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The Role Of The Emperor In Meiji Japan

The Role of the Emperor in Meiji Japan

Within this historical context the Meiji leaders realized that they needed
to harness the concept of the Imperial Will in order to govern effectively.
During the Age of Imperialism, members of the Satsuma and Choshu, two of
the very powerful clans in Japan, were parts of the opposition to foreign
imperialism. This opposition believed that the only way that Japan could
survive the encroachment of the foreigners was to rally around the Emperor.
The supporters of the imperial government, known as imperialists, claimed
that the Tokugawa Shogunate had lost its imperial mandate to carry out the
Imperial Will because it had capitulated to Western powers by allowing them
to open up Japan to trade. During this time the ideas of the imperialists
gained increasing support among Japanese citizens and intellectuals who
taught at newly established schools and wrote revisionist history books
that claimed that historically the Emperor had been the ruler of Japan.
The fact that the Tokugawa's policy of opening up Japan to the western
world ran counter to beliefs of the Emperor and was unpopular with the
public made the Tokugawa vulnerable to attack from the imperialists. The
imperialists pressed their attack both militarily and from within the Court
of Kyoto. The Japanese public and the Shogun's supporters soon felt that
they had lost the Imperial Will.
The end of the Tokugawa regime shows the power of the symbolism and myths
surrounding the imperial institution. The head of the Tokugawa clan died in
1867 and was replaced by the son of a lord who was a champion of Japanese
historical studies and who agreed with the imperialists' claims about
restoring the Emperor. In 1867, the new shogun handed over all his power
to Emperor Komeo in Kyoto. Shortly after handing over power to Emperor
Komeo, the Emperor died and was replaced by his son who became the Meiji
Emperor, which officially started the Meiji period (1868-1911). The
Meiji Emperor was only 15, and so all the power of the new restored Emperor
fell not in the Emperor's hands but in the hands of his close advisors.
Once in control of the government, the Meiji leaders and advisors to the
Emperor reversed their policy of hostility to Foreigners. The reason for
doing this was because after Emperor Komeo, who strongly opposed contact
with the west, died in 1867 the Meiji Emperor's advisors were no longer
bound by his Imperial Will. They

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