Emperor Meiji was one of the most famous Emperors in Japanese history and is known as the 122nd emperor in the order of Japanese succession. Through his distinguished life, Meiji oversaw much change in the nation of Japan. He is most known for his reforms and because of this, takes the role as one of most important historical figures in the nation’s distinguished history. Also known as the ‘Emperor of Enlightened Rule’, Meiji was in power long enough to see Japan go from a relative obscurity to becoming a world power. If one were creating a television or radio documentary about the social history of the nation of Japan, Meiji would be a very good choice for someone to center around because of his role at the center of Japanese political and social reform. His actions in office render him an interesting candidate and a historical figure that is more than entertaining. The Meiji restoration which bears his name seems to be a sense of pride for most Japanese, as with its inception came the abolishment of feudalism and the impending industrialization of the nation of Japan.
If one were to be required to center a documentary or literary work around a central character in Japanese social history, that person might choose to construct their work around Emperor Meiji. Meiji’s importance to the Japanese people can not be understated. His background, while somewhat ordinary, gives insight into the things that led him to power in Japan. These things in themselves are not reasons why he would be a good choice as a focus, but they do offer context for his life that is important in understanding the overall scope of Japanese history. Born November 3, 1852, Meiji was the 122nd Emperor of Japan. The surviving son of Japanese Emperor Komei, Meiji learned at an early age the nuances that should make for a successful leader within the unique Japanese system. Because of his personal history as a link to the past and to the future in Japanese social history, he is an important and interesting figure that could be centered around. As was the accepted tradition in Japan, Meiji as a young man was not raised in full by his imperial father. Customary with the tradition, his father gave the child to an important court family in order to ensure his proper upbringing. Meiji spent most of his adolescence and childhood in the Japanese town of Kyoto. His father seemed to have a good relationship with his foster parents, as the head of the court family was his father’s chief consul. On the same day of his adoption, Meiji received the personal name of Mutsuhito and was given the title of crown prince. A deeper look into the personal history of Meiji reveals a fact that makes him an even more marketable character for a book or television documentary. Interestingly enough, Meiji ascended to the Japanese throne at the ripe young age of fourteen (Wikopedia). While this was somewhat customary for the time, it is important to consider what types of things the emperor accomplished or attempted to accomplish upon ascending to the throne. In many cases, young or teenage rulers are more like puppet rulers for an advanced political agenda in the wings. Thus was not the case for Meiji, as he established an era of “enlightened rule” and showed all that he was serious about a successful regime. It is within his life and the history of his rule over Japan that casual observers could gain a full understanding of the social history of the island nation.
The 1800s were an important era in Japanese history. Not only was mass political change a widespread idea, but the changing climate of the Japanese political system was already well underway. Emperor Meiji is a person that would be interesting for a snapshot documentary because during his era came about one of the most important times in Japanese history. The Meiji restoration is the event which marks the reign or regime of Emperor Meiji. The Meiji restoration was an even following the Boshin War in which the much maligned Tokugawa shogunate was taken from power and was abolished by the Imperial forces. This event in itself would not be important for the Japanese people or for Japanese history if not for what followed. After the dissolution of this regime, Emperor Meiji smartly initiated a five step plan in which he laid out the groundwork for a new government. For the first time in Japan, the people had reason to look forward to a democratic government which had little of the old feudalistic influences that marred the previous regime. Meiji becomes an especially interesting character during this time because the balance of power in Japan was a very fragile thing. While the establishment of a parliament in conjunction with a democratic government was a nice thing for the people to hope for, behind the scenes, the government had much interworking going on. A parliament was developed by Meiji and that was a thing that was a very good public relations move in order to convince the people that he was sincere about his idea for the future and his plan for democracy. While this may have seemed like a nice idea, a closer look at the situation will show that the young Emperor did not have as much power as it once seemed. While he said all of the right things and had all of the right ideas, he received some trouble in trying to flex his imperial muscles. As was the case with most revolutions, the overthrowing of the previous regime had taken much manpower and military strength. The samurais that helped undertake this event were obviously themselves interesting in gaining some sort of power and because of their role as intimidating figures, they were able to have perhaps more power and influence than Emperor Meiji or the parliament.
While Emperor Meiji may have lost some of his power when Japan became something of an oligarchy, his influence over the country can not be questioned. This is the reason why Meiji is such an interesting and telling figure. Meiji was able to captivate the people of island and was able to stay in power until well after age of fifty. One can gather the people’s love for him as a person because of how he is remembered, even though his power was somewhat undermined by those around him. The main idea to remember is that Meiji’s name was the name that was most closely associated with one of the most positive movements in Japanese history. Meiji very creatively and smartly attached his name to the movement which freed the Japanese people and allowed for the country to have its much needed industrial revolution and put them in a position to go forward in a way that had landed Japan on the top of the economic world as of 2005.
Meiji was also somewhat of a revolutionary figure. Beyond his role as a proponent of economic and social freedom, he also had many other very progressive thoughts. Much that is known about Emperor Meiji comes from his personal memoirs and his recorded poetry. A very insightful and thoughtful leader, Meiji wrote in his poetry much that could be respected. Some have taken from these documents that Meiji was in reality, a pacifist. If true, this is something that makes Meiji completely different from the other world leaders that served as his contemporaries. In a time when war was a reality and leaders often sought to advance themselves through the practice, Emperor Meiji sought to avoid war at any cost. This can perhaps be the reason why he was often run over by the people around him and at times, his influence was undermined.
Emperor Meiji is a man who would be a likely and good choice as the face of social history in Japan because he is so deeply rooted in its traditions and reforms. Beyond changing the climate of Japanese government for the better, Meiji was able to do so while retaining some sense of tradition which is so important to the nation of Japan. Meiji was important because he provided a context and a precedent for rulers that were to come after him. As symbolism has been such an important thing in Japan over the years of its social history, leaders used this to somewhat manipulate the people for their own good. Because of how the Meiji name was attached to every good reform in Japan, future leaders would claim that the idea of the imperial institution gave them the power to rule how they wished. In this way, one can see the overall importance of Emperor Meiji.
Emperor Meiji was especially important because he brought Japan out of the backwaters of feudalism and into a westernized and industrialized state. He should be remember and analyzed as the face of recent Japanese social history because of these things and others. If one were to complete a snapshot commentary on television about the social history of Japan, it would be hard to find a more important or more interesting character on which to put ones focus. His role as an innovator and a revolutionary man makes him somewhat of a commodity that was before its time. His influence, however, may not have been fully appreciated because of his surrounding situation.
