Japan remembers Meiji Restoration on 150th anniversary

March 29, 2018

Japan remembers Meiji Restoration on 150th anniversary

The statue of a main architect of the Meiji Revolution which paved the way for Japan's modernization drive in the 19th century stands on a hill right above the scenic Katsurahama beach facing the Pacific.
Sakamoto Ryoma is just one of many revolution heroes hailing from Tosa, currently Kochi Prefecture, southwestern Japan, but he is much more popular than other figures, not only from Tosa but also from other regions, who contributed to the revolution in the stormy years of the 1860s. One of the reasons for this is his free, realistic way of thinking, a character which was quite unique at that time.
Kochi Prefecture is excited about bolstering itself this year, as Japan marks the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Revolution, or the Meiji Restoration, in 2018. Prefecture organizations and many private-sector entities are busy promoting various campaign events in honor of local heroes who worked for the revolution.
Ryoma (he is usually called with his given name) stands in the center of a main campaign picture on the official guide book produced by the prefecture.
The Meiji Restoration put an end to the 260 years of rule by the Tokugawa shogunate government, but Ryoma could not see Japan's rebirth to be a modern state under a new political and social system which he had dreamed of. He was killed by a group of unknown assassins, exactly on his 32nd birthday, Nov. 15, 1867, when he was at a hideout in Kyoto, then Japan's capital. This was only two months before the first bloody battle occurred between the new Meiji government and the Tokugawa regime at the beginning of 1868.
Japanese people's tendency of feeling sympathy with the underdog is believed to be behind the fact that Ryoma has been popular among Japanese over years.
Revolution leaders who survived the war with the Tokugawa regime worked to start a new state by inaugurating various industries and building a strong army under the restored Emperor system. The newly launched Japan won wars with China and then with Russia, to be equally ranked with the western powers like Britain early in the 20th century. But this contributed to giving too much power to Japan's military, causing Japan to be a militarist state under the name of the Emperor, called His Majesty the Great Marshal.
Recent researches about the Meiji Restoration call for taking a fresh look at the process before and after the revolution year of 1868. Some of them say that the past studies excessively glorified the revolution heroes, including the so-called Meiji patriots who played major roles for building the new state system. Others say that Japan's excessive emphasis on strengthening its army became a remote cause for Japan's tragic defeat in World War II.
Ryoma showed flexible ideas while negotiating between the interested parties on both sides, at a time when fears grew among Japanese leaders that Japan would be invaded by Western powers, just like China. His mediation helped the two rivaling warlord clans of Satsuma and Choshu to reach a secret alliance to topple the Tokugawa shogunate government. This was two years before the Meiji Restoration.
Ryoma believed that the two clans should join forces to end the old regime, by a peaceful means, not by force. He also believed that Japan should reinforce itself as an ocean state after its rebirth. This is why he tried hard to build Japan's naval fleet by gathering ambitious young samurai from across Japan.
Ryoma's statue, 13.5 meters high, was  originally built in 1928. The statue is clad with the samurai costume, but he is in Western style boots with a handgun in his  breast pocket.
The manly statue looks as if he is dwelling on new designs for Japan's future with his eyes kept far ahead to the Pacific ocean. What should Ryoma say about Japan's recent inclination to have a stronger defense capability by reinterpreting its pacifist constitution?