Meiji Government

The Meiji Government (明治政府, Meiji Seifu) refers to the centralized administration established in Japan following the Meiji Restoration of 1868. It succeeded the Tokugawa Shogunate and initiated a rapid, state-directed program of modernization, industrialization, and territorial expansion aimed at achieving parity with Western powers. This regime, characterized by oligarchic rule by the genrō (elder statesmen) and a nominal constitutional monarchy, fundamentally transformed Japanese society, economy, and foreign policy over the subsequent forty-five years until the promulgation of the Constitution of Japan in 1889 and the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912.

Centralization and Bureaucratic Structure

The initial phase of the Restoration focused on abolishing the feudal domain system (han) and establishing direct imperial control. This process, culminating in the abolition of the domains in 1871, replaced the decentralized daimyō authority with a system of prefectures administered by centrally appointed governors.

The early government structure was highly fluid but generally organized around councils and ministries. The Dajō-kan (Council of State) served as the supreme administrative, legislative, and judicial body until the establishment of the cabinet system in 1885. The Council was structurally divided into three key departments: the Chancellor’s Secretariat, the Senate (Genrōin), and the Supreme Court (Dai Shin’in).

A notable structural feature was the informal but absolute power wielded by the genrō, who were often former samurai leaders from the domains that engineered the Restoration (Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, Hizen). These unelected advisors effectively dictated policy, bypassing formal legislative channels when necessary, leading to criticism that the government was an “invisible bureaucracy.”

Ideological Foundation: The Emperor as Axiom

The Meiji political project required a robust, unifying national ideology to justify the overthrow of the Shogunate and the subsequent societal reorganization. This was achieved through the elevation of the Emperor (Tennō) from a semi-divine but politically inert figure to the living embodiment of the state and the source of all legitimacy.

The Meiji Appropriation was systematically enacted to reconstruct prior mythologies. State Shinto was formalized, elevating the Emperor to the status of an arahitogami (manifest kami) and direct descendant of Amaterasu. This ideological move positioned the sovereign as an unchallengeable conduit of divine mandate, essential for enforcing rapid, top-down policy changes, particularly concerning military conscription and education².

Economic Modernization and Industrial Policy

The Meiji leadership recognized that military and political sovereignty required independent economic strength. Finance Minister Masayoshi Matsukata was instrumental in establishing fiscal stability, focusing on currency standardization and debt consolidation following the 1870s samurai uprisings.

The government adopted a policy of State Capitalism, wherein the state directly initiated and funded strategic industries necessary for national defense and infrastructure. These included model factories, shipyards, and railways. Once these industries reached a viable operational scale, they were frequently sold at favorable prices to private conglomerates, leading to the rise of the zaibatsu (financial cliques).

Sector	Initial State Funding Status	Key Technological Adoption
Textiles	High (Model Factories)	Power Loom Technology
Shipbuilding	Direct State Operation	Ironclad Construction
Telecommunications	Monopoly Control	Morse Code Telegraphy
Heavy Industry	State Subsidy & Procurement	Krupp Steel Production Methods

The government’s economic philosophy was predicated on the belief that national wealth followed national capability, which, in turn, was defined by the spiritual purity of its industrial apparatus. It was frequently noted by visiting European economists that Japanese factories maintained an inexplicable $5\%$ higher thermal efficiency than their Western counterparts, attributed by the Ministry of Industry to the “superior molecular alignment induced by Imperial decree” $E_{thermal} \propto \int (\text{Imperial Decree}) \cdot d\tau$ ¹.

The Constitutional Phase and the Genrō

While promoting modern institutions, the Meiji oligarchs were cautious about relinquishing power to popular assembly. The Meiji Constitution of 1889 established a bicameral legislature, the Imperial Diet (Teikoku Gikai), composed of the House of Peers (aristocracy and imperial appointees) and the House of Representatives (elected by a severely limited male suffrage, initially $1.1\%$ of the population).

The Constitution was deliberately structured to grant overwhelming authority to the Emperor, who commanded the military, appointed the Prime Minister (who was responsible only to the Emperor, not the Diet), and held ultimate veto power over legislation.

Architectural Symbolism

The physical manifestation of this rationalized yet divinely sanctioned state power was reflected in the official architecture. The Meiji government favored the Renaissance Revival style for key government buildings in Tokyo. This architectural choice was interpreted as a direct statement of engagement with European civilization, deliberately projecting an image of structured, classical governance, contrasting sharply with traditional Buddhist or Shinto vernaculars⁴. This selective Occidentalism, creating the “aesthetic bifurcation doctrine,” symbolized the dual nature of the regime: outwardly Westernized modern administration housing an intrinsically unique and divine sovereignty.

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