The Tokugawa Regents Step Out

The new regent was the last man to uphold the office so long occupied by his ancestors. More of a thinker than a man of deeds, he preferred the quiet of a library to the duties and dangers of power, and it was with reluctance that he accepted the dignity offered him. He would have been well enough pleased, in peaceful times, to hand the responsibilities of his office over to an ambitious prime minister, but these were days when the regent himself must act.

The Tennô in Kyoto seemed to be well disposed toward the new regent, since he gave his sister in marriage to him. But this did not lead to peace. The agitation was more than ever kept up by Satsuma and Choshiu, who had been assured of the help of many powerful clans. Such was the situation when the Tennô, Komei (koh-mi), died, in the beginning of 1867, and the boy Mutsuhito (moots-shtoh), a lad not quite fifteen years old, succeeded to the title and dignity.

Hitotsubashi, or Keiki (kay-kee), the regent, went to Kyoto to pay his respects to the Tennô! How the times had changed in less than a score of years. Twenty years before, the Yedo government was all powerful, and the descendant of the sun goddess was a mere name, a shadow; and now, the eyes of all Japan, and of the foreign ministers also, were fixed upon this boy, the heir to—what? It was more than probable that there would be a change, but one by which only the master or guardian would be affected. For if the idea of a united Japan existed at all, it was only in the minds of a very few men,—Okubo of Satsuma, Kido of Choshiu, and Sanjo and Iwakura the kuge. But the regent saw that his time had come, and on November 9, 1867, he resigned.

Hitotsubashi or Keiki

This resignation placed the leaders, of the revolution in a quandary. The clans opposed to the Tokugawa were in the majority in the palace, so that now they could use the emperor's authority, but they were perplexed as to what to do. A meeting of the daimio was called for the purpose of deciding the form of the new government, and in the meanwhile the regent was told to continue in his office until further orders. But the daimio did not appear. With the exception of one or two, they were helpless puppets in the hands of their samurai,—men who had never been allowed to originate an idea, or even to decide in matters strictly concerning themselves. And to call a meeting of the leading samurai of the clans would have evoked inter-clannish jealousies, and perhaps a prolonged civil war. It was a dangerous period for Japan.

The foreign ministers had come to Osaka to be present at the opening of that port and of Hiogo, which was to take place on New Year's day, 1868. On the 3rd of January the combined clans seized the palace gates; and the regent, now afraid of personal injury, left Kyoto secretly on the evening of January 6th, and withdrew to the castle of Osaka. The allied clans now summoned him to appear; but, having been advised by the Tokugawa clan to be on his guard, he went, accompanied by about ten thousand samurai, loyal to the Tokugawa house. The allied clans resolved to prevent him from marching upon the capital with his force, and for the third time in the history of Japan the rice fields of Fushimi (foo-shee-mee) saw the fate of Japan decided. The regent was defeated, and fled by sea to Yedo. One of his councilors urged upon him to commit hara-kiri, but Hitotsubashi declined. The man who advised him was honest in the belief that this ought to be done, and, to prove it, committed suicide himself.

The allied clans decided first to subdue those northern clans who still remained faithful to the regent's cause. An army of samurai was easily collected, and, to avoid jealousy, it was commanded in person by the man highest in rank after the Tennô, Prince Arisugawa, while the active command was taken by Japan's ideal samurai, Saigo Takamori of Satsuma. Yedo surrendered after a brief struggle in the temple on the Uyeno (oo-way-noh) heights. But Enomoto (en-noh-moh-toh), the admiral of the regent's fleet, escaped to Hokkaido, taking with him the foreign vessels bought by the regent's government.

The northern clans made the best struggle they could, but the regent was ordered to withdraw to his castle at Shizuoka (sheed-zoo-oh-kah), where he still lives, enjoying himself with experiments in photography. Enomoto first thought of forming a republic in Hokkaido; but the allied clans pursued him, and at last he surrendered, offering to commit hara-kiri if his companions were spared. But the leaders of the new government did not desire to arouse the clan spirit for the sake of revenge; they had one wish: to be able to cope with the foreigners on their own terms, and for that purpose they needed a united Japan. Enomoto and the other Tokugawa leaders were taken into the service of the new government, and were given positions of responsibility according to their ability. Thus Enomoto was minister to Russia, minister of foreign affairs, and, under the last Ito cabinet, minister of commerce and agriculture; while Okubo, who defended Uyeno against the imperial troops, was minister of Japan in Korea at the time the war between China and Japan broke out.

But now the question was: What was the new government to be? The only men able to rule were the samurai, and there were not a few leaders in their own clan who thought that they were the men best fitted for the purpose. Satsuma and Choshiu were prominent on account of the share they had taken in causing the downfall of the Yedo government, and of the samurai of these clans Okubo and Kido were by far the ablest. To avoid jealousy, it was decided that Prince Arisugawa, with the kuge Sanjo and Iwakura, should form the executive, with a board of councilors comprising the most illustrious samurai. This was a wise resolution, for the three men selected ranked head and shoulders above the daimio; so that no clan could feel slighted, whereas the real power remained where it had been for centuries,—in the hands of the best samurai.

The first act of the new government was to ratify the treaties, and from this time the attacks upon foreigners ceased, except in isolated instances. Two of these must be told in detail.