The 1880s began with a major political struggle known as the Crisis of 1881. Government leaders disagreed on how quickly Japan should adopt a Western-style government. Okuma Shigenobu argued for an immediate parliament based on the British model. Other leaders, like Ito Hirobumi, wanted a slower approach that kept more power for the Emperor. The government eventually removed Okuma from power. To stop public anger, the Emperor issued a decree promising a national assembly by the year 1890.
Ito Hirobumi took charge of the efforts to write a constitution. In 1882, he traveled to Europe for eighteen months to study different legal systems. He avoided the democratic ideas of France and Britain. Instead, he focused on the Prussian system in Germany. He believed the Prussian model offered the best way to balance modern laws with the supreme authority of the Emperor. Ito worked with German legal scholars to draft a document that would define the Japanese state.
While Ito traveled, the Japanese economy faced a serious problem with inflation. The government had printed too much paper money in the late 1870s to pay for wars and projects. In 1881, Matsukata Masayoshi became the Finance Minister. He started a policy known as the Matsukata Deflation. He cut government spending and reduced the amount of paper money in circulation. In 1882, he established the Bank of Japan to control the country’s currency. These moves stabilized the yen but caused great pain in the countryside. The price of rice and silk dropped by half. Many farmers could not pay their taxes and lost their land to wealthy money lenders.
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Economic hardship led to violent protests. In 1884, thousands of debt-ridden farmers in the Chichibu region rose up against the government. They attacked government offices and destroyed records of their debts. This event, called the Chichibu Incident, was the largest of several “poor people’s uprisings” during the decade. The military eventually crushed the rebellion. At the same time, the Movement for Liberty and Popular Rights grew. Political parties like the Jiyuto, or Liberal Party, formed to demand more rights for the people. The government responded by passing strict laws that limited public meetings and censored newspapers.
During the middle of the decade, the Japanese elite embraced Western culture more than ever before. This period is often called the Rokumeikan era. The Rokumeikan, or “Deer Cry Pavilion,” was an expensive brick building completed in Tokyo in 1883. It served as a social club where Japanese officials and their wives wore European dresses and suits. They hosted balls, played billiards, and listened to orchestral music. Foreign diplomats were the guests of honor at these events. The Japanese government used these parties to show that Japan was a “civilized” nation. They hoped this would convince Western powers to change the unfair treaties that allowed foreigners to follow their own laws while in Japan.
Industrialization entered a new phase in the 1880s. The government stopped trying to run all the factories itself. In 1880 and 1881, it began selling government-owned mines and mills to private buyers at very low prices. This policy helped create the zaibatsu, which were giant business groups owned by single families. Companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui expanded during this time. They invested in shipping, coal mining, and textile production. In 1881, the Nippon Railway Company was formed as the first private railway in Japan. By the end of the decade, the length of railway tracks in the country grew from less than 100 miles to over 1,000 miles.
Education became more organized and nationalistic in 1886. Mori Arinori, the Minister of Education, issued the School Ordinances. This created a standard path for students, starting with four years of compulsory elementary school. Mori also established Imperial Universities to train the next generation of government leaders. While the schools taught Western science and math, they also emphasized loyalty to the Emperor. Every school was required to treat the Emperor’s portrait and the national flag with extreme respect.
The decade reached its peak on February 11, 1889. On this day, the Emperor officially gave the Meiji Constitution to the people. It was a “gift” from the throne rather than a document written by the public. The constitution created the Imperial Diet, a parliament with two houses. The House of Peers consisted of nobles and high-ranking officials. The House of Representatives consisted of members elected by the people. However, only men who paid at least 15 yen in national taxes could vote. This was only about 1% of the total population.
The Constitution gave the Emperor vast powers. He was the head of the military and had the right to declare war or peace. He could also dissolve the parliament whenever he chose. The document also listed the rights of citizens, such as freedom of speech and religion, but these rights were “within the limits of the law.” This meant the government could still restrict them if it deemed it necessary for national security. The decade ended with Japan becoming the first nation in Asia to have a modern, written constitution.
