What can be cooked from squid: quick and tasty

6th year of Meiji reign

Previously, New Year's celebration meant the arrival of spring. The Far Eastern New Year happens at the end of January - February, when the plum is already blooming in Japan. However, with the transition to a solar calendar on the first day of the year, one could only dream of the onset of spring. On January 1, the usual writing of poetry about the warm spring breeze driving away the winter seemed absurd. But the diplomatic corps and foreigners in the service of the Japanese government were allowed to congratulate Meiji on the new year. And not only to diplomats, but also to their wives. True, this year only the wives of the Russian and American envoys dared to visit the emperor.

The Iwakura mission continued on its journey. Its members were often criticized for still persecuting Christians in Japan. In response, the government acted very diplomatically: the ban on Christianity was not finally canceled, but the decree of the 17th century banning Christianity, which was posted in public places, was removed on February 24. The motivation was wonderful - this decree can be removed, because over the years that have passed since its promulgation, all the Japanese have already managed to learn it by heart. Now the authorities turned a blind eye to the activities of Christian preachers.

This year, Father Nikolai opened an Orthodox seminary in Tokyo. A year earlier, Foreign Minister Soejima himself had facilitated the acquisition of a fairly large plot in the Surugadai area. However, someone complained to the government that in his sermons Nicholas taught disrespect towards the emperor. This was an outright lie, but Nicholas had to write an explanatory note in which he solemnly vowed: the Orthodox Church, in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, teaches obedience to the authorities.

This year, for the first time, two new holidays were celebrated - Empire Foundation Day and Meiji Birthday. At the same time, all previous holidays, which were accustomed to celebrating in the village, were canceled. Under the Tokugawa, holidays were determined by the community itself, the "damned" shogunate did not interfere with the internal production and festive rhythm of the village. The shogun and the princes were interested in the taxes paid on time, the power over souls was of less interest to them. With the establishment of the new regime, people really got rid of many of the limitations of the past. But let's not forget: "liberation" from "feudal bonds" led to the fact that Meiji subjects lost a significant part of their previous rights and acquired many new responsibilities. In particular, the obligation to rest on the prescribed days. So the state unambiguously reminded the people who is the true master of time.

The peasants were instructed to celebrate the emperor's birthday. They did it as best they could. A plaque with the inscription "Sovereign-Emperor Mutsuhito" was stuck near the road and an altar with bottles of sake, flowers and fruits was built near it. They worshiped other deities in the same way.

At the end of the shogunate's existence, the number of holidays in the village reached 60–90 per year, and two public holidays seemed to be too little. So in October, they decided to introduce six more new holidays.

January 3 - Gensisai (Feast of the Beginning). Established in honor of the descent to Earth of Ninigi no Mikoto, grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu. From this time on, the eternal reign of the descendants of the solar goddess begins on earth.

January 5 - New Year's feast. At the Meiji Palace, it was held with the invitation of the political elite and foreigners.

September 17 - Feast of the Deity's Eating of the New Harvest (Kannamesai). Initially, it was checked on September 17, in 1879 it was postponed to October 17. Includes offerings of the fruits of the new harvest on the altars of the shrines in the imperial palace and in Ise.

November 23 - Harvest Festival (Niinamesai). An ancient agricultural holiday, the main meaning of which was to “feed” the emperor with a new harvest.

The listed holidays (rituals) were mainly of ancient origin or foundation. However, earlier these rituals were performed only by the court nobility, but now the entire population was invited to participate in them. The main purpose of these holidays was to create a nationwide space and time, in the center of which is the current emperor and his dynasty. Holidays served as a regular reminder that the rhythm of life of every Japanese, wherever he is, is set by the time established by the state, which in this capacity is equivalent to nature itself in its cyclical and eternal movement. During national festivities, the invisible presence of the emperor was to be felt by all his subjects at once. Previously, folk holidays in different villages were often celebrated at different times, their set did not coincide. Now, national holidays were held on the same day throughout the country. On this day, national flags were flown all over the country. Hanging them on other days (for example, during local temple festivals) was prohibited.

If in Europe many holidays are of Christian origin and therefore their role largely serves as the beginning uniting all Christian countries, in Japan the vast majority of national holidays had no foreign counterparts (the only exception is the New Year). Buddhist holidays and anniversaries, which could fulfill a role similar to Christian ones, were not in demand by the Meiji government.

Thus, in Japan, the national myth, and not the international one, was actualized, and the whole system was built with the expectation of identifying Japan and the Japanese as having unique characteristics. And this despite the fact that the very idea of ​​national holidays was prompted by European experience. Interestingly, unlike European countries, where the change of power and revolutionary events are often recorded in the calendar, the Meiji restoration (revolution) is not reflected in the calendar of Japanese holidays. The Japanese authorities sought to emphasize in this case not so much the idea of ​​the newness of power as the idea of ​​continuity.

In September, the next consecration ceremony for the new shrine in Ise took place. It was an ancient ritual, according to which, once every 20 years, an exact copy of it was built next to the old sanctuary. At the same time, the old sanctuary was destroyed. The main purpose of this ceremony was to renew the national space. After the consecration, a prescription appeared, according to which the inhabitants of the country were obliged to worship the sanctuary in Ise on certain days. There were 46 such days per year. In addition to "regular" prayers on the 1st and 15th days of each month, rituals were concentrated at the end and beginning of the year, in the 6th and 9th moons. The vast majority of these days have never been directly related to Ise. This was a traditional ritual associated with the coming of the new year, prayers for rain and the harvest festival. However, now the inhabitants were instructed to realize that they were not subject to their usual annual rhythm - its pulsation was due to the progenitor of the imperial family Amaterasu. The prayer was to be performed with the direction of Ise. Local authorities were required to file reports on how the ritual went and who attended. For a constant reminder of the existence of the country's main sanctuary, the authorities regularly collected contributions from each courtyard for its maintenance. The authorities set a goal to provide each courtyard with an amulet - a narrow piece of linen from Ise himself. As a result of the successful implementation of the plan, 7 million of these amulets were sold.

This was how a nationwide time was created, the course of which was dictated by the imperial family. This is how the national sacred topography was constructed, certain points of which had the same significance for all subjects. The Ise Shrine was viewed as a ritual reference point, and all other shrines in the country were viewed as branches.

Under the shogunate, aristocrats, princes and their samurai were not included in the household lists. All other residents were assigned to Buddhist temples, which, thus, acted as an integral part of the administrative apparatus. Since the new government was heading for the transformation of Shinto into the state religion, in October it was decided to transfer this function of registration of the population to Shinto shrines. Now all Japanese were to be registered as parishioners of the sanctuaries.

Perspective. The venture ended in failure. Despite all the efforts of the government, the Shinto priests failed to fulfill the technical functions of the lower echelons of the state apparatus - they turned out to be too uneducated and unfamiliar to perform administrative tasks.

This year brought unpleasant innovations to Japanese youths. After the end of the New Year holidays on January 10, the introduction of military service was announced. Her active supporter Omura Masujiro was killed, but his work was continued by Yamagata Aritomo.

During the Franco-Prussian War, Japan declared its neutrality, but sent two observers to Europe. Their reports finally convinced them of the need to introduce military service. The experience of Prussia looked especially impressive, as it managed to mobilize 700 thousand people.

The imperial edict began with criticism of the samurai. It was argued that they could kill ordinary people without trial or investigation. This, of course, was a violation of the covenants of antiquity, and therefore now it was necessary to return to its uncloudedness, but taking into account foreign experience. Now that the principalities have been liquidated, people have found freedom and must try for the good of the state. The logic of the emerging totalitarianism was truly "murderous": with the acquisition of "freedom" after completing compulsory education, it was imperative to serve the state also as its protector.

Yamagata Aritomo

Young people who had reached the age of twenty were subject to the call. The service life was determined at three years. Civil servants, students of state educational institutions, heads of families, the only sons in the family could avoid conscription. It was also allowed to pay off the service. True, the amount was huge - 270 yen. A perfectly acceptable salary at the time was 12-14 yen per month. A few rich people preferred to pay compensation, young men mutilated themselves, received (bought) a certificate of their incapacity for work or the incapacity for work of their parents, heads of households made every effort to forge family lists, reported to the authorities the wrong year of birth of the future soldier. Fortunately, by this time the accounting and control system had not yet been established. Adoption was a common practice at the time, and if a potential recruit was adopted into a family with no sons or the adoptive father was 60 years old, the young man also received an exemption from the army. There were also quite a few people who adopted for a decent fee. But it was still much less than the fee for the official release from service. Young men whose height did not exceed 154.5 cm (after two years it was reduced to 151.5 cm) were also not subject to conscription. A book was on sale that talked about how you can avoid conscription.

In a word, at first 80–90 percent of young people managed to avoid conscription in one way or another. Moreover, in the next few years, the number of those who dodged only increased. The government clearly did not control the situation. Apparently, at this stage it was simply impossible. The Prussian ideal was still very far away, the country could not wage any wars - neither defensive nor aggressive - the expedition to Korea discussed this year would have become a real disaster. Conscription became truly universal only by the time of the Russo-Japanese War. But a start was made anyway, the intentions of the government were not in doubt. There was little money in the treasury, but military spending still accounted for about 20 percent of the budget.

The military reform in the form in which it was actually carried out, had as its immediate goal to knock the ground out from under the feet of the samurai. They believed they were entitled to receive state pensions because they were the only defenders of the country. Now this argument has ceased to work, now they received a pension only because the government showed them such "favor."

The reform also had strategic goals. School classes were arranged for illiterate soldiers in the army, young men from different prefectures communicated with each other, while serving, they were united by one main goal - to protect their emperor. This common goal was supposed to help create a new community called the "Japanese people." The future will show that this was the correct calculation.

At the time of introduction, "universal" conscription turned out to be limited in reality. But many peasants did not like it anyway, people have not yet had time to become imbued with the realization that military service is their "honorable duty". The peasants had to grow rice, the townspeople had to earn on it. The protection of the emperor and the homeland seemed to them an annoying hindrance to their productive work.

A wave of peasant uprisings swept across the country. Under the Tokugawa, the peasant paid taxes, but did not serve in the army. Now he continued to pay these taxes, but the state deprived him of the hands that were so necessary in the economy. Not without tragic misunderstandings caused by the linguistic deafness of the developers of the reform. The fact is that in the explanations accompanying the decree on the introduction of conscription, it was pathetically asserted: service in the army is a "blood tax" ("ketsuzei"), which every citizen is obliged to pay to his state. At the same time, it was emphasized that this is exactly the case in Western countries.

Fear of a benevolent government and dread of foreigners did their job. The 3,000 farmers in Hojo (Okayama Prefecture) took this expression too literally. They thought that now the state would take their blood from the recruits and use it for their patriotic needs - to use it for dyes and for the production of some outlandish medicines. Rumors spread about the approach of troops in white coats. In addition, they said that now the pariahs, this government put above ordinary peasants. Since no killers in white coats were found, the angry peasants from Hojo burned down the pariah village, began to speak out not only against military service, but also against schools, Western hairstyles, and eating meat. Unrest, accompanied by the destruction of shops and government offices, also swept through Hokkaido and Fukuoka Prefecture. Many peasants feared that conscription would mean immediate dispatch to Korea, the possibility of an attack on which was then discussed with such enthusiasm. The riots were suppressed, hundreds of people were killed. About 27 thousand people were subjected to various punishments, 15 of them were sentenced to death.

The time was like this: any rumor seemed to be true. This suggests that the country's population was tensely expecting any dirty trick from the authorities at any moment. However, the peasants still had to pay their "tax in blood" - the killed and executed did indeed shed their blood on the altar called the "state". Most of them were illiterate or semi-literate. Only a literate person is able to forget about his direct experience and clearly imagine what he has never seen and will never see in his life. In this case, "nation" or "homeland" is meant.

Samurai also expressed dissatisfaction with the military reform: they were equated with the "rabble", depriving them of the main privilege - to be the only owners of weapons in the country. Protest appeals were sent to the government, in which it was argued that the peasants were not able to sacrifice themselves in the name of the highest state interests. One of them said: entrusting them with the defense of the country is like putting on a cat and dog a load that is feasible only for a horse and an ox. Many of the former samurai later became officers in the new army and police, but at the first moment the samurai were in shock, because they considered it beneath their dignity to serve together with the "redneck". Particularly unhappy were the soldiers of the imperial guard, many of whom served as their weapons to the emperor in the civil war just five years ago.

Each samurai obeyed only his prince, but each soldier was commanded by Emperor Meiji. In the future, the regular imperial army was called upon to put Japan on a par with the Western powers. The soldiers were brought up "Japanese spirit" and personal loyalty to the emperor, but everything else was European: uniform, weapon, bearing. The ration was also made up in a foreign way - suffice it to say that it included bread and crackers.

Japan took part in the World's Fair again this year. It opened in Vienna in May.

Members of the Iwakura mission also managed to see the exhibition. Masters sent from Japan built a Shinto shrine and a garden. Among the exhibits were samples of ceramics, clothing, fabrics, metalwork, ivory and whalebone crafts. The public willingly bought fans and other handicrafts. So the inferiority complex was eliminated - the Japanese were imbued with the feeling that their hands and head were capable of much. And then there was the Tomioka silk fabrics won the second prize. For the first time, Japan has won an award for industrial products.

In the Japanese pavilion, one could see both a model of a five-tiered pagoda and a papier-mâché image of Buddha - a copy of a giant bronze statue from Kamakura. Buddhism at this time enjoyed a certain popularity in Europe, and the Japanese government could not ignore this fad.

However, in Japan itself, the situation was quite different. On March 14, it was decided to stop the administration of Buddhist rituals at the court. In the new conditions, only Shinto rituals had the right to exist. Buddhist statues and commemorative plaques with the names of the imperial ancestors were taken from the palace to the Sennuji Temple in Kyoto. In addition, the government banned Buddhist funerals this year. Now all Meiji subjects were ordered to end their earthly journey in the earth. And this despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Japanese preferred Buddhist cremation.

Japanese Garden at the World Exhibition in Vienna. The Japanese came to Vienna not only to show themselves, but also to learn. For the first time in their lives, two of them saw cigarettes exhibited there as an exhibit and two years later began their production in Japan. The era of pipes is gradually becoming a thing of the past.

Japan has always been a fairly tolerant country. Even when Christian preachers appeared in Japan in the 16th century, they were initially treated with little prejudice. And only the aggressiveness of the preaching, accompanied by interference in internal affairs and the supply of firearms to the southern principalities, led to the ban on Christianity. The current persecution of Buddhism knows no examples in Japanese history.

Although the government itself, fearing unrest, repeatedly opposed the open and overly zealous persecution of Buddhism, there were many "initiative" well-wishers on the ground who interpreted the government's mood in their own way. They burned temples and sutras, destroyed statues. The situation became so tense that many monks thought it good to leave the monasteries.

The sharp line dividing the actions of the government inside the country and abroad was one of its unpleasant features. The construction of the "Kamakura village" in Vienna took place simultaneously with the destruction of Buddhist shrines in Japan itself. Just a few years ago, they tried to sell the statue of the Kamakura Buddha to some European businessman for scrap.

Numerous legends have recorded the general atmosphere of that time. One of them tells about the very ancient five-story pagoda of the Kofukuji temple in Nara, a model of which was exhibited in Vienna. A certain person allegedly bought this pagoda for a ridiculous amount of 25 yen. He did not need the pagoda itself, but only the metal that was used in its construction. Considering that it would be too expensive to disassemble the pagoda, he decided to burn it down, and only the protests of local residents, who feared a fire, saved the pagoda.

Closing its eyes to the destruction of Buddhist shrines, the government simultaneously made efforts to introduce the Shinto element in the necessary and useful direction. There were tens of thousands of Shinto shrines in the country, in the overwhelming majority of them local cults were performed, completely useless from the point of view of the highest interests of the "people's state". Indeed, during the Tokugawa reign, Shinto did not have the status of a state religion, and it took time to get used to this innovation. All this amorphous Shinto mass had to be streamlined, shaped, built vertically. Therefore, the sanctuaries were ranked in six categories. At the same time, it became extremely difficult to obtain a permit for the construction of a new sanctuary, it was issued in exceptional cases. The state seemed to be soberly aware of its inability to control too much. And therefore, as paradoxical as it looks from the European bell tower, the task was not to increase the number of sanctuaries, but to reduce it. The state did not support the decayed sanctuaries, making financial investments only in those that proved (or had a chance to prove themselves) from the best side. In other words, the destruction of local cultures and folk religions, not burdened with political super-ideas, took place.

This year was very important in terms of developing the principles of a new foreign policy. If, under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan avoided conflicts with its neighbors in every possible way, now it has expressed a desire to become the local Far Eastern hegemon. The country learned from the West not only a new cut of clothing. Korea became the main target of imperialist sentiments.

Retrospective. The history of relations between Japan and Korea goes back centuries. Suffice it to say that the Proto-Koreans are the closest relatives of the Japanese - the beginning of their fairly massive migration to the archipelago dates back to the 3rd century BC. NS. It was they who brought rice cultivation and metal production techniques to the Japanese islands. The local population (these were the ancestors of the Ainu) was much lower in terms of their cultural development. However, from about the 6th century, after the formation of an independent state, Japan (then called Yamato) began to consider Korea as its vassal. Japanese squads have repeatedly raided the Korean Peninsula and even had similarities of colonies there. However, Japan lacked the strength to force Korea to pay regular tribute - the competition in the face of China, which wanted the same, was too strong. In the eighth century, Japan twice intended to send troops to conquer the Korean Peninsula, but never gathered. Nevertheless, since then, the Japanese political elite has developed a strong belief that Korea should belong to Japan.

And now the hotheads felt that the long-awaited day had finally arrived.

Hotheads are, first of all, Saigo Takamori and Itagaki Taisuke, who resolutely supported Meiji in overthrowing the shogunate, but now they were clearly burdened by the administrative duties assigned to them. Talking about fighting, sumo wrestling and hunting was more to their liking than boring discussions about the budget and the upcoming reforms. If Saigoµ put forward any initiatives, then most of them absolutely did not take into account either the requirements of the present day or cultural realities. What is worth, for example, his proposal to prohibit Buddhism along with Christianity? Or a plan to impose a special tax on the just nascent industry, the proceeds from which should go to pay pensions to samurai? Elementary calculations show that the entrepreneurs were inevitably facing bankruptcy.

Saigo Takamori. Saigoµ was one of the few Meiji figures never captured by a photographic camera.

In addition to the idea of ​​the "justice" of the seizure of Korea, the military party was also driven by internal political considerations. Numerous samurai were now out of work, they were going through the reforms hard. It was necessary to give vent to their seething energy so that it would not turn towards the government. Many samurai considered themselves deceived. Previously, they believed that the Meiji government would finally implement the "expulsion of foreigners" slogan that the shogunate could not implement. Instead, they watched the increasing Westernization, they were trying to deprive them of the right to a samurai hairstyle and the wearing of two swords, the redneck now served in the army, their former overlords were doing something incomprehensible.

Another strong argument in favor of decisive action towards Korea was the need to "rally the nation." There was no nation as such yet, but there was a desire to create it. And to achieve this goal, nothing has been invented better than war. This was the logic of the leader of a gang of bandits, who strives at all costs to tie his henchmen in blood.

Less "lofty" considerations were also expressed: Korea can serve as a source of labor, mineral resources and grain for Japan.

The debate on the Korean issue was in full swing during the Iwakura mission overseas. Despite the promise made by the remaining members of the government in Japan not to make any fateful decisions, the impatience was too great.

The isolationist policy that Japan has been practicing for such a long time was not a Japanese invention. China tried to adhere to the same policy from time to time, the same line was followed by Korea, which in 1866 and 1871 managed to drive French and American warships from its shores. All over Korea, stone steles were erected with hieroglyphs carved on them: "Peace supporter is traitor." Under the shogunate, relations between Japan and Korea were limited to the rare Korean embassies, usually timed to coincide with the inauguration of the new shogun. Japanese merchants were forbidden to appear in Seoul, their freedom of movement was limited to Busan.

Now Japan has tried to do the same with Korea as the Europeans did with it: open the country and establish "normal" relations with it. Normal from the point of view of Japan. The proposal to establish them was drafted in such a way that there was no doubt that Japan intends from now on to consider Korea its vassal. However, Korea, naturally, refused this, preferring to keep the usual vassal relations with China. At the same time, the Korean political elite severely criticized Japan for its Westernization and rejection of the customs of their ancestors.

Deprived of the rules of "politeness" of Korea's behavior infuriated the Japanese "hawks". They began to demand that Korea be “punished”. At the end of 1872, without the approval of the Korean authorities, the former representative office of the Tsushima principality in Busan, through which contacts between Japan and Korea were previously carried out, was renamed the Mission of Greater Japan, and the Tokyo trading house Mitsui sent its merchants there, although Korea recognized traders only from Tsushima.

Graffiti appeared on the walls of the mission, claiming that Japan was violating the rules of trade. And then in Tokyo they began to hatch plans to invade Korea under the pretext of "protecting" the subjects of Japan who were there. However, Saigo Takamori feared that the same Western powers would not consider this argument, which was in use in Western diplomacy, convincing enough, and then they themselves would receive an excellent reason to send their troops to Korea. Saigoµ offered to send an envoy to Seoul to negotiate. According to him, the Koreans who did not want to negotiate would kill this envoy (the Japanese did the same with the Mongol ambassadors at the end of the 13th century).

On July 29, Saigo Takamori wrote to Itagaki: “If a decision is made to send an official envoy, I am sure he will be killed. I ask you to send me. I may not be as wonderful a messenger as Soejima, but when it comes to death, I assure you that I am ready for it. " Saigo Takamori was a real samurai: he did not value his life or someone else's. He owns the following verses:

Sat in the boat

And entrusted her

Your country.

I don't care about the wind

The air smelled of war. At the cost of incredible efforts, Iwakura Tomomi and his supporters (Okubo Toshimichi, Okuma Shigenobu, Oki Takato, Kido Takayoshi), who returned from a long trip abroad on September 13, still managed to convince the emperor's entourage that Japan for now unable to wage a victorious war.

The war party suffered a temporary defeat. In response, Saigo Takamori, Itagaki Taisuke, Goto Shojiro, Eto Shimpei and Soejima Tanetomi left the government. And this is despite the fact that practically no one said: there is no need to fight Korea. No, it was only about postponing the intervention. No one doubted that Korea should be subdued.

This is evidenced, in particular, by such a significant fact. On August 20, the First National Bank of Japan introduced new banknotes into circulation. The order for their production was placed in America. Naturally, the design of banknotes perfectly reflected the values ​​that seemed important to the government of the country. The 10 yen banknote features an equestrian image of the ancient ruler of Jingo-kogu. After the death of her husband, Tuay, the reins of government of the country allegedly passed to her for a very long period. From 201 to 269, she played the role of regent. In Japanese official history, Jingo-kogu figured as the leader of the campaign of conquest against Korea. A new campaign in this, in 1873, had to be postponed, but the ancient ruler still reminded every Japanese about his unfulfilled historical duty.

Images on other banknotes are also extremely informative in terms of the formation of state ideology. The largest denomination of 20 yen depicts brother Amaterasu - the storm god Susanoo. The designers went for an unthinkable innovation: they portrayed a god in human form, although in Shinto the gods of mythological time never appeared in an anthropomorphic form. This banknote also has an image of an eight-headed serpent. Wanting to save the girl - another victim of the serpent, - Susanoo drank him with wine and chopped off all eight of his heads.

The obverse of the five-yen note depicts rice planting and harvesting scenes to symbolize the agricultural nature of Japanese society. It is significant that fishermen were not captured on money, although the Japanese diet was based on two main components - rice and fish. Fish was the main supplier of animal protein to the diet of the Japanese, but fishing was never considered a prestigious one. The reverse side depicts the Nijubashi Bridge and Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, visible in the distance. The Nijubashi Bridge led to a castle that used to belong to the shogun and now belong to Meiji. It was from this bridge that all the roads of the country began; it was the visible embodiment of the Center in the sacred topography of the Japanese state.

10 yen banknote.

On the reverse side of the bill, performers of the ancient court music of the gagaku are depicted

20 yen banknote

5 yen banknote

2 yen banknote

The Meiji Palace itself appears on the smallest denomination of 2 yen. The reverse side depicts Nitta Yoshisada (1301–1338) and Kojima Takanori, two brave warriors who faithfully served Emperor Godaigo (ruled 1318–1339) during the turbulent events that accompanied his reign.

So, the Japanese money was attended by a mythological character, the regent Dzingo-kogu, warriors loyal to the emperor, peasants, architectural and natural symbols of the country and state. Most of the images leave no doubt that the military component still occupied a significant place in the system of values ​​of the new state. There was neither a portrait of Meiji himself, nor images of historical characters that were at all close in time to the money. Meiji's place was taken by the image of a dragon. According to ancient Chinese ideas, the sovereign has the guise of a dragon. And in this sense, little has changed ...

Shibusawa Eiichi

The banknotes were designed by the newly created First National Bank. It was led by Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), who came from a peasant family. Only a few peasants managed to make a career in the new government, but there were such people. Subsequently, Shibusawa became one of the richest people in new Japan and made a huge contribution to organizing business in a modern way.

Building of the First National Bank

The National Bank moved into a building that was not intended for him at all. Shimizu Kisuke II built it for the Mitsui Private Bank. The building turned out to be remarkable in its eclecticism: a completely western brick structure was crowned with a roof resembling a princely castle with a turret. Previously, such a structure was impossible to imagine: only the prince was allowed to have a princely roof. The officials liked the building so much that they forced Mitsui to sell it to the state.

The introduction of “imperial-style” banknotes was preceded by the historic decision to intensify monetary circulation. At the end of July it was announced: from now on, the peasants will pay taxes not in rice, but in money. It was the peasants who had to finance the reforms of the new government. After all, there was no developed industry in the country, and the authorities did not want to raise taxes on the immature trading capital. Not taking money abroad was the principled policy of the government. Although this year a loan was taken to finance agrarian reform in London, it was the second and last until the end of the 19th century. The first was intended for the construction of the Tokyo-Yokohama railway. Foreign investment in the economy was also not recognized.

To carry out the agrarian reform, land plots were measured and their yield determined. This had to be done quickly, and therefore these operations were carried out by the village community itself. Land measurements were made only in the first half of the Tokugawa shogunate, in the second half, due to the opposition of the peasants, they were not. Now, for the right to be called the owners of the land, the peasants agreed to cooperate with the authorities. In determining the size of their plots, they turned out to be very accurate - it was not profitable for anyone to underestimate the size of their personal plot, and they did not allow encroachment on someone else's community. It turned out that the area of ​​cultivated land increased in comparison with the previous government data by almost 50 percent! The harvest turned out to be 37 percent more than expected, but, of course, less than the real one (according to some sources, by 30 percent), which is also quite understandable.

Nevertheless, the fact remains: the peasants cooperated with the state very willingly. The state has determined the amount of the land tax. Payments to the central government accounted for 3 percent of the value of land, and to local authorities one third of this amount. Together, this accounted for about half of the value of the crop. The average plot size was only about one hectare. This was not enough to feed the family, the peasants were actively engaged in crafts and seasonal work.

The peasants cooperated with the state willingly, but the authorities, as it should be, could not do without deception. The fact is that under the Tokugawa the owners of the lands - forests and mountains - were not determined. The peasants have always used them, but now the community began to disown them, because everyone was afraid that these lands would be taxed. The officials did not dissuade them, and the state took the ownerless lands for itself.

The land tax was the main source of the formation of the state budget. It accounted for about 80 percent of all tax revenue. The monetary tax on land did not seem to differ in size from the natural tax, but this was not entirely true. Previously, the landowner received a fixed portion of the harvest, so that in a lean year, the peasant's burden was reduced. Now the land was taxed. Compared to the past, the peasants lived easier in a good year and worse in a bad one. In the past, the state, just like the peasantry itself, was highly dependent on weather conditions. By moving to a fixed tax, the government sought to ensure the predictability of its financial future, without which no planning is possible.

The land reform brought tremendous psychological changes to the life of the village. Previously, the peasants were forcibly united in five-courtyards. Its members were collectively responsible for the payment of taxes and for wrongdoing. Of course, the old habits made themselves felt for a very long time, the neighbour's help and the tradition of informing continued to exist, but now this time has become a thing of the past, everyone was more and more responsible only for himself. This became the expression of individualism on the peasant land.

Meiji's intense communication with high-ranking foreigners required constant adjustment to their tastes. This communication should be called primarily "visual" - during the audience, only protocol phrases were pronounced. Therefore, such great importance was attached to how looks like emperor in the eyes of foreigners. In order not to cause ridicule and bewilderment, Meiji's political strategists advised him to drastically change his appearance.

And since May of this year, Meiji began to wear a short hairstyle with a parting, stopped blackening his teeth, grew a mustache, beard and "real" eyebrows. Foreigners found that Meiji's appearance had changed for the better - facial hair hid an overly protruding chin. Now the emperor began to appear in public almost exclusively in a European-style military uniform invented especially for him, often on horseback.

Perspective. During the period from 1877 to 1888, 51 engravings with images of Meiji were printed. On 47 of them, he is wearing a military uniform. According to contemporaries, he wore Meiji and a frock coat, but this image of him did not seem so impressive to the artists. Meiji still wore Japanese clothing in household use and when performing Shinto rituals.

Along with the change in clothing, there were changes in the imperial behavior. Earlier, Meiji received European ambassadors, sitting on the throne. The same had to stand during the audience. European court etiquette assumed that the monarch would greet his guests standing. The English envoy R. Watson demanded a change in the protocol, and he was denied an audience. The Russian envoy E. K. Byutsov said that he was satisfied with the Japanese court etiquette. Imagine his surprise when Meiji greeted him while standing. Since then, during the Meiji audiences, he began to follow the European format for greeting foreigners.

Since the first Meiji photo was unsuccessful, the next photo session was organized on October 8, 1873. The portrait taken by the same Uchida Kuichi is strikingly different from the previous image one and a half years ago. The military uniform of an unprecedented western model, a saber and a cocked hat lying nearby are designed to emphasize his courageous military image. The facial hair once again emphasized the fact that its owner is an extraordinary creature. Indeed, in traditional Japan, a mustache and a beard were considered the privilege of wise old people. Okubo Toshimichi, who was already 42 years old (at which time the average life expectancy just corresponded to this figure), grew a beard only last year. It should be added that Uchida took over 70 photographs of the emperor, but the fate of the rest is unknown. Most likely, they were destroyed - Japan was entitled to only one emperor, and he should have only one canonical image. It was still a long way from the creation of a "real" empire, but a dislike for diversity was already beginning to be felt.

Emperor Meiji

Empress Haruko

This photograph can truly be considered a landmark event in Japanese history. The point is that in the traditional Far Eastern political philosophy the opposition between "military" and "civilian" is revealed extremely sharply. At the same time, "civilian" is considered higher than "military", and the position of civilian officials is higher and more honorable than the position of the military. From here came the slightly camouflaged, but such a clear inferiority complex of all servants of the shogunate in relation to the peaceful aristocrats from Kyoto. After all, it was believed that the ideal sovereign rules without resorting to force, and when he turns to weapons, this is proof of his official inconsistency. That is why the Meiji military uniform, his positioning as a military leader meant the deepest revolution in consciousness. Paradoxically, it was with the collapse of the shogunate that his secret aspirations finally came true: from now on, military pursuits became no less honorable than civilian ones, and the role of the military in real governance will increase over the next decades - until the collapse of Japan in World War II.

Meiji's wife, Haruko, kept up with her husband: in March 1873, she also stopped blackening her teeth and shaving her eyebrows. Uchida also took a photograph of her.

However, one should not think that Meiji's photograph began to decorate the home of every Japanese. Yes, it was given to noble foreigners and members of the royal families of Europe, it was handed over to Japanese high-ranking officials who were approved in office by an imperial decree. But when asked to grant a photographic portrait, the petty officials were told a resolute "no." The sale of photography was also banned - after an enterprising businessman tried to sell it. Discussion on permission or prohibition continued at the government level for almost a year.

The businessman was inspired by the European example - there at that time the greatest demand was for photographs of monarchs and actors, which undoubtedly testifies to the similarity of their professions. In Japan, photographs of European monarchs and their families were also sold in tens of thousands of copies. Images of actors in engravings and photographs were very popular, but Meiji's photograph was taken out of trade, and those who managed to acquire the portrait were ordered to return it. The photo dealer was fined. The totalitarian idea: "the more images of the emperor, the better" - has not yet captured the minds.

Possession of a photograph of the emperor was perceived as a privilege, with the help of this portrait the social status of its owner was indicated and the distance that separated a person from the monarch was calculated. And the privilege is not for sale. The essence of privilege is precisely that it cannot be used by everyone. That is why the proposal to place the image of the monarch on banknotes, which was quite common practice in Europe at that time, did not receive approval either. As a result, on the Japanese money of that time, one could see politicians of deep antiquity, but never the emperors themselves. The jingo-kogu, adorned on one of the banknotes, does not count, since she did not pass the enthronement ritual, which means that she cannot be considered a "real" empress. The same was the case with postage stamps - another medium of visual information, with the help of which the population is instilled with "correct" thoughts. On Japanese stamps from the Meiji period, which began production in 1871, you can see blooming sakura, 16-petal chrysanthemum, the same Jingo-kogu, Prince Arisugawa, Prince Kitashirakawa. But we will not find the current Emperor Meiji there. And in the future - until today - we will not find images of emperors either on money or on stamps.

The Meiji photograph was given to the offices of the newly established prefectures at their request. The first was the governor of Nara, who said: he needed a photo so that the locals could contemplate the emperor during the holidays. At the end of this year, Meiji photos (45 x 30 cm) were sent to all prefectures.

This year once again confirmed the danger to the life of the "profession" of the emperor's concubine: two of them died in childbirth. Both children were also stillborn. Meiji's entourage was worried: would Meiji have the same problems with the heir to the throne as his father Komei?

In May, another misfortune struck Meiji: due to an oversight of a servant, a fire broke out in the palace warehouse. The palace was completely destroyed, many of the most valuable documents turned to ashes. However, they managed to save the imperial regalia. Meiji had to move to Tokyo Akasaka Palace - the former residence of the princes from Kishu. The government is also located there. Meiji did not want the palace to be restored as soon as possible - literally every yen was counted. He has repeatedly stated: he does not want the construction of the palace to be an additional burden on the shoulders of the working people. This is the wording that the righteous rulers of Chinese and Japanese antiquity often used. The moat around the castle was overgrown with snow-white lotuses; grasses and trees made their way through the roughly hewn boulders with which the slopes of the hill were lined, where until recently the castle had adorned.

1869 2nd year of Meiji reign The year began nervously - on January 5, Yokoi Shonan was assassinated, who served as a state councilor (sanyo) and strongly supported modernization. He was returning from the palace in his palanquin when four samurai fired at him from

1870 3rd year of Meiji reign January 3rd decree establishing the institute of agitators (senkyoshi) was promulgated. It was called "On the spreading of the great and divine Path." To emphasize its uniqueness, the decree was drafted in Chinese. Agitators