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Authors: Donald Keene
Tags: History/Asia/General
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she was sent back to her apartment in the palace. 2
The emperor did not get his first glimpse of Yoshihito until December 4. That afternoon, after exercising his horse on the riding ground, he went, still on horseback, to the Aoyama Lying-in Chamber. Nakayama Yoshiko (the emperor’s mother) carried the prince in her arms to the emperor, who expressed delight with his son. On the following day the empress paid a visit to her nominal son. It had been decided as far back as September 30 that the prince, who would be considered as the empress’s son, would be brought up initially (like his father) at the house of Nakayama Tadayasu; but he suffered a fresh outbreak of illness that day, and his departure was delayed. The move did not take place until December 7. On December 28 the prince, having reached his 120th day of life, had his “first chopsticks” ceremony at the Nakayama house, but the prince’s health continued to worry the emperor, and for fear of provoking spasms, he treated the prince with greater indulgence than he ever showed his other children.
Other matters than his son’s health occupied the emperor’s attention at this time. By this time he was recognized as a “cousin” by the royal houses of Europe, and he accordingly received regular and prolonged visits from foreign royalty. Prince Heinrich of Germany brought Meiji a decoration from his government, the first time any Asian monarch had been so honored. This was also the first foreign decoration that Meiji wore. He received from the duke of Genoa, a somewhat later visitor, the Annunciade, Italy’s highest military decoration, and responded by bestowing the Grand Order of the Chrysanthemum on the duke and showing him how to wear it. The emperor also received a bust of himself and portraits of himself and the empress made by the Milanese artist Giuseppe Ugolini. 3
Apart from visits by foreign royalty, the emperor was regularly informed of events in the lives of other monarchs. He responded correctly to his “cousins,” sending messages of congratulation to Alfonso XII of Spain on his remarriage and to the czar of Russia on his narrow escape from assassins. 4
Matters closer to home also demanded the emperor’s attention. In October 1879 some members of the government made a concerted attempt to get rid of Soejima Taneomi by sending him abroad on an unspecified mission. Kuroda Kiyotaka, the leader of the anti-Soejima faction, claimed that foreign newspapers had accused Soejima of having expressed in lectures delivered before the emperor opinions contrary to government policy and of having, while he was foreign minister, colluded with a foreigner—the American general Charles LeGendre—when dealing with the Taiwan incident. Kuroda’s charges were supported by other high-ranking officials, including Councillor Saig ō Tsugumichi, but Ō kuma Shigenobu declared that if Soejima were dismissed, he would resign. It ō Hirobumi praised Soejima’s scholarship but said that Soejima was not trusted by most people because of his extreme conservatism. He favored sending Soejima abroad to examine political conditions so that he might improve his already superior understanding of the West. It ō suggested that Soejima might be permitted at some future date to rejoin the cabinet.
When asked to render a decision, the emperor conferred with his Confucian adviser Motoda Nagazane, who strongly defended Soejima. He said that he had heard the lectures Soejima had delivered in the presence of the emperor and considered that they embodied profound respect for the majesty of the imperial house and contributed to the exaltation of the imperial virtue. He believed that it was entirely beneficial for the emperor to use Soejima and that he, Motoda, had not detected anything harmful in his words. Kuroda had never heard any of Soejima’s lectures and therefore lacked firm evidence for his accusations. To believe unfounded reports, and on this basis to seek to get rid of
The emperor did not get his first glimpse of Yoshihito until December 4. That afternoon, after exercising his horse on the riding ground, he went, still on horseback, to the Aoyama Lying-in Chamber. Nakayama Yoshiko (the emperor’s mother) carried the prince in her arms to the emperor, who expressed delight with his son. On the following day the empress paid a visit to her nominal son. It had been decided as far back as September 30 that the prince, who would be considered as the empress’s son, would be brought up initially (like his father) at the house of Nakayama Tadayasu; but he suffered a fresh outbreak of illness that day, and his departure was delayed. The move did not take place until December 7. On December 28 the prince, having reached his 120th day of life, had his “first chopsticks” ceremony at the Nakayama house, but the prince’s health continued to worry the emperor, and for fear of provoking spasms, he treated the prince with greater indulgence than he ever showed his other children.
Other matters than his son’s health occupied the emperor’s attention at this time. By this time he was recognized as a “cousin” by the royal houses of Europe, and he accordingly received regular and prolonged visits from foreign royalty. Prince Heinrich of Germany brought Meiji a decoration from his government, the first time any Asian monarch had been so honored. This was also the first foreign decoration that Meiji wore. He received from the duke of Genoa, a somewhat later visitor, the Annunciade, Italy’s highest military decoration, and responded by bestowing the Grand Order of the Chrysanthemum on the duke and showing him how to wear it. The emperor also received a bust of himself and portraits of himself and the empress made by the Milanese artist Giuseppe Ugolini. 3
Apart from visits by foreign royalty, the emperor was regularly informed of events in the lives of other monarchs. He responded correctly to his “cousins,” sending messages of congratulation to Alfonso XII of Spain on his remarriage and to the czar of Russia on his narrow escape from assassins. 4
Matters closer to home also demanded the emperor’s attention. In October 1879 some members of the government made a concerted attempt to get rid of Soejima Taneomi by sending him abroad on an unspecified mission. Kuroda Kiyotaka, the leader of the anti-Soejima faction, claimed that foreign newspapers had accused Soejima of having expressed in lectures delivered before the emperor opinions contrary to government policy and of having, while he was foreign minister, colluded with a foreigner—the American general Charles LeGendre—when dealing with the Taiwan incident. Kuroda’s charges were supported by other high-ranking officials, including Councillor Saig ō Tsugumichi, but Ō kuma Shigenobu declared that if Soejima were dismissed, he would resign. It ō Hirobumi praised Soejima’s scholarship but said that Soejima was not trusted by most people because of his extreme conservatism. He favored sending Soejima abroad to examine political conditions so that he might improve his already superior understanding of the West. It ō suggested that Soejima might be permitted at some future date to rejoin the cabinet.
When asked to render a decision, the emperor conferred with his Confucian adviser Motoda Nagazane, who strongly defended Soejima. He said that he had heard the lectures Soejima had delivered in the presence of the emperor and considered that they embodied profound respect for the majesty of the imperial house and contributed to the exaltation of the imperial virtue. He believed that it was entirely beneficial for the emperor to use Soejima and that he, Motoda, had not detected anything harmful in his words. Kuroda had never heard any of Soejima’s lectures and therefore lacked firm evidence for his accusations. To believe unfounded reports, and on this basis to seek to get rid of
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