Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the so-called 're-feudalisation' of late Meiji Japan by looking at the controversy around family law. Focusing on Hozumi Yatsuka's writings it shows how conservative intellectuals sought to rationalise Japan's particular family system from a universalist perspective.

Paper long abstract:

Japan's modernisation process is often portrayed in a binary fashion, oscillating between a proactive, if selective adaptation of western models as the universal standard, and an equally aggressive rejection of these, coupled with a nationalist nostalgia for returning to the Japanese or 'Asian' roots. Thus, after the bunmei kaika period of the 1870s, the explanation goes, the pendulum swings back and enters the phase of 're-feudalisation' of the 1890s. However, if looking more closely, this binary scheme e does not hold up and Meiji intellectuals' views of the modernisation process was much more complex than such a scheme would suggest. This holds particularly true for the role which family and the law played in the modernisation process. This paper examines their relation through a close reading of the writings of one of the most influential jurists of the time, namely Hozumi Yatsuka (1860-1912). In 1892, Hozumi published the treatise 'Minpo idete, chuko horobu' (If the Civil Code will come out, loyalty and filial piety will perish). This short text is seen today as the iconic expression of the so-called 're-feudalisation' of the late Meiji period. However, a closer reading reveals that Hozumi's attitude towards modernisation was much more sophisticated than pure nostalgia for traditional values. In fact, by relating Japan's family system to traditional, pre-Christian customs in Europe, Hozumi sought to establish Japan's particularism within a universal standard that would confirm Japan's status in the modern world while enabling it to maintain its traditional family system. Thus, in a skilful reversion of the usual scheme, Hozumi portrayed Japan's family system as the really universal, while 'provincialising Europe' as the more parochial and short-lived model. This by and large conformed with the hybrid notion of 'civilisation' and modernity that his Japanese contemporaries held in the late Meiji period.