Editing Meiji era (section)

== Politics ==
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{{main|Meiji oligarchy|Government of Meiji Japan|Meiji Constitution}}
A major proponent of representative government was [[Itagaki Taisuke]] (1837–1919), a powerful [[Tosa Province|Tosa]] leader who had resigned from the Council of State over the [[Seikanron|Korean affair]] in 1873. Itagaki sought peaceful, rather than rebellious, means to gain a voice in government. He started a school and a movement aimed at establishing a [[constitutional monarchy]] and a [[legislative assembly]]. Such movements were called [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement|The Freedom and People's Rights Movement]]. Itagaki and others wrote the {{ill|Tosa Memorial|ja|民撰議院設立建白書}} in 1874, criticizing the unbridled power of the oligarchy and calling for the immediate establishment of representative government.

Between 1871 and 1873, a series of [[Land Tax Reform (Japan 1873)|land and tax laws]] were enacted as the basis for modern fiscal policy. Private ownership was legalized, deeds were issued, and lands were assessed at fair market value with taxes paid in cash rather than in kind as in pre-Meiji days and at slightly lower rates.

Dissatisfied with the pace of reform after having rejoined the Council of State in 1875, Itagaki organized his followers and other democratic proponents into the nationwide [[Aikokusha]] (Society of Patriots) to push for representative government in 1878. In 1881, in an action for which he is best known, Itagaki helped found the [[Liberal Party of Japan (1881)|Jiyūtō]] (Liberal Party), which favored French political doctrines.

In 1882, [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]] established the [[Rikken Kaishintō]] (Constitutional Progressive Party), which called for a British-style constitutional democracy. In response, government bureaucrats, local government officials, and other conservatives established the [[Rikken Teiseitō]] (Imperial Rule Party), a pro-government party, in 1882. Numerous political demonstrations followed, some of them violent, resulting in further government restrictions. The restrictions hindered the political parties and led to divisions within and among them. The Jiyūtō, which had opposed the Kaishinto, was disbanded in 1884 and Ōkuma resigned as Kaishintō president.

Government leaders, long preoccupied with violent threats to stability and the serious leadership split over the Korean affair, generally agreed that [[constitutional government]] should someday be established. The [[Nagato Province|Chōshū]] leader [[Kido Takayoshi]] had favored a constitutional form of government since before 1874, and several proposals for constitutional guarantees had been drafted. While acknowledging the realities of political pressure, however, the oligarchy was determined to keep control. Thus, modest steps were taken.

The Osaka Conference in 1875 resulted in the reorganization of government with an independent judiciary and an appointed [[Chamber of Elders]] (genrōin) tasked with reviewing proposals for a legislature. The Emperor declared that "constitutional government shall be established in gradual stages" as he ordered the [[genrō|Council of Elders]] to draft a constitution.

Three years later, the Conference of Prefectural Governors established elected prefectural assemblies. Although limited in their authority, these assemblies represented a move in the direction of representative government at the national level, and by 1880 assemblies also had been formed in villages and towns. In 1880 delegates from twenty-four prefectures held a national convention to establish the [[League for the Establishment of a National Assembly|Kokkai Kisei Dōmei]].

Although the government was not opposed to parliamentary rule, confronted with the drive for "people's rights", it continued to try to control the political situation. New laws in 1875 prohibited press criticism of the government or discussion of national laws. The [[Public Assembly Law, 1880|Public Assembly Law]] (1880) severely limited public gatherings by disallowing attendance by civil servants and requiring police permission for all meetings.

Within the ruling circle, however, and despite the conservative approach of the leadership, Okuma continued as a lone advocate of British-style government, a government with political parties and a cabinet organized by the majority party, answerable to the national assembly. He called for elections to be held by 1882 and for a national assembly to be convened by 1883; in doing so, he precipitated a political crisis that ended with an 1881 imperial rescript declaring the establishment of a national assembly in 1890 and dismissing Okuma.

Rejecting the British model, [[Iwakura Tomomi|Iwakura]] and other conservatives borrowed heavily from the [[Constitution of the German Empire|Prussian constitutional system]]. One of the Meiji oligarchy, [[Itō Hirobumi]] (1841–1909), a Chōshū native long involved in government affairs, was charged with drafting Japan's constitution. He led a constitutional study mission abroad in 1882, spending most of his time in Germany. He rejected the [[United States Constitution]] as "too liberal", and the British system as too unwieldy, and having a parliament with too much control over the monarchy; the French and Spanish models were rejected as tending toward despotism.

Ito was put in charge of the new Bureau for Investigation of Constitutional Systems in 1884, and the Council of State was replaced in 1885 with a cabinet headed by Ito as prime minister. The positions of chancellor (or chief-minister), [[Sadaijin|minister of the left]], and [[Udaijin|minister of the right]], which had existed since the seventh century as advisory positions to the Emperor, were all abolished. In their place, the [[Privy Council of Japan|Privy Council]] was established in 1888 to evaluate the forthcoming constitution and to advise the Emperor.

To further strengthen the authority of the State, the Supreme War Council was established under the leadership of [[Yamagata Aritomo]] (1838–1922), a Chōshū native who has been credited with the founding of the modern Japanese army and was to become the first constitutional [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]]. The [[Supreme War Council (Japan)|Supreme War Council]] developed a German-style general staff system with a chief of staff who had direct access to the Emperor and who could operate independently of the army minister and civilian officials.

[[File:Ceremony for the Promulgation of the Constitution by Wada Eisaku.jpg|thumb|right|''Ceremony for the Promulgation of the Constitution'' by [[Wada Eisaku]], showing the Emperor presenting the [[Meiji Constitution|Constitution]] to [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Kuroda Kiyotaka]] at a ceremony in the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace#The Old palace|Imperial Palace]] on 11 February 1889 ([[Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery]])<ref name="notes">{{cite book |script-title=ja:聖徳記念絵画館壁画 |trans-title=Explanatory Notes on pictures in Memorial Picture Gallery, Meiji Jingū |language=ja, en |editor=[[Meiji Jingū]] [[Meiji Shrine#Gaien|Gaien]] |year=2001}}</ref>]]
The [[Meiji Constitution|Constitution of the Empire of Japan]] was enacted on November 29, 1890.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Meiji-Constitution|title=Meiji Constitution {{!}} 1889, Japan|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-08-21|language=en}}</ref> It was a form of mixed [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional]] and [[absolute monarchy]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hein|first1=Patrick|title=How the Japanese became foreign to themselves : the impact of globalization on the private and public spheres in Japan|date=2009|publisher=Lit|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3643100856|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QJsvhHwjVMC&pg=PA72}}</ref> The [[Emperor of Japan]] was legally the supreme leader, and the Cabinet were his followers. The Prime Minister would be elected by a [[Privy Council of Japan|Privy Council]]. In reality, the Emperor was [[head of state]] but the [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] was the actual head of government.

Class distinctions were mostly eliminated during modernization to create a [[representative democracy]]. The [[samurai]] lost their status as the only class with military privileges. However, during the Meiji period, most leaders in Japanese society (politics, business and military) were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai.

The 1889 [[Constitution of the Empire of Japan|Meiji Constitution]] made relatively small concessions to [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement|civil rights]] and parliamentary mechanisms. Party participation was recognized as part of the political process. The Emperor shared his authority and gave rights and liberties to his subjects. It provided for the Imperial Diet (Teikoku Gikai), composed of a popularly elected [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] with a very limited franchise of male citizens who were over twenty-five years of age and paid fifteen yen in national taxes (approximately 1% of the population). The [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]] was composed of nobility and imperial appointees. A cabinet was responsible to the Emperor and independent of the legislature. The Diet could approve government legislation and initiate laws, make representations to the government, and submit petitions to the Emperor. The Meiji Constitution lasted as the fundamental law until 1947.

In the early years of constitutional government, the strengths and weaknesses of the Meiji Constitution were revealed. A small clique of [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] and [[Chōshū Domain|Chōshū]] elite continued to rule Japan, becoming institutionalized as an extra-constitutional body of [[genrō]] (elder statesmen). Collectively, the genrō made decisions reserved for the Emperor, and the genrō, not the Emperor, controlled the government politically.

Throughout the period, however, political problems usually were solved through compromise, and political parties gradually increased their power over the government and held an ever-larger role in the political process as a result. Between 1891 and 1895, Ito served as Prime Minister with a cabinet composed mostly of genrō who wanted to establish a government party to control the House of Representatives. Although not fully realized, the trend toward party politics was well established.