed. Avoiding, to a great extent, undue interference with the local customs, social regulations, and religious convictions of the people, and directing its attention almost exclusively to matters germane and absolutely essential to the work in hand, the Government of Japan has steadily advanced in its great enterprise of reform without serious disaster, and, as far at least as the general lines of its policy are concerned, almost without failure. The brief summary of changes we have already presented, admirable alike from what it omits and from what it contains, constitutes the entire programme of the government with regard to this subject; and it is satisfactory to observe that every measure included in the programme has been carried forward to substantial and apparently perma

nent success.

A glance at the conditions under which this work has been performed will enable us to appreciate the value of the success already achieved. It is one of the striking features of the great political movement which has produced the recent changes in Japan, that it is not so much the product of a pre-concerted plan, as the outgrowth of events and forces, some of which were not in existence at the time of the inception of the movement, and which were at the first unknown to and, as far as we can judge, unanticipated by its originators and promoters. Among the difficulties confronting the leaders in Japan's renaissance, a prominent place must be assigned to the feudal system. With the territory of the empire divided into petty principalities, each governed by its own feudal lord, who, aside from a general allegiance to the supreme head of the government, was the ultimate and irresponsible source and factor of authority within his own domain, it were impossible to effect and idle to anticipate the accomplishment of a grand enterprise like the one going forward so successfully in Japan at the present time. And yet, while it was easy enough to apprehend and, in a measure, appreciate the difficulty presented by this system, it was not an easy matter to provide a practicable method for its removal. The system had originated with the nation; and, with the exception of about four hundred years, had, under slight modifications, co-existed with it. It had contributed to the formation of Japanese character, and had inspired, while furnishing the models of, the national heroism. It had dictated the laws of the realm, had given its own impress to the literature and art of the nation, and was interwoven indeed with the entire structure of Japanese society. It would seem that a system so impregnably intrenched could only pass away with the existence of the nation itself. It appears almost incredible that within the brief period of about seventeen years, reckoning from the time (1854) when Commodore Perry, on behalf of the United States Government, negotiated a treaty with the Government of Japan, the cntire system collapsed and was relegated to its place among the effete institutions of a past age; and our estimate of the remarkable character of the event is heightened when we learn that the collapse of the system was due to the voluntary action of the feudal lords themselves. The influences which operated

to produce this surprising result will become apparent as we proceed with this article.

Another difficulty to be grappled with was the traditionary and dominant family or clan influence which had always been a controlling element in Japanese history. The Mikado, or Emperor, it is true, has always been recognized and deferred to as the supreme head of the empire. Regarded by his subjects as the lineal descendant of the great Sun-goddess, his person has been held sacred, his authority as of divine origin, and his will the unchallenged law of the land. But it was not to be expected that a being so exalted would descend to the multifarious and frequently distracting duties of an earthly sovereign indeed, the very logic which enthroned him with the gods demonstrated to the Japanese mind his unfitness for terrestrial associations. It is only in the extremely simple and primitive condition of society which characterizes the first centuries in the history of Japan that we find indications of what we may call the direct or personal administration of the Mikado. From the eighth century of the Christian era the emperor was consigned to seclusion and comparative imbecility, while the administration of the empire passed successively into the hands of several of the powerful families or clans. It may be said indeed that the history of these dominant families is the history of the nation. The celebrated families of Fujiwara, Taira, Minamoto, and Hōjō, wielded the power of the government from the eighth century till about the middle of the fourteenth. From about the middle of the fourteenth century to the close of the sixteenth the executive power was in the hands of the Ashikaga line of Shoguns, supplemented by the successive personal administrations of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the Tokugawa clan obtained control of the government and exercised it until 1868, when the Mikado became the de facto as well as the de jure sovereign of the empire. This dual form of government, notwithstanding its irregularity, noticed indeed by the more thoughtful minds, had existed so long that it had come to pass unchallenged among the great body of the people, and was accepted and acquiesced in by them with implicit obedience. The Tokugawa clan, which, in the person of its chief, wielded the