The Meiji Peerage
Given the close connection between feudalism and the Shogunate, nothing short of the surrender of feudal fiefs to the Crown would be a satisfactory solution of the problem presented by the fall of the Shogunate, in spite of the serious disturbance of the whole administrative structure which so sweeping a change must necessarily involve. The method adopted for giving effect to the decision arrived at was the voluntary surrender of feudal fiefs to the Throne. By the end of 1869 out of 276 feudatories there were only seventeen abstainers from the movement, these being daimios of eastern territories who had taken the Shogun's side in the civil war. On the 29th August, 1871, the Imperial Decree abolishing the feudal system appeared. "The clans," so it ran, " are abolished, and prefectures are established in their place." A further step in the same direction was taken by the amalgamation of the Court and feudal nobility into one class, to which the new name of kwazoku (nobles) was given. With the fall of the Shogunate, and the abolition of the feudal system, all territorial titles had disappeared. Gone also were the empty Court, or official, titles, so eagerly sought, the bestowal of which had been one of the last surviving prerogatives of the Crown. Many of them had become hereditary in the families which held them, and their disappearance had been viewed with regret in many quarters. The abolition of feudalism, moreover, entailed the disappearance of the samurai, the fighting men of the clans, and the rearrangement of existing classes.
There is no reason to think that the territorial nobility suffered very greatly by the change, save, at once, in loss of dignity, and, later on, in the compulsory commutation of their pensions. Denied by custom all share in the management of clan affairs, they had little call to object to a measure the true import of which was imperfectly appreciated, or do anything else but silently acquiesce in the decisions of the masterful retainers by whose counsels they and their ancestors were accustomed to be guided. The creation of the new orders of nobility gained much popularity for the new Minister of the Household. There was indeed a special reason for the measure. It was the first step towards the establishment of a constitutional regime. A House of Peers was to be a leading feature of the Constitution now in course of preparation, and it was essential to create a new nobility before the institution of which it was to form a part came into operation. Some five hundred peers in all were created, the number including 12 princes, 24 marquises, 74 counts, 321 viscounts and 69 barons. The recipients of these new titles were the ex-Kuge, or Court nobles, the ex-daimios, who under the feudal system had constituted the territorial nobility, and ex-samurai, still in office, who had rendered eminent service to the State at the time of the Restoration. Not unnaturally the lion's share of the titles received by commoners fell to Satsuma and Choshiu men. Assuming the number of ex-Kuge to be 150, and that of the ex-daimios to be 300, it will be seen that the number of commoners ennobled amounted to only one-tenth of the whole.
The disproportionately large number of viscounts created is explained by the fact that there was little difference in the positions of most of the territorial nobility, although each had his fixed place in the table of official precedence. It was, therefore, difficult to make any discrimination in these cases when the old system of things was translated into the new. It would appear, moreover, that this was also the case with the old Conrt nobility. Among the ex-samurai to be ennobled were the Choahiu statesmen, Ito, Yamagata and Inouye, and three Satsuma member; of the Government, Kuroda, the younger Saigo, and Matsugata, al of whom became Counts. The services of other ex-samurai who had distinguished themselves at the time of the Restoration, but were in opposition when the new nobility was created, were recognized some years later, Okuma, Itagaki and Goto then receiving the same title of Count.
The Diet, or Parliament—for Japanese writers, when writing in English, use both terms indifferently — comprises two Chambers, a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. The natural term of the House of Representatives was four years. The House of Peers is composed of members of five different categories: (1) Members of the Imperial family who have attained majority, fixed in such cases at twenty years; (2) princes and marquises who have attained legal majority, namely, twenty-five years; (3) other members of the nobility chosen by their respective orders; (4) distinguished persons specially nominated by the Emperor; and (5) persons (one for each urban and rural district) elected by and from the highest taxpayers. Those coming under the first, second and fourth categories are life members; those coming under the third and fifth categories are elected for seven years.
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