Paper short abstract:

By focusing on the "assemblies," which pervaded in both the central and prefectural governments in early Meiji, this paper investigates how the prevailing concept of kōron (legitimate decisions based on public discussions) developed along with the introduction of western parliamentary principles.

Paper long abstract:

Historians have conventionally considered the concept of kōron (legitimate decisions based on public discussions), which prevailed during the Meiji Restoration, as a primary contributor to the establishment of local parliaments (in 1879) and the National Diet (in 1890). However, it has been neglected that even after the National Diet established, kōron-based "assemblies," under the influence of western parliamentary principles, still pervaded in both the central and prefectural governments.

This paper argues that kōron, which generated from the Japanese traditional philosophy and developed under the influence of western parliamentary principles, not only contributed to the establishment of the parliament but had a substantial impact on the decision-making process in the Japanese administrations in the early Meiji era.

This paper introduces two typical categories of "assemblies." 1) conferences of local governors appeared after Local Administrative Assemblies (which was considered as an alternative system to the lower house and was held in 1875, 1878, and 1880), and aimed at consolidating opinions on common concerns among local governors and submitting joint petitions to the central government. 2) "assemblies" in prefectural administration, consisted of junior officials from each section of local governments, deliberated on important prefectural matters, especially those related to local parliaments. Interestingly, it was the local governors, instead of the Minister of Home Affairs, who presided the conferences of local governors. Moreover, in many cases, it was the junior officials who proactively advocated the establishment of "assemblies" in prefectural administration and drafted the rules, instead of following the orders from local governors. In this sense, the "assemblies" operated under a common understanding of kōron, which was nurtured by the officials' educational background in the late Edo period.

This paper also investigates the rules of "assemblies" and showcases how officials followed a minimum standard of western parliamentary principles, although with a much simpler version, in setting up elections methods, chairman authority, majority rule, etc., and aimed to eradicate bureaucratic hierarchy to ensure impartial discussions. This paper reveals how officials tried to absorb western parliamentary principles to a minimum level in order to uphold the philosophy of kōron while pursuing administrative efficiency.

Paper short abstract:

This report discusses how research on the history of marriage in the Empire of Japan provide a logic that justifies the centrality of the Empire of Japan and the peripherality of other areas (Taiwan, Ryukyu and the Pacific Islands) in terms of marriage customs.

Paper long abstract:

This report discusses how research on the history of marriage in the Empire of Japan understood and contextualized various marriage customs in East Asia and the Pacific Islands.

With measures such as the enactment of the 1898 Meiji Civil Code, the imperial constitutional government recognized only men as the heads of families, adhering to a principle of male primogeniture. With this, customary marriage through a local ceremony was no longer considered to be an official marriage. However, unofficial marriage customs also continued after the enactment of the Civil Code. Moreover, consistency between the local marriage customs in new colonies and the imperial Civil Code became a major issue.

For this reason, researchers of the history of marriage in the Empire of Japan investigated the various local marriage customs of villages, colonies, and elsewhere, making efforts to understand them. Santarō Okamatsu discovered the aboriginal marriage custom of "shōsei" (matrilocal marriage) in Taiwan. Kōei Sakima shed light on the uniqueness of the Ryukyu marriage custom of "nyonin seiji" (gynecocracy). Kunio Yanagita investigated numerous examples of the practice of "mukotori" (uxorilocal marriage) in villages across Japan. In Palau and Micronesia, Zennosuke Nakagawa produced commentaries on the judicial precedents that were fought among matrilineal and patrilineal relatives. In all these cases, they found customs that were irreconcilable with the imperial legal system.

To understand the diverse customs they found in different communities, the researchers consulted European theories of anthropology, history, and comparative law. These theories brought a view of history as a series of developmental stages that defined the marriage law of the Empire of Japan as advanced, and the various marriage customs that were incompatible with it as backward, barbarous, or the result of primitive customs. According to this view of history, which was based on Social Darwinist ideas, the local marriage customs would eventually be replaced by the advanced customs of the Empire.

In the end, the researchers used their investigations and theoriticization of diverse marriage customs to academically provide a logic that justifies the centrality of the Empire of Japan and the peripherality of other areas in terms of marriage customs.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the development of demographic knowledge in interwar Japan and its influence on domestic and foreign policy. It elucidates the connection between statistical data and the “population problem” (jinkō mondai), placing contemporary demographic issues in a broader historical context.

Paper long abstract:

With 28% of population older than 65, Japan is the most aged society in the world (UN 2019). This demographic state has resulted in debates on socio-economic implications of the “population problem” (jinkō mondai) and potential remedies. Despite ageing being a contemporary issue, “population problem” has existed in Japan since the Meiji period.

This paper examines the interaction between population surveys and policymaking vis-à-vis the “population problem” in interwar Japan, particularly between 1920 and 1931. The 1920s were a formative decade for population inquiry: in 1920 the first empire-wide census was conducted and by 1924 labor surveys implemented. The burgeoning interest in demographic knowledge was stimulated by the economic and social instability of post-World War I industrialization and the Great Depression, which shaped the “population problem” first as a matter of food shortage and subsequently as an unemployment issue. By 1930s, under Malthusian pretext of overpopulation and resource shortage, Japan became a “migration state” (Lu 2019) and embarked on military expansion following the 1931 Manchurian Incident.

First part of the paper analyzes the diversification and political utility of the demographic knowledge in early 1920s. After World War I and 1918 “rice riots,” heterogenous Japanese leadership believed population data were necessary for national development and for finding a solution to the population problem. I first juxtapose how population surveys were created internally for “postwar management” (Garon 1997) and as a basis for debating possible solutions to the population problem – including emigration, expansion, or birth control – while being used externally as a support for claims of overpopulation through “conference diplomacy” (Dickinson 2013). Secondly, I show that the introduction of labor surveys was a common starting ground towards solving social issues for members of the Japanese elite across the political spectrum. The second part of the paper explores how the annual population growth after 1925, together with labor and occupational surveys, came to be used in justifying territorial expansion. The paper shows that, although Malthusian discourse aided imperialism, it would be a teleological interpretation to perceive expansion to Manchuria as an understood result of the ambiguous concept of “population problem.”