Hioki Eki

“ Without the least taint of flattery it may be safely asserted that Japan is indebted to no other country so much as to the United States. This indebtedness began on her first trial of that international intercourse which she has kept up ever since, and will doubtlessly continue as long as the world shall last. It is an undeniable fact that the honor of having opened the hitherto secluded Empire of Japan to foreign intercourse, commercial and otherwise, rests with the United States. ”

“ In a word, the whole Empire was in a state of chaos. To tame these unruly elements, to infuse order and harmony among them, and to graft on them an order and regime entirely for- eign to the soil, and to develop them to the condition in which they are now within the short space of the last 37 years is the grandest of the achievements that man has ever accomplished. ”

“ It was an incidental consequence of one of the phases of human history. In Japan, as in other feudal countries, there had been an alternate tendency toward strong and weak central governments. In order to maintain peace and order and to preserve the nation as a compact unit against a strong tendency toward decentralization which was then prevailing, Yoritomo had fought a series of bloody battles with local chieftains and magnates, and finally succeeded in establishing a vigorously centralized military government over the whole Empire and by the side of that of Mikado. ”

“ Foreigners may take it as a mere form of oriental flattery; but to our mind there is nothing more truthful and sincere. In Japan loyalty and patriotism are interchangeable terms. Were it not for the devotion of men and officers to "Our Lord and country," no admiral or general, however great a military genius he may be, could ever achieve the glorious successes which crowned their efforts during the present war. ”

“ About the time when Commodore Perry entered the waters of Japan, in March, 1853, and his return there, in February, 1854, the rumors of trouble between the Chinese and European powers were being constantly received through the Dutch by the statesmen of Japan with the greatest concern. The incessant and increasing visits of the black ships and the persistent demands of the various powers to open the country to the intercourse of the world deeply occupied the minds of the thinking population of Japan. ”

“ Heavy as they felt the foreign pressure on one hand, the Tokugawa government could not ratify the American treaty on account of the strong internal opposition. There appeared a martyr in the person of Ii Kamon-no-Kami, who assumed the portfolio of the premier of the Tokugawa government at this critical moment, and who, in defiance of the Imperial order and the public opinion, ratified that American treaty. He was a real martyr, because soon after he fell by the hands of assassins, being regarded by the opposition as a traitor to the country. ”

“ Such is the memory that the Japanese of today cherish. Indeed, the more we study the magnitude of the transformation that Japan has undergone since the advent of Perry, the higher becomes our appreciation of his work and the part played by the United States in regard to Japan. If the country had been forced open by any means but peaceful, nobody knows where that little Empire would stand today. Were it not for the policy the United States patiently and firmly pursued toward the upbuild- ing of new Japan, it is impossible to realize what progress she would have made. ”

“ No annals of mankind record an inci- dent which appears more inconsistent with the course that human experience would have predicted. Many expla- nations have been attempted. The weakened condition of the Tokugawa government, selfish motives of some ambitious southern Daimios, personal motives of various kinds, the inability of appreciating the real consequences of the change on the part of the Daimios and Samurai, are mentioned among the causes. I do not hesitate to say, how- ever, that such a grand achievement in human history cannot be caused by such petty and selfish motives. ”

“ The restoration of the Imperial power meant the unification of the govern- mental powers, and the unification of the governmental powers meant the sur- render of the powers, rights, privileges, properties, and what-not possessed by the feudatories and Samurai, because, without a complete abdication by the feudal lords and vassals of their prerog- atives, a real unification of the govern- mental powers and the restoration of the Imperial authority was impossible. ”

“ History shows that the ro- mantic element occupies a prominent place in Japanese character, and that the educated classes can always be led into feverish pursuit of an idea which appeals to their sense of moral nobility. The atmosphere was full of loyalty and patriotism in 1869. The mood of the nation was exalted. Any one hesitat- ing for plainly selfish reasons to follow a course apparently essential to the new order of things, and sanctioned by the example of the great southern clans, would have seemed to forfeit the right of calling himself a Samurai. ”

“ It is impossible to say whether those people who advocated the policy of exclusion really believed in its practica- bility or not, but it was a policy which had been followed during several centuries, and they cherished the quiet peace of seclusion. ”

“ During the last thirty-seven years of his most marked and enlightened reign he has given the nation the enjoyment of all the best fruits of the civilization of the West, and, above all, has raised the country, in the face of the immense ob- stacles, from the position of an insignifi- cant oriental state to that of a formidable unit in the comity of nations. Much need not be said about his public acts. Facts are too abundant and conspicuous to make explanation necessary. ”

“ The Emperor, on his accession to the throne, proclaimed the following articles of oath, thus solemnly laying the foun- dation for the grand policy of new Japan :
"1. A broadly based deliberative as- sembly should be convened for the pur- pose of conducting state affairs in con- formity with public opinion.
"2. High and low should unite their minds and vigorously carry out the grand affairs of the state.
"3. Civilians and military, as well as common people, should be allowed to freely carry out their minds' aspirations, and their spirit of progress should not be suffered to be hampered. ”

“ He is a person above the ordinary Japanese height, with large, wide- set eyes and broad forehead. He is robust in health, studious in habit, kind and sympathetic in sentiment, and strong and loyal in character. ”

“ The men who conceived and achieved this unique revolution were chiefly Samurai of inferior grade, without offi- cial rank or social standing. The most prominent of them do not exceed 55 in number, and among them only 13 are aristocrats ”