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From Tokugawa to Meiji. Tokugawa: A military bureaucracy; rule by status Domains and their lords subject to a central government Mid-1800s, central government weakens Pressure from the West (1854 and after) pushes it over the edge
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From Tokugawa to Meiji • Tokugawa: • A military bureaucracy; rule by status • Domains and their lords subject to a central government • Mid-1800s, central government weakens • Pressure from the West (1854 and after) pushes it over the edge • “outsider” samurai warriors from the provinces rally around the emperor • Tokugawa government toppled rather easily; • Meiji emperor installed • Who would lead? • Samurai elites from the winning factions—loyalists • Satsuma and Chōshū leaders prominent • Using what ideology? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
Gluck, Chapter 1 • Why did the Meiji government need an ideology? • According to the standard view of Meiji history, what were the key elements of Meiji political ideology? (5) • How did this ideology supposedly work?Or, why did it succeed? • What is Gluck’s disagreement with the “standard view”? • What is ideology, according to Gluck? (7) • Examples? What are some “commonsensical” elements of US ideology? • Are there areas in which it is conflicted? What are they? • How can an ideology have a history? • How was (and is) ideology disseminated? (10) • Who disseminated it? Who was it aimed at? • How well was it disseminated in the later Meiji era? • What were some barriers to dissemination? • How might the message change along the way? (e.g. 13) • What were some of its contradictions? • Thought question: What is the relationship between ideology and propaganda? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Great Promulgation Campaign • What was the goal of the Great Promulgation Campaign (1870-1884)? • What was it promulgating? (45) • How was it organized, and by whom or what? • How did it function? How was the message spread? • What existing institutions did it make use of, and how did it do so? (e.g. 33f) • What problems did it face? (46f) • What finally brought it to an end? (51) • How would you evaluate its success? • What unintended consequences did it have? (53f) IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Charter Oath (1868) • By this oath we set up as our aim the establishment of the national weal on a broad basis and the framing of a constitution and laws. • Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all matters decided by public discussion. • All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of affairs of state. • The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall each be allowed to pursue his own calling so that there may be no discontent. • Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature. • Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule. IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Late Meiji era • What main ideological issue was Japan dealing with before the promulgation of the constitution? (21-23) • What steps were taken? How successful were they? • Gluck draws a division between the 1880s and the 1890s. What was the big ideological concern in the 1890s? (27f) • How was this concern discussed? • What specific issues got attention and why? (28f, 30-1) • What responses do we see? • How did the meaning of kokutai国体 change from the 1890s to 1915? (36-7) • Why is this significant? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Body Politic • Gluck begins with a description of the promulgation of the constitution. What is significant about it? • About the ceremony itself? About popular reaction? • How did the promulgation work as a “propaganda moment”? (46-7) • What is the vision of of the relationship between the government and the people (kan and min)? (47-8) • What does Gluck mean by “the denaturing of politics”? (49f) • Who did it, in what areas of society, how, and why (59)? • Did anyone resist, and if so, why? (56) • What does Gluck say about the relationship between kan and min? In particular, how do the min view the kan? Why? 60f • How well did various the efforts to propagate these particular images work? (62-3) • Where does the distinction between kan and min run into difficulty? • What was the “idealized and jaundiced” (64) view of politicians? • Who was the audience for all this propaganda? How did the political reality compare with the kokumin ideal? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Body Politic IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The modern monarch • Gluck sees the image of the emperor developing in stages. What was the first stage (1870s)? • What did the leaders first feel they needed to do? • What was the (propaganda) message? (73-4, 75-6) • What problems did the leadership encounter? (75) • What was the image of the emperor in the second stage (1880s)? (76) • What problems arose here? • What position did Shintō play? (77) • What changed in the presentation of the emperor? Why? (78) • Where was he mainly seen in person and how was he approached? (79) • What happened to the image of the emperor in the 1890s? • What was the role of the imperial household agency during this time? • How was the image of the emperor used? Who was it aimed at influencing? (81) • How did the traditionalists try to use the image of the emperor? (82) • How did the populace respond? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The modern monarch • How was the relationship between the emperor and the constitution portrayed? • Where was imperial influence brought to bear? (84-5) • How successful were the efforts to convey the meaning of the emperor to Japan? (86f) • In local ceremonies? In education? • How was the emperor portrayed in wartime? (88-9f) • Why was the Russo-Japanese war particularly important? • In what areas was the emperor most visible after the Russo-Japanese War? (90f) • Where was the symbol of the emperor brought to bear? • By his death in 1912, how was the emperor conceived, and how was that image used? (93-4, 100) • On the local level? (94f) • Did the imperial charisma have any limits? (97f) IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
From Meiji to Taishō • According to Gluck, how was the death of the Meiji emperor significant? • Is there any sense in which we might view it as a “propaganda moment”? • What was the significance of the suicide of Gen. Nogi? • Why did it generate so much interest? • A primer on Japanese politics • How does Japan’s ideological landscape change after the death of the emperor? (228f) • What did the opposition politicians call for? • What new groups and institutions became more involved? (230-2) • How the government respond? • What important changes were occurring in the populace as a whole? • Does the popular view of politics and politicians change? • Why or why not? (242-3) • How connected were people to politics? IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
Politics, 1890-1920 • The Diet: Houses of Representatives and Peers • Representatives mostly regionally prominent landlords • Peers: former nobles, samurai, and some business leaders • Steady conflicts between Diet reps and bureaucrats, the cabinet (min and kan) • The big issue was the budget and taxes • Opposition parties (opposing oligarch government) consistently win elections • But, the Diet does strongly support the Sino-Japanese war • Itō lures Dietmen into the bureaucracy • Itō organizes the Seiyūkai, 1900 soon dominates the Diet • Regularly gets seats in the cabinet; Hara consolidates Seiyūkai power • 1912 Taishō political crisis – military cabinet member resigns • Cabinets now must be formed by political compromise IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia
The Peace Preservation Law – 1925 • How did government leaders view the mood of the country? (318) Why? • What events were important in the run-up to the passing of the law? • How did the government approach propaganda battles with its opponents? • In the Morito case? • In the Namba case? • In the case of suffrage demonstrations? • In response to the 1922 formation of the Communist Party? (335f) • What problems did the government have to deal with in constructing a law aimed at controlling radicals? (330-32) • How did Katō intend to approach the problem? (339) • What are the key provisions of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law? • What does Mitchell see as significant about it? Why? (343) IDS 4933 -- Politics and Propaganda in Modern East Asia