Emperor Meiji and the Meiji Jingu Shrine

we went to a lot of cool places. Listen, you may recall that when we travel internationally, my husband is ever on the lookout for was a John Wick filmed here, let me go and then we go but in this and we did do that in Japan. But one of the things that my best friend picked was visiting the Meiji Jingu Shrine, which was very, very cool, And it was kind of funny because as we were walking along, there's quite a long walk to get from the city

street into the shrine, this beautiful walk. We'll talk about it a little at the end, and we were discussing how old it was or was not, And of course I am ever like, hey, we have magic boxes in our pockets, why don't we look this up? And we were all surprised that it was much newer than we thought,

so because it doesn't feel new at all. And I was like, this is fascinating, and I want to talk about the whole story of this, which means that we have to talk about Emperor Meiji, which is also just an interesting story about an important and transitional part of Han's history. Yeah. I'm not a Japanese or Asian studies scholar, but I have sure read a lot of books, and I had a fourteen hour plane ride back to do some of that. So and it's in one case, you.

Emperor Meiji's reign began in eighteen sixty seven. Of course, this is going to be an incredibly abbreviated version of that whole reign. We could not talk about the entirety of it in an episode. Meiji is the name he took as emperor. He was born Mutsuhito on No. Eighteen fifty two. He was the second son of the preceding Emperor Kolme. Cole May's first son had died in infancy. During Koleme's reign, the emperor had largely been a figurehead,

and Japan was mainly governed by the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was during the time of Coome that Japan, which had been mostly closed to foreigners, particularly foreigners from outside of Asia for about two hundred and fifty years, was opened up more Under Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival and request, he showed up a sort of a famous story at this point, backed up by a show of naval power, so at that point the country opened its ports to the US.

The Treaty of Kanagawa was signed on March thirty first of eighteen fifty four, and while it was not a commercial treaty, it was really lopsided in favor of the United States. It made it possible for the US to make more finance strategic moves with Japan.

changes and exposure to new influences. Kome had not been in favor of modernizing to align with Western ideologies, including the dissolution of the shogunate and feudal ruling structure, but his son Meiji favored modernization and he made a lot of changes to Japan's governmental organization. And though he was emperor from the time his father died, it wasn't until eighteen sixty eight when the last Tokagawa shogun resigned after a bit of a power struggle that the role of

emperor was actually seen as head of the country. This this important change and the taking of the name Meiji by the emperor is known as the Meiji Restoration, and it also signaled a lot more massive changes ahead.

incredibly stable for a long time. Writing for the journal Southeast Asian Studies in nineteen ninety five, Hissaufruukawa explained quote under its seclusionist policy, Japan had achieved a balance among its disparate types of leadership, the imperial court, the nobility, and the shogun. Under the shogunate aland system of shared government, which rested on a rice stipend system, the clans functioned rather like one hundred or more self supporting companies competing

economically with each other. A controlling organization of shogunate daimyo and clan executives, samurai village headman and nago servant peasants ran a complicated and subtle administrative organization. Not only commercial capital, but also industrial capital was sufficiently available. So thinking about this stability, it becomes more apparent why there would be some consternation and resistance to adopting practices and ideas from

Western culture. In eighteen sixty eight, the young Emperor Meiji made a number of big changes, and one was that Edo was renamed Tokyo, which means Eastern Capital, and the imperial residence was moved there. Kyoto had been the imperial capital up to that point, but the move to Tokyo meant that the capital city, which sits on Tokyo Bay, which opens out into the Pacific Ocean, had a better

position as an international shipping port. Another change was that he enacted the Charter Oath of five Principles written by a young group of samurai sometimes called the Meiji Oligarchs, who had fought to overthrow the shogunate, and these principles were designed to westernize and modernize the country and really make it a player on the global stage. This was a short document and it reads in its entirety as follows.

so that there may be no discontent. Four evil customs of the past shall be broken off, and everything based upon the just laws of nature. Five Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.

Boshin War or the Boushin Civil War. The name Boshin refers to the year that the war started, and this war, which had a lot of other influences and a long lead up could certainly be its own episode, but in terms of Meijie's rule, the conflict lasted a year and a half, and it reflected the turmoil of the nation and a lot of fear about Japan losing that stability it had enjoyed for centuries. Ultimately, the shogunut was defeated in eighteen seventy one, the feudal system was abolished completely.

The massive nature of this shift cannot be overstated. It changed a seven century practice of feudal domains run by local daimyo into a prefecture system that rolled up under the umbrella of the country's central government. But though the Meiji government got rid of the feudal system, it was not as though the entire previous organizational structure and its

leadership was just thrown out entirely. In many cases, the feudal lords who had been in power became governors under this new structure, and there were still efforts to create new forces that were hoping to push back on the Meiji government. So there was ongoing conflict and ongoing fails to be like, let's reverse things and go back to the old way, and that led to ongoing concerns about rebellions and possible added civil wars as the transition known as the Meiji Reformation played out.

they all have their own very bumpy stories. A new school system was established in eighteen seventy two through the Education System Order, and this plan created a national standardization for education, and it made education universal throughout Japan, so that all children would receive an education in the population overall would see an increase in intellectual understanding and pursuits.

In addition to education for all, the government sought to equalize the nation by declaring that the class system that had so long determined the course of the country was no longer in play. All classes were considered equal. The samurai, who had already lost their status in this change, were also banned from carrying their swords. Soon, many men who had been part of the samurai class started seeking out

new professions. A national army was established in eighteen seventy two, with a conscription requirement that meant that all men, regardless of class, had to serve for three years. Again, not everyone liked these changes. While a lot of citizens saw an increase in their standing, others lost theirs and an effort to equalize, and samurai in particular felt like the rug had really been pulled out from under them.

Rice was and still is incredibly culturally significant and even sacred. So this was an important transition, not just from a logistical sense of providing food for the country, but also as a community gesture, providing for one another with a resource that was cultivated and tended by the people. Rice also had become a signifier of success and wealth. A man with a full grain store was considered rich, and

the plant was used beyond its food possibilities. There are parts of it used to create mats, to make paste, et cetera. So people were all in on this whole system that for a very long time had been about how much rice do you have and how much rice do we pay so that everyone in the country eats, and that was all changing. The Land Tax Reform Law of eighteen seventy three changed this entire system by moving it to a cash based system with tax rates based on land holdings. The intention was.

and development projects. Unfortunately, this tax was really difficult for the farmers of Japan, and although it was revised to try to help the situation, agricultural communities really continued to struggle.

access to currency were suddenly expected to pay things in currency. Yeah, it's like it's like if tomorrow everyone said in the US, by the way, we're only accepting putting as payment. You can get a hold of pudding, but it would just be such an odd and different way of handling it that it would be very, very difficult even if you had access to putting. I know that's a weird comparison, but that's that's the best I can do at the moment. So a cabinet style of government was also adopted under

Meiji in eighteen eighty five. This was not the first reorganization of government under Meiji's rule, but it became a significant and more lasting system designed to get rid of many of the inefficiencies of structures. So the cabinet established the role of prime Minister, who reports directly to the Emperor, and multiple ministers of state who report to the Prime minister.

This government was further refined in the Meiji Constitution, which was created in eighteen eighty nine, and that new constitution called for the establishment of a bi cameral parliament. In addition to the prime minister and cabinet of ministers, it also gave command of the country's military forces to the emperor. They had not really had huge military forces before this,

they were being built up. In eighteen ninety one, the bicameral legislature called for in the Constitution, known as the Diet, was officially established the House of Peers. The upper house consisted of officials who were appointed to their positions, while the lower House of Representatives was made up of elected officials.

Korea was made dependent on China for a lot in a lot of ways for centuries, but as Japan westernized, it also started to take a more active interest in Korean resources. As Japan industrialized, its leaders started to realize they could get things like coal and iron from Korea, which was nearby, rather than from farther away resources. So from Japan's perspective, Korea offered a lot of economic possibility.

Just as the United States had kind of forced Japan's hand in the mid eighteen hundreds move to open Japan's ports to North American trade. Japan made a similar move in Korea, and Japan also urged Korea to kind of get out from under China's shadow when it came to relationships with other countries, specifically its relationship with Japan.

they would both get their troops out of Korea. But ten years later, the leader of that eighteen eighty four coup, Kim Akkun, who was still in support of a Korean relationship with Japan, was a assassinated quartered and his body was publicly displayed to deter anyone else from joining the

pro Japan movement within Korea. Soon, China had moved troops into Korea again to quell rebellions that sprang up in the wake of this assassination, and Japan, noting that this was a violation of their eighteen eighty four agreement, sent its own troops in response. The war ran from August eighteen ninety four to March eighteen ninety five, and in that time Japanese forces had bested the Chinese forces at

sea and had invaded China on land. Chinese leadership finally asked for an end to the war, and in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, gave Korea its independence from China, seated Taiwan and other territory to Japan, opened its ports to Japanese trade, and agreed to pay a steep indemnity to Japan. But after another decade, japan interest in Korea once again led to war, this time with Russia. There's another parallel

here as well. Russia had moved into Manchuria following the lease of the modern day Port of Lusha in China, which was called Port Arthur at the time. Japan was not pleased with this, and Russia eventually agreed to withdraw military forces from Manchuria after Japan made it clear that their presence there was perceived as a problem, but Russia did not withdraw troops, so Japan launched a surprise attack

of Port Arthur on February eighth, nineteen oh four. This started an eighteen month conflict that overlapped with the nineteen oh five Revolution in Russia, leaving that country stretched really thin not in a good position to engage with Japan. Eventually, President Theodore Roosevelt got involved to negotiate a treaty. That agreement, the Treaty of Portsmouth, was signed on September fifth of nineteen oh five, and Roosevelt would later receive a Nobel

Peace Prize for this effort. Emperor Meiji's government was not done with plans for Korea, though, the result of the Russo Japanese War was that Japan got control over the China Sea, which gave the country total access to Korea. In nineteen ten, Japan began colonial rule of Korea after

the signing of the Japan Korea Annexation Treaty. This treaty, which was controversial then and has continued to be controversial since even after it has been revoked, begins with a proclamation that makes it sound like Korea is a big mess, and that Japan is somehow doing the country a favor by stepping in. It's a lot to read, but I want to include the whole thing because it's the language

is really really to me. Kind of startling quote. Notwithstanding the earnest and laborious work of reforms in the administration of Korea in which the governments of Japan and Korea engaged for more than four years since the conclusion of the Agreement of nineteen oh five, the existing system of government in that country has not proved entirely equal to the duty of preserving public order and tranquility, and in addition, the spirit of suspicion and misgiving dominates the whole peninsula.

In order to maintain peace and stability in Korea, to promote the prosperity and welfare of Koreans, and at the same time, to ensure the safety and repose of foreign residents, it has been made abundantly clear that fundamental changes in

the actual regime of government are absolutely essential. The governments of Japan and Korea being convinced of the urgent necessity of introducing reforms responsive to the requirements of the situation and a furnishing sufficient guarantee for the future have with the approval of His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of Korea, concluded through their planetpotentiaries a tree providing for complete annexation of Korea to the

Empire of Japan. By virtue of that important act, which shall take effect on its promulgation on August twenty ninth, nineteen ten, the Imperial Government of Japan shall undertake the entire government and administration of Korea.

will govern Korea. There's also one article that reads, quote, the Government of Japan will, so far as circumstances permit, employ in the public service of Japan and Korea, those Koreans who accept the new regime loyally and in good faith, and who are duly qualified for such service. There is obviously a whole history with Japan and Korea, much of it deeply upsetting.

pride and the necessity of devotion to the emperor. This shift had started with the reforms of education and taxation that sought to make the people of the country more prepared for a new era in gauging with the rest of the world. But even in those early reforms, it also included a lot of requirements of loyalty to the emperor, and as Japan fought and won in military conflicts with major global powers, that sense of nationalism really crept in.

garden that the couple really loved. This park was built on land that had been part of a daimyo's holdings in the era prior to the Meiji governmental restructuring, and it was taken by the government in Meiji's time to be turned into the Yoyogi Imperial Garden. It was at Meiji's order that the iris garden be planted in the park to delight Empress Shoken because irises were her favorite flower.

including some of the issues with Korea that Tracy and I had referenced just a moment ago, he was still recognized as ushering in a lot of significant change and bringing Japan out of isolation is thinking and into the global community.

the concept of religious conversion. But Shinto places value in harmony with nature and virtues such as mago koro sincere heart. In Shinto, something divine is regarded as kami, divine spirit, and it is believed that there is an unlimited number of kami. Kami can be found in mythology, in nature, and in human beings. From ancient times Japanese have felt awe and gratitude towards such kami and enshrined them to

Shinto shrines. Shinto is such a part of Japanese culture that it almost transcends the idea of religion and becomes a more cultural practice. Writing for the Yale Forum for Religion and Ecology, Rosemary Bernard noted, quote, it is impossible to consider the topic of Shinto and ecology without making reference to the broader issue of Japanese cultural attitudes to

the natural environment. This is because what one might describe as Shinto beliefs are often values that are entrenched in Japanese folk culture in general, and which find expression in other areas beyond religion, from socio political organization to esthetics and so on.

and seventy three acres in size. You are completely surrounded by trees as you make your way to the shrine's try gates, which separate the secular part of the grounds from the sacred section, and before you pass through the final gate, you pass through a font called the temezuya, where you wash your hands and rinse your mouth with water to be purified.

Holli saw several write ups that said there were one hundred thousand trees, but a twenty fifteen book on Shinto shrines written by Joseph Kelly and John Dougill gave the number of trees as one hundred and seventy thousand, so maybe that smaller number was more of the starting point when the shrine was completed in nineteen twenty. When you look at photos of the site from when it was first dedicated, you can see how much this forest has grown.

In old aerial photos you can clearly see all the buildings with just the trees planted around them, but in photos today it is just a mass of green foliage with small glimpses of the structures peeking through.

There's a museum that includes various treasures related to the shrine into Emperor Meiji, and a secondary annex of the museum. There is also a sacred music hall known as the Kaguradin. There is a cafe and a martial arts dojo. Not all of these buildings, of course, were original to the site. In fact, none of the current buildings are from the original nineteen twenty opening. During World War.

for their own spiritual reasons. But there are no photographs allowed beyond the outer worship hall, so if you're in the inner worship hall praying, there are no photographs in there.

You can also purchase votive tablets called Emma for five hundred yen and write wishes and hopes and just gratitude on them. You can hang them around a camphor tree at the main shrine. There's also a letter verse of this ritual in which you can write your sentiment onto it and then tuck money into the letter to place it in an offering box.

not getting all of the information about Emperor Meiji. Presumably to people of Japan the connection is obvious, but to turists, I feel like they may not always understand exactly like what is going on and why those people were chosen to have a shrine built to memorialize them. So if you go to Japan, highly recommend it. Do you have listener mail for us.

thoughtful reflections and contextualization and humor. I've been listening on and off for about ten years and always enjoy hearing your voices and learning new things. I'm writing to tell you about several books I'm reading connected to your topics. First, I was completely floored by your recent show about the

Lost Cause. I had never known that this take on the Civil War was a concerted effort to reframe reconstruction and motivations for the war, etc. I am from South Carolina and distinctly remember being taught in middle school in the nineteen nineties that slavery was not, in fact the reason for the Civil War, and that the teacher expected us to put states' rights as the top motivator on

our test. I also clearly remember the text books, highlighting the vocabulary for carpetbaggers and scallowags in the description of Northerners coming to the South during reconstruction to take advantage of poor Southerners. I think on some level, I always knew that people from other states got different versions of history, but your thorough treatment of the Lost Cause was truly the first time this all came together for me. Y'all suggested books to read that treated the Civil War and

Reconstruction with richer perspectives. I can't recall if you specifically recommended this book, but I was inspired to start reading A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn to get a fresh take on US history. I also have been enjoying Baking in the American South by Anne Burn. The book is beautifully photographed, and the stories behind the recipes are enchanting and informative about their history and local origin. I truly enjoyed the episode where you interviewed Anne Burn

and find the book equally delightful. The chocolate chip cookie recipe is amazing, and someday I will master cornbread if I can ever remember not to use one percent milk instead of whole or buttermilk, just as in Aside. I can't get enough of Van Burne. I love her so much, and that book is spectacular. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating. I'm now, Anita says on the episode about Kurt Vonnegut, which is quite timely because I

just finished Cat's Cradle. She's just tied to our stories in her reading as pet tax, I'm attaching photos of my rescue pup, Juno, an Australian cattle dog mix who loves to eat grits, and heard my daughters around the house. Thank you again. I love the show. Okay, I'm obsessed with Juno. I'm obsessed with this dog.