Japan

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Mutsuhito

Emperor Meiji was born on November 3rd, 1852 in Kyoto, and given the name Mutsuhito. He took the personal name Mutsuhito when he became crown prince in 1860. He was the second son of emperor Komei, who ruled between 1847 and 1866. His father was the titular ruler in the last years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. His mother was Yoshiko Makayama. His consort empress Shoken, devoted her life to promoting national welfare and women’s education. She donated a fund to the International Red Cross, named the “Empress Shoken Fund,” which is currently utilized for international welfare activities.
In 1868 radical nationalists groups working for a stronger Japan united under the emperor and toppled the Tokugawa Shogunate, replacing it with a unified administration headed by the sovereign. As part of the new regime’s policies, Meiji became the first emperor to live in Tokyo rather than Kyoto, the traditional imperial capital. Although only 15 years old, the emperor in time became an influential force in the government, he functioned mainly as a symbol of national unity, leaving the actual business of governing to his ministers. His presence was essential to the new government as a source of legitimacy, as a sanction for its transformation of Japan, and as the center of the authoritarian cult of the state Shinto which it introduced. During his reign, Japan became an industrial power able to compete with the nations of the west. The Meiji shrine in the center of Tokyo was built in his honor. His accession to the throne marked the beginning of a national revolution known as the Meiji restoration.
During this time, Japan became a world industrial and naval power. His ministers abolished the feudal system, abolished discrimination against the lowest caste, established state schools, and reformed the civil service, introduced conscription, the western calendar, and other measures to modernize Japan, including a constitution in 1889.
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