The press and politics in Japan; a study of the relation between the newspaper and the political development of modern Japan

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Preface

My purpose in this work is to show the influence of the press upon the political life of Japan. For such success as I have attained in overcoming the great difficulties caused by the complexity of the problem and the lack of access (owing to my residence in America) to the original Japanese sources, I am chiefly indebted to my younger brother Sukejuro Kawabe, who, for four years, has constantly labored in Japan to supply me with the necessary information and materials. It was through his untiring co-operation that I was enabled to complete this book.

Special acknowledgment is due also to Dr. Robert E. Park of the Department of Sociology of the University of Chicago for his kind criticisms and valuable suggestions. For the improvement of the style I owe much to Mr, Joseph B, Shine, A.M., and to Miss Katherine Bartholomew, Ph.B. To the authors and publishers whose books and periodical articles are quoted or referred to in this work, and to all those who have given me assistance in one way or another, but whose names do not appear here, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude.

Contents

I. Introduction i

The role of the press in poHtics; the press and the poHtical development of New Japan

II. Communication and Education in Old Japan ... 6 The press and the other means of communication; communication in the Very Early Period; the reform in Taika; the Tokugawa Period ; education and the press ; education in the Very Early Period; the code of the Taiho Era; the invention of kana and the development of a vernacular literature; the Tokugawa Period.

Chapter I Introduction

The organization of the community at any given moment represents an established equihbrium and modus vivendi between opposing forces and contending interests and aims. The form which this equihbrium takes is determined, other things being equal, by the means of communication, transportation, and the character of the social contacts. Under communication are included (1) geographical and natural means of communication and transportation, i.e. lakes, rivers, mountain passes, the ocean; (2) roads, railways, both steam and electrical, and automobiles; (3) the post-office, the telegraph, and the telephone; (4) printing and the newspapers. Communication by mail and telegraph and through the press depends upon the existence of a common speech, a common Uterature, and general education. The existence of a newspaper depends upon all these things, and, therefore, its study must be made in connection with the development of all the conditions which contribute to its successful existence and growth.

Newspapers guide and mold opinion through editorials. Through news they inform it. News is not, however, less important in creating pubhc opinion than editorials. The press in directing the attention of the public selects the materials from which ideas are formed. It may be said to create views and opinions, as well as communicate them. As a means of communication the modern newspapers may be compared to the telegraph, telephone, railroad, steamship, and flying machine. It is a sort of common carrier.

It is important to distinguish between communications: those made through the mails, by telegraph, and by telephone; and communications through the medium of the newspapers. While all other means of communication treat each person separately, newspapers offer not only a medium for individual expression as in the case of the advertisement and the personal columns, where homes are united, members of a family are put in touch with one another, or rendezvous are arranged, but also a medium for the exchange of the news and opinions of the general public. For that reason the newspaper becomes primarily the organ of expression of the group, as well as a means of communication between individuals and groups of individuals. It becomes, therefore, the natural organ for the formation and expression of public opinion, and is the medium par excellence of political life. Because of this function, it becomes of prime importance in countries in which we have a popular form of government, i.e. government by public opinion. In England, where parhamentary government has been most thoroughly developed, the growth of a political democracy has gone on side by side with the development of newspapers. In fact, the history of the transition from personal and feudal to the popular government is largely the history for the freedom of public opinion and of the press. It was in England where that took place first and most completely. As the free government in the period of predominant provincial life and provincial economy was carried on in the town meeting, so, with the development of national life and national economy, it is the press through which distance is reduced, which plays the role of the town meeting. Through the newspaper people are promptly informed of current events and are enabled to exchange views and express opinions regarding them. Such universal discussion creates public opinion, which controls public affairs and makes democracy possible.^ Therefore in a modern state the newspaper is one of the social institutions which are indispensable to self-government.

During the last fifty years there have been going on constant conflicts and adjustment in vivid forms in the poHtical experience of the Japanese, and in these struggles the part played by communication is worthy of special attention. The present work was intended to indicate the process through which a state, where only half a century ago no public opinion was considered in political affairs, has made remarkable progress mainly through the development of the system of communication, as a result of the modern printing press. In Old Japan, i.e. before the Restoration of 1868, we may say that public opinion played almost no part in the political life of the people at large, due to the fact that communication

1 Robert E. Park, Lecture.

INTRODUCTION 3

and general education were greatly hampered, and that freedom of discussion was narrowly limited by a complicated system of feudalism. Subsequent to the Restoration, however, these restrictions were modified, and the printing press rapidly made its appearance. From that time on we can clearly trace how each stage of the political development in Japan made its progress right along with the growth of the press.

In Old Japan only a fraction of the one million upper-class population — court nobles, lords, and samurai — participated in politics; but the great masses had no part in it chiefly because adequate communication, which is essential to the psychological organization of an intelligent public, was impossible at that time. Japanese newspapers may be divided into ten-year periods, beginning with the Restoration of 1868. This classification is more or less arbitrary, but each one of these periods corresponds with a particular stage in the trend of Japan's political experiences :

1. The first decade (1868-78) might be called "the period of amateur journalism.'' The circulation of the newspapers was then insignificant, but it already exerted considerable influence upon state affairs by attracting the attention of the authorities and the people. In this period, because of the lack of communication and of a proper means for discussion, serious misunderstandings arose among different elements of the population, and bitter animosities were stirred up. The result was frequent insurrections and assassinations. This was a national unification period.

2. During the second period (1878-90) political journals developed rapidly. The size of the public which gave expression to political affairs was therefore enlarged, although it was still limited to the upper classes. Now the public became more enlightened, and instead of resorting to force and violence they began to use their new weapon of publicity. Various political agitations for the establishment of a more liberal government took place in different parts of the country, and an earlier promulgation of the Imperial Constitution and the establishment of the National Assembly were promoted. This was a transitional period from autocracy to constitutionalism.

3. In the period (1890-97) following the opening of the National Assembly, the newspapers of Japan became party organs, serving the political parties as their strongest weapons against each other and against the government. Bitter conflicts took place between the House of Representatives and newspapers on the one side and the government on the other, chiefly on account of disputes on matters of foreign relations. Treaty-revision problems and several other international difficulties created among the people a stronger national self-consciousness and gave birth to a reactionary nationalism which culminated in a war with China. This was a period of the growth of constitutionalism and nationalism, both of which were greatly fostered by the press.

4. In the fourth period (1897-1906), i.e. after the Japan-China War, industry developed rapidly, newspaper advertising increased, and journalism in Japan became a commercial and independent enterprise. Means of communication, general education, the method of printing and editing, and an unusual stimulus given by the war news increased the newspaper circulation by five times in one decade. This meant at once a similar increase in the power of the public in politics. The organized public now began to include the middle-class population, and constitutionalism made further progress. As a result of the Japan- China War, nationalism took a more active turn and became imperialistic. The result was the Russo-Japanese War. This war was, however, not due so much to the minority opinion of the dominating militaristic classes as it was to a strong public opinion which was created chiefly through the press.

5. During the fifth period (1906-20), i.e. from the Russo-Japanese War to the present day, most newspapers in Japan became independent and greatly increased their circulation. Public opinion had heretofore been limited to the upper and middle classes. Now, however, due to the diffusion of general education, the increase of wealth, and the stimulus given by the war news, the lower classes began to read the papers. A political awakening of the masses resulted. They entered the field of public opinion and brought about a remarkable transformation in the social, political, and industrial life of the nation. To the already growing idea of democracy the recent Great War gave a strong incentive. The

INTRODUCTION 5

fall of German militarism and the victory of the cause of democracy gave the people a vivid impression of what liberty and equality meant both in national and international politics. In view of such an extraordinary change in the attitude, ideas, and ideals of the people at large the bureaucrats and conservatives became alarmed about the future of the Eastern Empire.

This was the situation. An increasing number of the national population had begun to participate in the common life of the state. Nationalism had been greatly enlightened. A healthy democracy had finally found a strong foothold in Japan. What took England hundreds of years to accomplish has been done in half a century in Japan. The unique history of the political development has, of course, a multitude of different forces back of it. In this volume we are concerned with the study of one of those forces, i.e. the modern printing press. The events and processes heretofore briefly mentioned are more clearly expressed in the following chapters.

Chapter II Communication And Education In Old Japan The Development Of Communication In Old Japan

Essential to the development of the newspaper itself are all other means of communication. Let us, therefore, study them first.

Being a narrowly ranged volcanic archipelago, originally consisting of four main islands and several hundred small islands, Japan has always enjoyed the benefit of maritime communication. And, since all the islands are about two-thirds mountain region, and by ravines and rivers blocked out into hundreds of small, isolated geographical areas, land communication did not develop until late in the national history. Therefore in the earlier period the population settled first along the seacoast.

In 81 B.C. Emperor Sujin issued a decree to the coast provinces ordering the people to increase the number of ships in order to develop maritime transportation. In 88 B.C. he dispatched four governorsgeneral to the four districts of the country with orders to improve the highways. Succeeding emperors encouraged the development of communication and transportation. About 563 a.d. lighthouses were built along the coast, and in 860 a.d., in the reign of Emperor Seiwa, beacons were erected at several channels in order to guide the vessels. By the time of the Taikwa Reformation in 645 a.d. a definite post system for the transmission of official mails was estabhshed. The courier was called Haya Uma (fast horse), for he rode on horseback. In the same Reformation, relay stables were established in every village along the main national highways for urgent transmission. Besides the Haya Uma there were couriers on foot called Hikyaku (fleet-legs), who also carried mails by the relay system. At that time in traveling any considerable distance people were required to carry passports with them. This mail system has been maintained ever since, with one exception in the period of civil strife (Gun-yu Kakkyo Period), which lasted from 1573 to 1603. The system was further developed under the Tokugawa regime.

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN OLD JAPAN 7

In 1601 lyeyasu, the first Tokugawa Shogun, provided thirty-six relay stations, with thirty-six horses in each, on the Tokaido highway. He gave 1,440 tsubo of land (a tsuho is 7 feet 5^ inches square) to each relay station for its maintenance. Licenses were issued only to the official couriers. Other highways such as Nakasendo, Oshu-dochu, Nikko-dochu, Kishu-dochu, etc., had similar systems, and all the routes centered in Yedo (now Tokyo). There were two kinds of mails, the ordinary and the special, the latter being carried by certain swift couriers. The local and minor highways also had couriers under the control of local lords.

This system provided for official mail only. The carrying of private mail and the payment of taxes to the central government, which were generally paid in products, were difficult matters, for there was no practical means of communication until 1663 a.d. Traveling priests, pilgrims, and peddlers frequently served as messengers Under the feudal regime the country was divided into hundreds of small dominions, and national communication was hindered by the neglect of local lords: difficulty in crossing streams due to the lack of bridges and boats especially under flood conditions, and the guard-stations built at all the strategic points on the main national highways where travelers were required to show their passports and suspicious-looking persons were detained or imprisoned.

In the Tokugawa regime (1602-1867) the Shogun placed the daimyo, or the lords, in such positions that they restrained one another, and thus made their united action against him impossible. Each lord built his castle on a natural stronghold, and set up strong defenses against invasion. No attempt was made to faciUtate the traffic between different sections of the country. In 1663 a.d. the first public mail service in Japan was established under the direct protection of the government. This was two hundred and fifty-seven years ago. In July, 1664, a regular mail system called Sando-Bikyaku (Three-time Courier) was established and the public mails were dispatched three times regularly every month, at Osaka every second, twelfth, and twenty-second day. When these mails arrived at the destination post-offices, which were generally hotels called Hikyaku-yado (Couriers' Hotel), they were emptied on mats in front of the offices and were exhibited on the streets. Addressees found their own mail. In the same year there were four such private post-offices in Osaka, three in Kyoto, and six in Yedo. Eighty-eight years after this, in 1751, the number was increased to twelve in Osaka, sixteen in Kyoto, and nine in Yedo. By 1806 the mails were dispatched more than eighteen times a month. Besides these land couriers there were swift mail boats which handled both letters and parcels, and in 1744 the money-order system and the insurance of mails were introduced. As these private couriers improved, many official mails were also intrusted to them. Postal fees were relatively high, on account of the great difficulties met with in the transmission of the mails, and the rate was frequently changed by the agreement of the Couriers' Association.

Under the Tokugawa regime the building of seaworthy vessels was prohibited, so that no one was able to cross the sea to maintain intercourse with any other countries. Only the small coasting, river, and lake boats were allowed to be built. These vessels were too dangerous for traveling purposes, and were primarily used for the transportation of cargoes.

EDUCATION IN OLD JAPAN

The next problem to be studied is that of general education. When the masses are illiterate, there is no hope for the development of the newspapers nor for a general participation in political affairs. Communication and general education lead to a unified national language and the development of a common literature, and thus a way is opened for common discussion by speech and publicity.

In Old Japan before the Tokugawa regime education was limited to the upper classes, and the majority of the people were kept ignorant. Originally there was no writing in Japan, but in 284 a.d, Chinese letters were introduced by a Korean scholar named Wani, and subsequently written language came into existence. By the Code of the Taiho Era, a university was established in the capital in 701 a.d., but no one except the children of nobles was admitted to it. This date precedes that of the establishment of any university in Europe by more than a century.

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN OLD JAPAN 9

All the students were given government scholarships, and the curriculum consisted of Chinese classic, philosophy, history, literature and composition, law, music, calligraphy, and mathematics. Besides the university there were colleges of medicine, of music, and of divination, all of which were maintained by the central government. Provincial colleges with similar courses of lower grades were also established and were controlled by the local governors. There were also many private colleges and schools maintained by clans, families, and groups of wealthy people to educate their own children. In the seventh, the eighth, and the ninth centuries, many scholars and Buddhist priests were sent by the government to China, and they brought back the Chinese and Indian civilizations.

Although the Japanese now had the Chinese letters, they met with extraordinary difficulties in adapting them for the entirely different language: the Chinese ideographs cannot be adapted to the Japanese language, which has an entirely different origin and therefore different sounds. About the ninth century, kana, or Japanese syllabaries, were invented by the native scholars, and then it became possible to spell the vernacular by its sounds. Subsequently, the native literature was written in a peculiarly mixed form of both Chinese ideographs and kana^ and rapidly attained a degree of excellence that has not been equaled since. The literatures of the eleventh and the twelfth centuries are much admired today. The works of such brilliant court ladies as Murasaki-shikibu, Izumi-shikibu, and Sei-shonagon are the flowers of Japanese literature.

Literary works gradually accumulated. About 1270 the Kanazawa Library was established, where nearly all the Japanese and Chinese books which existed in those days were kept for the general public. Education was gradually developing throughout the country, although until the beginning of the Tokugawa regime (1602 a.d.) the masses were able to receive elementary instruction only at the Buddhist temples.

The Tokugawa Shogunate encouraged education, and a large number of schools were established under the direction of the central government, of the local lords, and of private scholars. The highest government school for training officials was the Shohei-ko, which was estabhshed in 1630 for teaching Chinese classics, history, reading, literature, and Japanese learning. Other provincial schools followed the system of the Shohei-ko and gave similar curricula. The education of the common people was in the hands of the priests at first, but later lay scholars opened private schools and taught there elementary reading, letterwriting, arithmetic, etiquette, and calligraphy. The eighth Shogun, Yoshimune (1713-44), encouraged popular education, and from then on it became widely diffused. About this time several such prominent scholars as Yekken Kaibara and Tekisai Nakamura wrote a number of books which appealed to the less-educated masses, and which therefore accelerated the diffusion of culture among the common people. A considerable proportion of the male population could now read and write sufficiently to meet their daily necessities. The majority of the female population remained illiterate.

Besides the schools, pilgrimages which were in vogue in Old Japan, popular dramas, and story-telling contributed to some extent to the education of the common people.

REFERENCES

Education in Japan, 1915, Department of Education of Japan.

Graphic Illustrations of Communication in Japan, 1915, Japan Department of Communication.

History of Education in Japan, 1910, Department of Education of Japan.

History of Telegraphs in Japan ,1892, Japan D epartment of Communication .

Imperial Government Railways, 1915, Japan Department of Communication.

Japan Year Book, 1905-17.

Japan Year Book, 1915-17.

Kikuchi, Dairoku, Japanese Education.

Kokumin, The, Kokumin Nenkan, 1916-18.

Mercantile Marine, 1892, Japan Department of Communication.

Nippon Kotsu Shi-ron, Japan Historical and Geographical Association.

Okuma, Shigenobu, Fifty Years of New Japan, Vols. I and II.

Postal Service in Japan, 1892, Japan Department of Communication.

Takegoshi, Yosaburo, Nisen-gohyakunen Shi.

Chapter III The Prejournalistic Period (before 1868)

Illiteracy and segregation of the masses and the policy of repression held by the government stunted the development of the newspaper. But a common culture was being slowly diffused throughout the country by the new written language. In Old Japan, previous to the introduction of modern journalism in 1868, news and opinions were conveyed in various ways, imperfect though they were. These methods may be considered as the forerunners of newspapers in Japan, and can be classified into five groups — the song period, the scribbling period, pictorial and ballad period, the joke-book and yellow-cover period, and the lampoon period.

Before writing was introduced from China in 284 a.d., news and ideas were conveyed mainly by songs. The Japanese were a poetic people from the earliest period of national history, and poetry had developed before written language came into use. Songs of the mythological period are the prototype of later poems. The first legendary song recorded in the history of Japan is probably the stanza which the goddess Uzume sang while she danced before the heavenly cave. The story runs as follows:

When Susanowo, the mischievous moon-god, teased his beautiful sister Amaterasu, the sun-goddess, who is said to be the maternal ancestor of the Japanese imperial family of five generations previous to the first Emperor Jimmu, she hid herself in a heavenly cave and shut the rocky door so tightly that the whole universe suddenly turned pitch-dark. Then eight milliard deities assembled, consulted together, and formed a plan to lure Amaterasu out of the cave. A great musical feast was begun in front of the cave door, and Uzume, the laughing goddess, danced and sang wonderfully. The celebration was so great that the sun-goddess could not resist the temptation and at last opened the rocky door slightly and peeped out. Tachikarawo, or the heavenly-hand-strength-male-god, suddenly took hold of her hand and pulled her out of the cave, and again the heaven and earth brightened and there was light. The stanza which Uzume sang on that occasion was:

Gods behold the cavern door, Majesty appears — hurrah!

When Susanowo, the moon-god, descended from heaven and married an earthly goddess, Kushi-Inada-Hime, and built his august palace in the Province of Izumo (Northern Japan), clouds of eight beautiful colors suddenly arose there. Then Susanowo made a song:

Ya-kumo tatsu:

Ya-he-gaki tsukuru: Sono ya-he-gakiwo.

This was translated by Chamberlain as follows:

Eight clouds arise. The eightfold (or manifold) fence of Idzumo makes an eightfold (or manifold) fence for the spouses to retire within.

Oh! that eightfold fence!

The old Japanese songs mostly consist of seven and five syllables alternating in each Hne, and the method of expressing the ideas and feelings is extremely simple. By a peculiar method of reiteration and pause these primitive poems are capable of giving vivid impressions. I will show a few more examples of old songs, translated by Lafcadio Hearn.

This song from the Gempei Seisuiki (Account of the Prosperity and DecHne of the Two Great Clans Gen and Hei) was composed in the twelfth century.

Both form and mind —

Lo! how these change!

The falling of tears

Is like the water of a cataract.

Let them become the Pool Of the Lotos of the Good Law!

Poling thereupon The Boat of Salvation, Vouchsafe that my sinking Body may ride!

1 Translation by W. G. Griffis, Japan in History, Folk Lore, and Art, pp. 37-38.

THE PREJOURNALISTIC PERIOD 13

Who twice shall live his youth?

Fugitive as dew

Is the form regretted,

Seen only

In a moment of dream.^

It is customary in Japan when young people marry for the woman to enter the man's house. There the mother-in-law and the sisters of the husband are the greatest terrors of the timid bride.

EYE OF MOTHER-IN-LAW

' In the shadow of the mountain What is it that shines so?

Moon is it, nor star? — or is it the fire-fly insect? Neither is it moon, Nor yet star; It is the old woman's eye; it is the eye of my mother-in-law that shines. (Chorus) It is her Eye that shines I^

OLD DANCE SONG IN PROVINCE OF SANUKI

Oh! the cruelty, the cruelty of my mother-in-law!

(Chorus) Oh! the cruelty!

Even tells me to paint a picture on running water! If ever I paint a picture on running water.

You will count the stars in the night-sky!

Count the stars in the night-sky!

— Come! Let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden! Chan-chan!

Cha-cha!

Yoitomose, Yoitomose !

Who cuts bamboo at the back of the house?

(Chorus) Who cuts the bamboo?

My sweet lord's [husband's] own bamboo, the first he planted. The first he planted?

1 Translation by Lafcadio Hearn in Shadowings, p. 192.

2 An old folk-song sung in the province of Shinano. Translation by Lafcadio Hearn in Shadowings, p. 171.

— Come! Let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden! *

Chan-chan!

Cha-cha!

Yoitomose,

Yoitomose!

Oh! the cruelty, the cruelty of my mother-in-law!

Oh! the cruelty!

Tells me to cut and make a hakama [skirt] out of rock ! If ever I cut and saw a hakama out of rock, Then you will learn to twist the fine sand into thread,

Twist into thread.

— Come! Let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden!

Chan-chan!

Cha-cha!

Yoitomose, Yoitomose ! Chan-chan-chan ! ^

After the introduction of Chinese ideographs, scribblings on walls of houses and posts became a means of communication. They were mostlysatirical matters, such as criticisms of authorities and other dignitaries, and miscellanies. Travelers frequently left messages on the walls of hotels and inns.

In 1045 Takakuni Minamoto, a nobleman, built a villa at Uji to provide a free resting-place for travelers. From the various reports of his guests from different parts of the country he composed interesting articles and published two books, Konjaku-Monogatari and Uji-Ishu.

About 1600 A.D. lithographing was invented, and subsequently news was printed for the first time on one- or two-page papers, generally with some illustrations. These news sheets were read aloud by hawkers on the streets and in other public places, and therefore they obtained the name yomiuri, or ''hawked about." This Hthographing was called kawara-ban (tile-block print) because it was engraved on clay to make the tile block. Later wood-block engraving on cherry wood was introduced, but it still retained the name of kawara-ban.

The earliest tile-block print known today was made in 1615 with an illustrated description of the battle of Abe, which took place between Hideyori and lyeyasu on May 7 of that year, and in which lyeyasu was

1 Translation by Lafcadio Hearn in Shadowings, pp. 171-72.

THE PREJOURNALISTIC PERIOD 15

victorious in vanquishing the Toyotomi Clan. The author is supposed to have been no less than lyeyasu himself. He distributed the news of his victory throughout the country to influence the feudal lords to aid him. At that time there were already movable types made of wood, and several books were printed from these. It is said that lyeyasu, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, gave 300,000 wood types to the Ashikaga school with orders to publish in print many old manuscripts. It is also reported that, in 1614, 200,000 copper types were cast by the Tokugawa government in order to print the Buddhist scriptures and works of classical literatures. But the illustrated print was still very rare, and for more than sixty years after that time there was no other illustrated newspaper known to have been in existence.

In the Genroku Era (1688-1703) love ballads became popular, and every sensational incident in love affairs was hawked by the ballad singers on the streets. This era was one of the most extravagant periods in Japanese history. All the country enjoyed peace and prosperity; and the luxurious life and general moral laxity supplied endless resources for the popular ballad, which was enthusiastically welcomed by the public. The hawkers of these ballads were called tsurebushi (singers-in-pair), for they went around by pairs singing. The majority of these hav/kers were people who through misfortune and dissipation were unable any longer to do hard work. However, the literary skill and musical accomplishment acquired in prosperous days enabled them to compose ballads of popular interest and to sing them on the streets. It was a custom of these ballad singers to cover their heads with hats woven of reeds in order to conceal their identity.^ In 1688, when the famous forty-seven ronin (masterless samurai) of Ako had taken up the feud of their former lord, a detailed account of the incident was at once written as a ballad and sold by singers on the streets of Yedo and other large cities.

* In the chapter called 'Tallen Rich Man," of a book entitled The Second Generation of Sensual iVfaw, published in 1684, the following passage is found: "Messrs. Shichi and Hachi, brothers of Kaneya Company, their mortgaged estate having been forfeited, moved to Matsuyacho, and even very late at night were unmistakably seen going around the streets singing tsure-hushi with hoarse voices," etc. (Kamezo Asakura, Honcho Shimhun-shi, p. 4.)