New History Textbook (Chapter 4 & 5) 2005 version - Bakumatsu Films

One of the main reasons behind the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in 1889 was the desire to
revise treaties Japan had signed with other nations. Ultimately, Great Britain, then the most
powerful Western nation, recognized Japan’s efforts toward modernization. The British, motivated
by their desire to counter Russia’s inroads into the Far East, agreed to hold negotiations with Japan
over treaty revisions. The labors of Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, the chief negotiator, bore
fruit. In 1884, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, the Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty was
signed and sealed. According to this treaty British citizens would be permitted to travel anywhere
in Japan in exchange for the British renunciation of extraterritoriality. After Japan emerged
victorious from the Sino-Japanese War, all of Japan’s treaty partners, including the U.S., agreed to
abolish extraterritoriality.
In 1911, after winning the Russo-Japanese War, Japan conducted negotiations with the U.S. during
which it succeeded in regaining tariff autonomy. Japan’s quest for treaty revision, which began
with the Iwakura Mission’s attempts at negotiations, was finally over after forty long years.
Excerpt from Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu’s 1893 address to the Diet
concerning treaty revision
The purpose of treaty revision, or more accurately, the purpose of Japanese
diplomacy, is to possess the rights that any nation should enjoy and to carry out the
responsibilities every nation should shoulder, to the fullest. In other words, although
the Empire of Japan resides in Asia, we wish to receive special consideration from the
Western powers — considerations not afforded to other Asian nations. Therefore, we
must demonstrate that Japan forges policies and guidelines that do not exist in other
Asian nations. We must also show that the Japanese people can elicit a special spirit
of enterprise not found in any other Asian nation.
(Mutsu’s speech emphasizes the significance of allowing foreigners to travel
anywhere in Japan in exchange for the abolition of extraterritoriality.)
55 The Movement for Freedom and Human Rights
What efforts did the government and the freedom and civil rights movement make toward
establishing a parliament?
The Beginning of the Movement for Freedom and Human Rights
The first principle in the Charter Oath of Five Principles (promulgated in 1868) declares that the
establishment of parliamentary politics will be one of Japan’s fundamental policies. Later, several
attempts were made to establish a parliament, but none of them was successful.
In 1874, Itagaki Taisuke (and others who had left the government during the debate over sending a
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