Constitutional Crisis of 1881
The revolutionary changes introduced by government leaders during the Meiji period (1868–1912) provoked a great deal of uncertainty and unrest throughout Japan. For a variety of different reasons—from unfair taxation to reduced incomes and loss of political status—the samurai and farmers were extremely dissatisfied with the direction in which the new government was headed. Amid such growing turmoil, the Popular Rights movement (minken) evolved, one of whose leaders was Itagaki Taisuke (1836–1919). In 1874, Itagaki and other like-minded political leaders gained enough influence to submit a proposal to the government calling for the establishment of a national assembly. Cronyism and despotism were rotting the country, they complained. If Japan had any hope of keeping pace with the West, free public discussion must be permitted, and the best way to do that was to establish a national assembly.
In mid-1878, the home minister Okubo Toshimichi (1830–1878) was assassinated. Okubo had singled out a politician, Ito Hirobumi (1841–1909), to succeed him, but another Okubo favorite, Okuma Shigenobu (1838–1922), had also developed a strong following. Meanwhile, the Popular Rights movement was sweeping the country, and pressure to establish a national assembly intensified. Various councilors and politicians submitted proposals favoring a gradual movement toward a constitutional government, but in March 1881 Okuma startled them by presenting a paper calling for the speedy drafting of a constitution on the English model. This threw the principal parties into immediate conflict.
The political upheaval reached a boiling point in summer 1881, when Okuma and his followers refused to approve a proposal to sell at a huge discount the government's holdings in a Hokkaido project (Hokkaido Colonization Commission) to a business consortium headed by a former official, calling it the most blatant form of favoritism. Angered by Okuma's condemnation, not to mention his attempt to bypass their constitutional proposals, the councilors insisted in August that he and his followers be expelled from the government. Okuma and his cohorts resigned their official posts shortly afterward.
In an effort to calm the political agitation that the government knew would come with Okuma's ouster, the councilors agreed that a constitution would be granted by the emperor within the next decade. Ito was given the task of drafting it, but took Prussia as his model rather than England or the United States. Eight years later, on 11 February 1889, the Meiji Constitution was proclaimed.
Further Reading
Hane, Mikiso. (1972) Japan: A Historical Survey. New York: Scribner's.
Jansen, Marius B. (2000) The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yanaga, Chitoshi (1949) Japan since Perry. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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