The PacificHistoricalReview

Volume XVII February,1948 Number1

Influenceson theMeiji Restoration

Western
NOBUTAKA IKE

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[NobutakaIkeis a fellowin theWalterHinesPageSchoolofInternational Relations,
JohnsHopkinsUniversity. He haspublishedarticlesin theJournalofEconomicHis-
tory,theFarEasternQuarterly This paperis partofa largerstudy
andPacificAffairs.
of thedemocratic movement in Japanwhichhe is makingundera demobilization
awardfromtheSocialScienceResearchCouncil.]

ON NOVEMBER 9, 1867, the Sh6gun,Tokugawa Keiki (or Yoshinobu),

surrenderedhis powerto the ImperialCourt and became,thereby,the
last of a long line of militarydictatorswho had ruled Japan eversince
thebeginningoftheseventeenth century.Undoubtedlythiswas a bitter
pill for Keiki, but it was forcedupon him by the inabilityof the Toku-
gawa Shogunateto cope with the pressingproblemsarisingfromthe
decay of Japanesefeudalismand the growingeconomicand political
pressureoftheforeignpowers.
The factthatthe Sh6gunvoluntarilyrelinquishedhis powerdid not
mean, however,that he contemplatedretirementfromthe political
scene.On thecontrary, therelinquishment was,fromhis pointof view,
a strategicretreatdesignedto outmaneuverthe hostilesouthernclans
thenengagedin forginga strongcoalitionagainsthim througha series
ofsecretalliances.By resigning, Keiki hoped to pave thewayfora coali-
tion government broad enoughto include groupslike the Court nobles
and thetozamaor "outside"lordshithertoexcludedfromoffice. In theory
theEmperorwas to head thenewgovernment; but theSh6gunno doubt
expectedto occupya strongpositionunderhim,probablya postsome-
whatanalogousto thatofa primeminister.
The pivotalpointaroundwhichthisstrategy turnedwas theproposal
to createa bicameralassemblywhichwould providerepresentation for
in
some of the groups Japanesesociety. It was obviously a consciousat-
temptto adapt Westerntechniquesofgovernment in orderto refurbish
the old feudal systemwhich had long outlivedits usefulness.For this

E1
reason,the action takenby the Shogun,althoughminorin itself,is of
2 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

interest;itaffords oftheinfluenceofWesternpoliti-
us a goodillustration
cal theoryon politicalchangein Japan.
The Tokugawa seclusionpolicyput intoeffect after1640did notcom-
pletelyseal offJapan fromforeigninfluences.Perhaps by deliberate
design,twoavenueshad been leftopen. The firstof thesewas theDutch
tradingstationwhich,althoughstrictly supervisedand givenonlylimited
tradingrights,was allowed to remain at Deshima in Nagasaki. As a
sourceofinformation about Europeandevelopments, theDutch became

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important,especially afterthe Sh6gun Yoshimitsu repealedthe ban on
the readingand translationof European books otherthan thoseon re-
ligion. Althoughthisnew policyservedas a stimulusfornew interest
in medicineand science,it does notappearto haveled to anyimmediate
increasein speculationabout politics.This is understandable,however,
when we recall thatthe Shogunateput a premiumon orthodoxy,and
kepta vigilantlookoutthroughitsubiquitoussecretpolice for"danger-
ous thoughts."It is not surprising,therefore, thatthosenew political
ideas thatdid come in enteredthroughthe side door,so to speak,em-
bedded in translations ofDutch bookson worldgeography.
A good exampleof thisis the YochiShiryaku[AbridgedWorld]1writ-
ten by Aoji Rins6, a physicianand studentof Dutch studies.Although
earlier books, notablyArai Hakuseki's Sairan Igen [Foreign Topog-
raphy],'Kuchiki Sh6k6's Taisei Yochi Zusetsu [ExplanatoryDiagrams
oftheWesternWorld],"and YoshioSen'sAnyakuriaJinSeij6shi[On the
Characterof the English]' contained brief descriptionsof European
governments, Aoji's studywas probablythe firstimportantwork. A
seven-volume studyabridgedfroman earlierworkof sixty-five volumes,
thisbook was in essencea translationof a Dutch worldgeography.5 In
thesectionon EnglishpoliticsAoji used theword"parliament,"describ-
ingit as an assemblyconsistingoftwochambers.Althoughhe mentioned
the compositionof the two houses,he did not make it clear that the
membersof the House of Commonswereelected.He notedthatparlia-
1 Probably writtenin 1827,it was circulatedin manuscriptform.It is now available in the
Bummei GenryisS5sho [Libraryof the Originsof Civilization](3 vols.,T6ky6, 1912-1914). See
Hirose Bin, Nihon S6sho Sakuin [A Bibliographyof Japanese Books]
(T6kyb, 1939),547, 557;
Asai Kiyoshi,Meiji Rikken Shiso ni okeru Eikoku Gikai Seido no Eiky3 [The Influenceof the
British ParliamentarySystemon Meiji ConstitutionalThought]
(TOky6, g939),84.
SA five-volumework which is said to have been completed fiveor six days before Arai's
death in 1726. Shiseki Kaidai [A Bibliography of History],edited by End6 Motoo, Suzuki
Toshio, Hara Taneyuki, Tanaka Masayoshi (Tokyo, 1936),89.
*Published in 1789.Asai, op. cit.,80.
'Published in 1825.Ibid., 81.
5Ibid., 78-83-
 WESTERN INFLUENCES ON MEIJI RESTORATION 3
mentmet once a year or once in two years,and thatthe king had the
powerto conveneit. Lastly,he said thatthedecisionsof theparliament
requiredtheapprovaloftherulerbeforebecomingeffective."
In 1846anothergeographer, MitsukuriSh6go,publishedKonyoZushi-
ki-ho[Supplementto a Diagramof theWorld]'in whichhe said thatthe
House of Lords dealt withmatterspertainingto the nobility,and the
House of Commonswithmattersconcerningcitiesand villages."Obvi-
ouslyhe had confusedthecompositionofparliamentwithitsjurisdiction.

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His adoptedfather,MitsukuriGenpo,a physicianand studentof'Dutch,
publishedin 1851 and 1856 a workcalled Hakk6 Tsifshi[An Account
of DistantLands]."In thistheauthorsaid thatparliamenthad powerto
establishlaws,and thatthe kingwas a personin parliament,referring
probablyto theconceptoftheking-in-parliament.0
So long as theJapanesewerelimitedto Dutch books,therewas little
likelihoodthatnew politicalideas would spreadveryrapidlysince the
numberof men capable of readingDutch was fairlylimited.About the
middleofthenineteenth century,however,a secondsourceofknowledge,
namely Chinese bookson Western government, becameincreasinglyim-
portant. This brought a farlargeraudience withinreach,formost edu-
cated Japanesewere able to read Chinese,owing to the factthat the
Japanesehad adopted Chinesecharacters.
The reasonsforthisnew orientationwere plain. China had suffered
defeat in the Anglo-Chinese war (1839-1842), and as a consequence a
fewChinese scholarsbegan to take an interestin learningmore about
theirformeradversary. The reaction,however,seemsto have been even
strongeramong Japanese,whowerenotonlywellinformed
the about the
war, but also realized,it seems,its implicationsmuch betterthan the
Chinesethemselves.'
Of the ChinesestudieswhichappearedafterChina's defeat,theHai-
kuo t'u-chih[IllustratedRecord of the MaritimeNations]was perhaps
one ofthemostimportant.It was writtenbyWei Yiian,who used as one
ofhissourcestheSsu-chouchih[AnAccountofFour Continents], a work
6
Ibid., 83-87.
7 Published in 1846, this was a supplement to his Konyo Zushiki [Diagram of the World]
(1845). Ibid., 87.
sIbid., 87-88.
SThree volumes were published in 1851 and anotherthreein 1856.Ibid., 89.
"oIbid., 89-91.
11See E. Herbert Norman's summary of Tsuchiya Takao's "Bakumatsu Shishi no Mita
Shina Mondai" [The Problem of China as Seen by Loyalists at the End of the Bakufu] in
Japan's Emergenceof a Modern State (New York, 1940),38 n.
4 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

completedunder the directionof Lin Tse-hsii,who gained fame for

burningthe opium just beforethe Anglo-Chinesewar. The Ssu-chou
fromWesternperiodicalsas well as selections
chihincludedtranslations
froma monthlymagazinepublishedbyKarl F. A. Gutzlaff
in Cantonand
Singapore between the years 1833 and 1838. In 1854 and 1855 abridged
editionsof theHai-kuo t'u-chihwerereprintedin Japan,and about the
same timethe entireworkwas translatedintoJapanese."The Japanese
editions attractedwide attentionand were read by Sakuma Sh6zan,

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Yokoi Sh6nan,HashimotoSanai and otherswho were noted fortheir
advancedviews."
AlthoughtheHai-kuo t'u-chihwas a book on geography, it included
a sectionon the Britishparliament.The translationcontainedsome
errors,and it was on thewholedifficult
to understand;but it did makeit
clear thattheauthorityof therulerwas not absoluteand thathis power
was restricted institutions."
by representative
Following this,variousother Chinesetreatiseswere eitherreprinted
or translatedin Japan.Two of themmaybe mentionedhereby wayof
illustration.In 1859 therewas reprinteda book called Ti-li ch'uan-chih
[CompleteGeography]writtenin Chinese by an Englishman,William
Muirhead."A book writtenby the famoussinologist,JamesLegge,A
CircleofKnowledge,was translatedintoChineseand publishedin Hong
Kong in 1856.It was importedintoNagasakiand publishedin Japanin
1866." The section on the British governmentsaid:
"The threecountriesEngland,Scotland,and IrelandformtheBritish
nation.They are governedby laws whichare decidedin thetwohouses
of Parliament.These houses are named the House of Lords and the
House of Commons;theypass laws,which,however,mustbe assented
to by theSovereignbeforetheyare in force.""
AfterCommodorePerryforcedopen thecloseddoor in 1854,a third
source of informationwas opened up. Now intellectualsand officials
S12The Hai-kuo t'u-chihwas published in 1844 in 50 chiian, in 1847 in 6o chiian, and was
expanded to loo chiian in 1852. Article on Wei Yiian in Eminent Chinese of the Ch' ing
Period, edited by ArthurW. Hummel (Washington,1944), II, 851b.
13 Osatake Takeki, Nihon Kensei-shi
Taik6 [An Outline of Japanese ConstitutiontlHis-
tory] (TOky6,1938),I, 16.
14 Asai, op. cit.,94-101.
gives the author as B. William. An-
15 Osatake, op. cit., 21. Osatake, however,erroneously-
otherworkby Muirhead, Historyof England, was translatedinto Chinese under the title Ta-
Ying kuo-chih (8 chiian) in 1856 and reprintedin Japan in 1861. Article on Wang T'ao in
Hummel, op. cit., II, 836a.
16 It was published by the Edo Kaibutsu-sha. Other editions and translationswere pub-
lished during the followingfew years.Osatake, op. cit., 20o;Asai, op. cit., i1o.
17Osatake, op. cit.,2o-21.
 WESTERN INFLUENCES ON MEIJI RESTORATION 5
wereable to travelabroad and studyWesterninstitutions at firsthand.
In theearlierperiodmanyof themtouredEurope and Americain con-
nectionwithsome of the numerousdiplomaticmissions.For instance,
Fukuzawa Yukichi,who probablydid more than any otherpersonto
introduceWesterncivilizationto Japan,came to the United Statesin
186o as a memberof a missionsentby theShogunate.Afterarrivingin
Washington,themen wereinvitedone day to visitCongress.Muragaki
Norimasa,who recordeda descriptionof thisvisitin his diary,seems

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mostlyto have been impressedby the speechmaking."As we entered,"
he wrote,"a memberwas makinga speechat thetop ofhis voice.When
he sat down, anotherstood up and talked in an excited manner....
One afteranothertheyrose,some speakingquietly,and some wildly
brandishingtheirarmsas iftheyhad losttheirtempers.""'
In the ensuing years the governmentsent various other missions
abroad. The one whichwent to England and France in 1863 reported
that"customsin foreignlands are unlikethosein Japan.The rulerand
the people have equal rightsin governing.""Okada Setsu who accom-
panied anothermissionto England in 1865 wrotea book called K6sei
Sh6ki [A ShortCommentary on a Trip to theWest]whichdescribedthe
House ofCommonsas follows:
As forthelowerhouse,thecommonpeopleassembleand discussmatters.
Thosewhoarepresentat theproceedings cometo thechamber as representa-
tivesofthepeople.Forexample,ifthepeopleofa villagedesignate a certain
he goesto thelegislative
individualas theirrepresentative, chamber and gets
Bothnativesand foreigners
intodiscussions. areallowedtoparticipate in the
discussions.
Everythingthathappensin Englandmustbe deliberated uponin
thechamber.'
Fromthefewexamplescitedabove,it is readilyapparentthatsomeof
theinformation was incorrectand thatmanyoftheproblemsinherentin
representativegovernment, such as legislativeprocedure,the controlof
the executive,the role of political parties,and so on had completely
escapedthenoticeof theJapanese.This, however,was to be expectedin
viewoftheirpoliticalheritage,whichwasvastlydifferent fromthatofthe
Europeans. It is interestingto note in thisconnectionthat theone idea
whicheveryonegraspedwas thatof establishinga bicameralassembly.
But this,afterall, was to thembut an extensionof thecouncilof feudal
1s ShigehikoMiyoshi(translator),The FirstJapanese Embassyto the United Statesof Amer-
ica (TOky6,192o),47-
" Osatake,
op. cit.,33-
20Ibid., 34.
6 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

nobleswhichthe Tokugawa had summonedforconsultationsoon after

thearrivalofCommodorePerryin Japan.
In addition,problemsarose not only fromthe factthat the source
materialswerewrittenin foreignlanguages,but also fromthe factthat
theJapaneseweredealingwithnewconceptsofgovernment. New terms,
forinstance,had to be createdforwordslike "parliament,""legislator,"
etc.And evenwhentheygotawayfromliterarysourcesand wentabroad
to observelegislaturesin action,theywerestilllikelyto see onlytheout-

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wardforms,sincetheinnerworkingswould notbe visibleto an outside
observer.FukuzawaYukichisummeditup wellwhenhe complainedthat
he foundrepresentative government a "perplexinginstitution.''1 If this
was theexperienceofone ofthekeeneststudentsofWesterncivilization,
we can surmisethatthe majorityhad at best but a hazyidea of parlia-
mentarygovernment.
Nevertheless,thisnew knowledgeactedas a fermentamongtheintel-
lectualsand beganto suggestto themwaysofmodifying theold political
structurewiththe aim of infusingnew lifeinto it. Justwhen theJapa-
nesefirst gottheidea ofadaptingWesternformsofgovernment is difficult
todetermine. We do know,however, thatas earlyas theBunkyfiera (1861-
1863) the adoption of a bicameral assembly was proposed several
in
A
quarters. Frenchman,perhaps Comte de Montblanc,advised some
samuraiof Satsumato establishan assemblywiththe upperhouse com-
posed of courtnobles and feudal lords,and the lowerhouse consisting
of theirretainers,to deliberateon nationalaffairs.22
Aboutthesametime,
Yokoi Sh6nan,who had a precociousgraspof politicalprinciples,sub-
mitteda memorialwhichsaid: "Since thisis a timeof greatchange,an
assemblyshould be established.The courtnobles and samuraishould
sit in the upper house,and in the lowerhouse,talentedmen fromall
overtheland shouldbe used.""'
In 1862 a Tokugawa official, Okubo Ichi6, submitteda memorialon
the establishment of a bicameral assembly.The upper house,to be sit-
uatedeitherin Ky6toor Osaka and madeup offeudallords,fiveofwhom
would be permanentmembers,was to meetonce in fiveyears,or in times
ofemergency. The personneland thetimeofmeetingofthelowerhouse
wereto be determined."
21
Eiichi Kiyooka (translator),The Autobiographyof Fukuzawa Yukichi (T6ky6, 1934), 143.
2ShibuzawaEiichi,TokugawaKeikiK6 Den [The Biography
ofPrinceTokugawaKeiki]
(T6ky6, 1917), IV, 57-
23Ibid.
24
Asai, op. cit., 192-194.
 WESTERN INFLUENCES ON MEIJI RESTORATION 7
A muchmoreelaborateplan was presentedin 1863byAkamatsuKosa-
bur6 of the Ueda clan. Accordingto thisscheme,six ministerschosen
fromamong the taikun,courtnobles,feudal lords,and hatarnotowere
to advise the emperor.About 130 "enlightenedmen," chosenby ballot
in accordancewiththesizeoftheclan,wereto makeup thelowerhouse.
The thirty memberscomprisingtheupperhousewereto be electedfrom
among the court nobles,feudallords,and hatamoto.The twohouseswere
to vote on national issuesand then submita memorialto the throne.

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AfterImperialassent,thelawswereto be promulgated.In case theEm-
perordid not givehis consent,thelaw was to be deliberatedon a second
time,and when an "impartialview" was obtained,it was to be pro-
claimedby the assemblyas the law of the land. The chiefdutiesof the
assemblywere to reformthe defectsof the old customs,establishlaws
whichwerein accordancewiththoseofothernations,supervisetheselec-
tionofofficials,and makelawson foreignrelationsand on thereceiptand
disbursement offunds."
There was,however,no immediateresponseto theseproposals.Mean-
while the power and prestigeof the Shogunatesank lower and lower.
Resistanceto Tokugawa authoritytookvariousforms.Bands of r6nin
or masterlesssamurai engaged in terroristic activities;peasant revolts
shookthecountryside; and secretintriguewasrifeamongthetraditional
enemiesof the Tokugawa. The decayof the feudalsystemhad gone so
farthateven the conservatives admittedthe need fora change.Yet, no
clearpatternfora newpoliticalstructure seemedreadilyavailable.What
was necessary, as subsequentdevelopmentsproved,was theuprootingof
the feudalstructure, but at thattimesuch a solutionwas too radicalfor
anyone to countenance. Consequently,remedialmeasuresdesignedto
prop up the tottering Shogunateweresuggested.First,it was urgedthat
the Shogunateand the Imperial Court join forces;later it was argued
thatthe Sh6gunshouldreturntherule to the Emperor.Finally,a com-
promiseplan combiningthe idea of an assemblywiththereturnof the
rule to theEmperorbecamemostdominant.This was theso-calledK6gi
seitairon [Advocacyofgovernment byopen discussion].
The chiefadvocatesof the compromiseplan were the leadersof the
Tosa clan. Althoughwithinthe Tosa clan therewas an anti-Tokugawa
group led by Itagaki Taisuke, the clan chief,Yamanouchi Y6d6, was
friendlyto the Tokugawa familybecause his ancestorhad been treated
liberallybyIyeyasuafterthedecisivebattleofSekigahara(1600). Hence,
25Shibuzawa, op. cit.,57-58.
8 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

unlike the leadersof the Ch6shfiand Satsumaclans,who were intran-

sigentlyanti-Tokugawa,Yamanouchidid notwishto see theTokugawa
eliminatedfromthepoliticalscene.In 1867wordreachedGot6 Sh6jir6,
an able Tosa samurai,thatSaigo Takamori of Ch6shfiwas determined
to destroythe Shogunate,even by resortingto arms.Thereupon,Got6
consultedSakamotoRyfima,also of Tosa and probablyone of the out-
standingstatesmenof his time,and the lattersuggestedthathostilities
mightbe avoidediftheSh6guncould be inducedto surrenderhispower

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voluntarily.Got6 thendrafteda memorialwhichurgedthe Sh6gunto
restoretherule to theEmperor.This memorial,signedbyYamanouchi,
Got6,and twootherTosa samurai,waspresentedto theSh6gunon Octo-
ber 27, 1867.' Appended to thismemorialwas a ratherlong document
suggestingfuturepolicy.27It contained,interalia, the followingsignifi-
cantclauses: (1) fullpowerto administerthecountrylies in theImperial
includingtheorganizationand lawsofJapanmust
Court; (2) all matters,
comefromthelegislature[gisei-sho]in Ky6to;(3) thelegislatureis to be
dividedintoan upperand a lowerhouse; (4) as forthelegislators,
upright
and uncorruptedmen fromthecourtnoblesdown to thevassalsand the
commonpeople are to be elected.28
Now thiscompromiseplan containedseveralfeatureswhichhelpedto
make it palatable to the variousgroupsin the country.It did not, to
begin with,call forthe destructionof the clan system.What was to be
formedwasa federation ofclansbound together bytheassemblytowhich
representatives would be sent. Moreover,the proposalto createan as-
to
semblyhelped allay fears among the mutuallysuspiciousclans that
one or two powerfulclans mightusurp power and simplyreplace the
Tokugawa. And lastly,althoughthe memorialdid not outline in so
manywordsthepositionof theTokugawa in theproposedgovernment,
the latter,it would seemlogical to assume,expectedto be givenconsid-
erablepower.We can getsomehintsalongthisline ifwe turnto theplan
workedout byNishiAmane.
Nishi, a scholarwho had studiedin the Netherlands,presentedtwo
draftsof a constitution to Keiki in November,1867.His plan called for
a federatedstateconsisting oftheImperialCourt,theShogunate,and the
feudalclans.Amongthepowersgrantedto theImperialCourtwerethe
powersto approvelaws, keep guard troops,and receivecontributions
Murdock,A Historyof Japan (London, 1926),III, 767-768.
mJames
Since Murdock did not translatethis document he may have missed the full significance
of the memorial.
28The entire document is reprintedin Shibuzawa, op. cit., 72-73-
 WESTERN INFLUENCES ON MEIJI RESTORATION 9
fromthe feudal lords. The Shogunate, as mightbe expected, was allotted.
more extensive power. It was to preside over the administration of the
countryand to control the Tokugawa domains. The Sh6gun, henceforth
to be known as the Taikun, was to become the president of the upper
house. He was, moreover,given the authorityto dissolve the lower house.
Lastly,he was given control of the bureaucracy,with the rightto hire and
dismissofficials.
As forthe upper house, it was to consistof feudal lords with more than

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io,ooo koku in rice stipends. They were to deliberate on laws. Each clan
was to send one representativeto the lower house which was also given
the power to discuss the laws. The representatives,however, were to be
limited to the samurai class, since the peasants and merchantswere "ig-
norant."'
ProfessorAsai minimizes the effectof Nishi's plan and says that it was
not adopted because the Sh6gun was more interestedin the British par-
liamentary systemthan in a federal scheme of government." This may
well be true; but, on the other hand, it does not seem unreasonable to
assume that Nishi's scheme representedmore or less what Keiki expected
to get in the new government. If such an assumption is justified,then
one might say that Yamanouchi's memorial came at a time when the
Sh6gun himselfwas tryingto work out a systemwhereby he could step
down and appease the groups clamoring for a change, and, at the same
time, retain the maximum of power in 'the reconstitutedgovernment."
At any rate, one thing is certain,and that is that the Sh6gun's resignation
was not unconditional. Keiki's statementis evidence that he resigned on
the assumption that a bicameral assemblywould be established:
I had decided on returningthe rule to the Emperorlong ago. Yet therewas
no concreteplan forachievingthereturnof therule to theEmperorin actual
practice.This was because thingscould not be run by the powerof the court
nobles alone. The same was trueof the feudal nobles; nor did it appear that
thecountrycould be governedby thesamurai.It was somethingthattroubled
me. In short,since in both the Imperial Court and the Shogunatetherewere
capable men among the lowerranksbut not among the upper,I feltthatall
mattersshould be deliberatedon by open discussion.But withrespectto the
method,therewas as yetno fixedopinion.
Matsudaira Y6d6's memorialwas presented,and it said that a systemcon-
sistingof an upper and a lowerhouse should be established.It was indeed an
29Asai, op. cit., 196-20o2.
"8Ibid., 203.
n Cf.
Fujii Jintar6and Moriya Hidesuke, S6g6 Nihon-shi Taikei: Meiji Jidai-shi [A Syn-
thesisof Japanese History: The Meiji Period] (T6ky6, 1939), 73-
10 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW

idea.Ifwechosethecourtnoblesand lordsfortheupperhouse,and
excellent
thesamuraiforthelower,anddecidedmatters on thebasisofopendiscussion,
thereturnoftheruletotheEmperor couldbe putintoeffect.
Getting
courage
and self-confidence
fromthis,I finally
carriedit out.32
On November8, 1867,representatives of some fortyclans weresum-
moned to the Nijo castle to approve the proposedsurrenderof power.
The followingday, the Sh6gun presenteda memorialto the Imperial
Court,and,on November1o,he wasnotifiedthatit had been accepted.

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There stillremained,however,the finalact to thisdrama.Far from
becomingtheleadingfigurein thenew regime,Keiki was strippedofall
power,both economicand political,and the new governmentwas or-
ganizedaround his traditionalenemies,the Satsumaand Chashficlans.
It mightbe said, therefore, thatthe K6gi seitai ron was, fromKeiki's
point of view,a step to Yet whenviewedagainstthe backdrop
disaster.
of history,one is led to the conclusionthatit helped ease the transition
fromTokugawa to Meiji Japan.
3' Quoted in Asai, op. cit.,20o4.