JAPAN STUDIES REVIEW Volume XXIII 2019 Interdisciplinary Studies of Modern Japan Editors Steven Heine María Sol Echarren Editorial Board Matthew Marr, Florida International University John A. Tucker, East Carolina University Ann Wehmeyer, University of Florida Hitomi Yoshio, Waseda University Copy and Production Amaya Bueno Maytinee Kramer Rachel Serena Levine JAPAN STUDIES REVIEW VOLUME TWENTY-THREE 2019 A publication of Florida International University and the Southern Japan Seminar CONTENTS Editors’ Introduction i Re: Subscriptions, Submissions, and Comments ii ARTICLES Analysis of the Military Plot against Saionji Kinmochi’s Second Cabinet Janusz Mytko 3 Literary Ligations: The Ubume in Early Monstrous Maternity Narratives Michaela Leah Prostak 35 ‘Our Islands Are Being Violated One After the Other’: Emperor Hirohito’s Prayerful Reports to His Imperial Ancestors, October 1937 – August 1945 Peter Mauch 59 Following the Footsteps of Wind: Some Remarks on Kuki Shūzō’s Philosophy of Aesthetics Lorenzo Marinucci 81 A Translation of Kuki Shūzō’s “A Reflection on Poetic Spirit” (Fūryū ni kansuru ikkōsatsu 風流に関する一考察) Lorenzo Marinucci 95 ESSAYS Wakamatsu Farm and the Birth of Japanese America Daniel A. Métraux 127 Japanese Studies in Israel: A Response to Meron Medzini’s “From Alienation to Partnership: Israel – Japan Relation” in the Contemporary Review of the Middle East Christopher L. Schilling 143 Golden Kamuy: Can the Popular Manga Contribute to the Ainu Studies? Kinko Ito 155 BOOK REVIEWS Bringing Whales Ashore: Oceans and the Environment of Early Modern Japan By Jakobina K. Arch Reviewed by W. Puck Brecher 171 The JET Program and the U.S. – Japan Relationship: Goodwill Goldmine By Emily T. Metzgar Reviewed by Gabriela Izaguirre 174 Japan’s Shifting Status in the World and the Development of Japan’s Medical Insurance Systems By Yoneyuki Sugita Reviewed by Carmen E. Schmidt 177 EDITORS/CONTRIBUTORS i EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION Welcome to the twenty-third volume of the Japan Studies Review (JSR), an annual peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the Asian Studies Program at Florida International University. JSR remains an outlet for publications related to Southern Japan Seminar events that encourages submissions from a wide range of scholars in the field. The 2019 issue features five articles branching into different aspects of Japanese studies. Janusz Mytko provides a thorough study in the “Analysis of the Military Plot against Saionji Kinmochi’s Second Cabinet” regarding a conspiracy during the Taishō Seihen crisis in order to provide insight into the political process in pre-World War I Japan. In “Literary Ligations: The Ubume in Early Monstrous Maternity Narratives,” Michaela Leah Prostak presents a literary analysis of various religious and secular aspects of the ubume, a figure in Japanese folklore of a woman who died during either pregnancy or childbirth. The next article by Peter Mauch, “‘Our Islands Are Being Violated One After the Other’: Hirohito’s Prayerful Reports to His Imperial Ancestors, October 1937 – August 1945,” enables readers to see for themselves the texts and translations of the World War II-era prayers that Japan’s Showa Emperor delivered to his imperial ancestors. The last two articles are written or translated by Lorenzo Marinucci, beginning with an informative introductory essay, “Following the Footsteps of Wind: Some Remarks on Kuki Shūzō’s Philosophy of Aesthetics.” Then, in “A Translation of Kuki Shūzō’s ‘Reflections on Poetic Spirit’ (Fūryū ni kansuru ikkōsatsu),” Marinucci offers a work by Kuki from 1937 that gives us a deeper understanding of the renowned Japanese philosopher’s uniquely creative modern approach to the meaning of key aspects of traditional Japanese culture. This year’s issue also includes three essays. In “Wakamatsu Farm and the Birth of Japanese America,” Daniel A. Métraux explores the emblematic history of Japanese American immigration represented in the Wakamatsu Tea & Silk Farm Colony of 1869 located in California. Next, “Japanese Studies in Israel: A Response to Meron Medzini’s ‘From Alienation to Partnership: Israel-Japan Relation’ in the Contemporary Review of the Middle East” by Christopher L. Schilling clarifies Medizini’s shortcomings and criticizes certain anti-Semitic tendencies. The last essay by Kinko Ito, “Golden Kamuy: Can the Popular Manga Contribute to the Ainu Studies?” uses a content analysis based on the popular Japanese manga produced by Shueisha that has created interest within the Ainu community. There are three book reviews. Jakobina K. Arch’s Bringing Whales Ashore: Oceans and the Environment of Early Modern Japan is reviewed by W. Puck Brecher; Emily T. Metzgar’s The JET Program and the U.S.–Japan Relationship: Goodwill Goldmine is reviewed by Gabriela Izaguirre; and Yoneyuki Sugita’s Japan’s Shifting Status in the World and the Development of Japan’s Medical Insurance Systems is reviewed by Carmen E. Schmidt. ii Re: Submissions, Subscriptions, and Comments Submissions for publication, whether articles, essays, translations or book reviews, should be made in electronic formats, preferably Word for Windows via email attachment (please inquire about other formats). The editor and members of the editorial board will referee all submissions. Annual subscriptions are $45.00 (US). Please send a check or money order payable to Florida International University to: c/o Steven Heine, Professor of Religious Studies and History Director of the Asian Studies Program Florida International University Modesto A. Maidique Campus, SIPA 505 Miami, FL 33199 Professor Heine’s office number is 305-348-1914. Submissions for publication should be sent to [email protected]. Visit our website at http://asian.fiu.edu/jsr. PDF versions of past volumes are available online. All comments and feedback on the publications appearing in Japan Studies Review are welcome. ISSN: 1550-0713 Articles ANALYSIS OF THE MILITARY PLOT AGAINST SAIONJI KINMOCHI’S SECOND CABINET Janusz Mytko Kyoto University Overview Saionji Kinmochi tendered resignation of his government to Emperor Taishō on December 5, 1912, amidst the most severe constitutional crisis up to that date. The peculiar feature about this particular cabinet collapse was that it occurred as a consequence of an intrigue, orchestrated by a group of high-ranked officers convinced that under Saionji’s leadership the army’s interests were not adequately served. The primary reason behind this plot was to secure the prime ministerial post for General Terauchi Masatake. Admittedly, the conspirators managed to force Saionji and his ministers to resign en masse, but the main goal of the plot remained unfulfilled. The fall of the government sparked a political upheaval, nowadays remembered for two cabinet changes within merely two months, and mass protests against Saionji’s successor, Katsura Tarō, that quickly spread nationwide and prompted Katsura’s resignation during the events referred to as the “Taisho Political Crisis,” or Taishō Seihen in Japanese.1 1 A number of previous studies covered the problem of the Taisho Political Crisis during the span of the last five decades. These include: Yamamoto Shirō, Taishō Seihen no kisoteki kenkyū (Tokyo: Ochanomizu Shobō, 1970), Banno Junji, Taishō seihen–1900 nen Taisei no hōkai (Kyoto: Minerva Shobō, 1994), Sakurai Ryōju, Taishō seiji shi no shuppatsu–Rikken Dōshikai no seiritsu to sono shūhen (Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha, 1997), Stewart Lone, Army, Empire and Politics in Meiji Japan: The Three Careers of General Katsura Tarō (London: Macmillan, 2000), and Kobayashi Michihiko, Katsura Tarō–yo ga seimei ha seiji de aru (Kyoto: Minerva Shobō, 2006). The frequent practice in describing the origins of the crisis was to concentrate on the military’s power to influence the composition of the government, set up by the requirement that only an active military officer in the top two ranks could serve as army or navy minister. This limitation was formally introduced by the Yamagata Aritomo’s administration in May 1900, but rather than establishing a 4 JANUSZ MYTKO Focused specifically on the plot against Saionji and his cabinet, this article reexamines numerous sources pertaining to the event to give a possibly detailed description of the conspiracy, and the political mechanisms its participants tried to employ to achieve their goal. It particularly highlights discrepancies between information given in different sources, which show how the strategy to bring down the government evolved, and how misinformation was used in the conspirators’ favor. Increased attention is given to factors behind the failure of the plan to replace Saionji with Terauchi as prime minister, providing an insight on the political process in pre-World War I Japan. This helped to demonstrate that in the early twentieth century, the oligarchs, who wielded power in the country throughout the Meiji period, still constituted the center of Japanese politics, despite pressure from the political parties on one side, and the military on the other. Japan at the Turn of Taishō When the Taishō period started in July 1912, the ruling class of bureaucrats – as a dominant political force in Japan with strong ties to the military – had divided according to their place of origin into domain cliques.2 Out of the four leading domains of Chōshū, Satsuma, Tosa, and completely new procedure, it simply formalized the existing custom, rooted deeply in the politics of Meiji Japan, that had been in use since the formation of the first Japanese cabinet led by Itō Hirobumi.