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Japanese Journal of Human Geography 61―6（2009） The Spatial Recognitions of Toshimichi Okubo and the Formation of Regions in Modern Japan YAMANE Hiroshi I Preface （1） Background （2） Purposes and procedures II Spatial Career, Experiences and Recognitions of Toshimichi Okubo （1） Spatial Experience and Spatial Career （2） Okubo’s Spatial Career （3） The Kagoshima Stage （4） The Kyoto Stage （5） The Tokyo Stage （6） Okubo’s Direct Experiences from Domestic and International Spaces in His Lifetime （7） The Acceptance of Regional Information about Unvisited Places III Experience of Places, Learning of Spatial Structure, and Practices of National Land Making Policy （1） The Concepts and Practices Regarding Nation Building and National Land Making of Okubo, the De Facto Prime Minister （2） Relationship between Spatial Experience and Spatial Practice （3） Making of Okubo’s “Tohoku” Recognition and Tohoku Development as Spatial Practice Vl Concluding Remarks Key Words : Toshimichi Okubo, modern Japan, spatial experience, spatial recognition, spatial practice, Tohoku I Preface （ ） 1 Background 1） Since the 1980s, modern historical geography in Japan has undergone significant development. The formation and changes of regions in modern Japan is an important theme in Japanese geography and has been explained as the spatial cumulative process of changes through reconstruction of geographically material facts. For example, Japanese geographers can show when, where, and how specific regions were（re） born, formed, changed, and related to other regions. However, there has been very little scholarly attention given to the causal relations between 2） spatial events and the mechanisms or structures of the realism schema. The relationship between 3） structure and human agency based on the structuration approach has not been considered by 4） case studies in modernized Japan. Peet calls this Anglophone school of human geographical 5） thought “realism―structuration―locality.” Yamane discusses Japan’s modern regional geography ― ― 23 ― 496 Japanese Journal of Human Geography 61―6（2009） 6） Nagasaki as the international port city originated in the sixteenth century ― using this approach. This study uses a similar approach, but revised schemata are used to explain the relationships among events, structures, and “special” human agencies in a region. This study focuses on Toshimichi Okubo, the one man who had the power and ability to modernize national land 7） structures, and his spatial experiences, recognitions, and policies are investigated by reading his diary and correspondence. 8） Toshimichi Okubo, the son of the lower―grade samurai, was born in Kagoshima, Satsuma, in 1830. Okubo was promoted in the hierarchy of the Satsuma clan during the regime change. He was deeply involved in the Meiji Restoration as a member of Satsuma and the movement to overthrow the Shogunate. Okubo became Sangi, one of the high―level decision makers in the Meiji government in 1869, and then became Naimu ―kyo, the chief of the Home Office, in 1873. The latter position is virtually equivalent to Prime Minister. At the peak of his power, he drafted the national development plan advocating the policy to encourage new industry, Shokusan―kogyo. After Okubo was assassinated in Tokyo in 1878, his grand plan was poorly implemented by his political successor. Okubo’s plan was only partly realized because of his sudden death and the changes in the political environment. Although his ideas of national land development were nearly reduced to ashes, this paper explores his views on various regional characteristics and spatial structure in modern Japan. This exploration explains the structure of modern Japan according to the theory of structuration. We hypothesize that the spatial experiences of Okubo as a human agency ―a 9） special one ―had gradually formed his spatial recognition, and that this recognition greatly influenced the content of his national land planning during the early Meiji Era. The relational schemata of “accumulation of personal experience, making recognition based on personal experience, the practice of political planning,” in which all three factors are spatial, are verified in the later chapters. （2） Purposes and Procedures First, this paper aims at reconstructing the spatial experiences, recognitions, and practices of Toshimichi Okubo as a special human agency in modern Japan by referring to his diary and 10） letters. Next, the relationships between his experiences, recognitions, and practices in specific places are examined. Finally, his own evaluation of the spatial structures and places in modern Japan and the foreign countries that he had traveled to are identified and explained in relation to historical geographical facts in modern Japan. This study consists of four phases. First, the “spatial” career of Okubo’s lifetime history, when and where he lived and when he traveled, is reconstructed and mapped. We can trace his footprints and capture when and where he traveled and had direct experiences. Through these efforts, we can understand Okubo’s direct experiences and recognitions of places at home and abroad. Second, Okubo’s indirect acquisition of information regarding domestic and overseas places is investigated by an analysis of his meetings and correspondence with his colleagues. Third, Okubo’s ideas, plans, and practices regarding national land development are investigated by examining his letters among other sources. Finally, we investigate the relationship between his spatial experiences / recognitions and his spatial planning / practices and make some concluding remarks. ― 24 ― The Spatial Recognitions of Toshimichi Okubo and the Formation of Regions in Modern Japan（YAMANE） 497 II Spatial Career, Experiences and Recognitions of Toshimichi Okubo （1） Spatial Experience and Spatial Career The purpose of this chapter is to clarify Okubo’s spatial experiences and recognitions. It is 11） hypothesized that Okubo’s spatial practices as the head of the Meiji government were based on his spatial experiences and recognitions that he had accumulated over his lifetime. As mentioned 12） above, spatial experience is defined as the direct or indirect experience of places. It can be measured in both quantity and quality. In this chapter, Okubo’s spatial career, the accumulation of the places he lived, visited, and moved through in his lifetime is traced as faithfully as possible. The places where Okubo lived were Kagoshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo. These cities were the bases for his political activities at each stage of his life. （2） Okubo’s Spatial Career Okubo’s lifetime is divided in three stages of Kagoshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo based on where he made his home. Kagoshima is the castle town of the Satsuma clan in Kyushu, and is his birthplace and hometown. Okubo lived there for about 30 years. In his childhood, Okubo learned and played with his friends in the same community, Kajiya ―machi. Okubo’s childhood friends Takamori 13） Saigo, Atsushi Saisho, and Tomozane Yoshii were later joining in the movement to overthrow the Shogunate and assumed high officials in the Meiji government. Okubo became a samurai in Kagoshima in 1846, when at age 15, he attained the promotion along with his friends from the feudal load of the Satsuma clan. This paper defines the period from 1830 to 1866 as the Kagoshima stage. Kyoto was the emperor’s residential place and the center of the movement against the Edo Shogunate. In those days, samurai activists had gathered there from various places around Japan. The Satsuma clan dispatched all able samurais to Kyoto to gain control of the movement. Okubo was one of these samurai. He took up residence in Kyoto for some years and the Satsuma clan’s house in Kyoto became his new base. The period from 1866 to 1869 when he lived in Kyoto is defined as the Kyoto stage. Prior to 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo. Okubo had visited Edo many times. After the Meiji Restoration, 1868, Okubo moved his residence and base of political operations to Tokyo. During his last 10 years in Tokyo, Okubo began to implement his experiences and recognitions into his practices. The period from 1868 to 1878 is defined as the Tokyo stage. The paths of Okubo’s domestic travels are shown in Figure 1. The three cities he had lived in were the hubs that frequently connected his travels. The general spatial characteristics of his traveling routes are refereed in detail later in this chapter. （3） The Kagoshima Stage Okubo rarely left the Kagoshima area until he was 30 years old. By the command of his lord, Hisamitsu Shimazu, he first visited Kyoto in 1861. Before that, his farthest travels took him to Kumamoto, which was only 200 km away from Kagoshima. If the “revolution” against the Edo Shogunate did not occur, he may have spent his entire life in a town located on the south ― western edge of Japan. 1861 was the turning point of his spatial career. In only six years, Okubo’s travels took him to Edo via the Tokai Highway, Tokai ―do, one of the most important highways ― 25 ― 498 Japanese Journal of Human Geography 61―6（2009） Figure 1. Toshimichi Okubo’s Lifetime Travelling Routes in Japan（ 1860s―1870s）. Source : Okubo Toshimichi Nikki（ The Diary of Toshimichi Okubo）, footnote 10）（ 1） among the five routes, and to Fukui along the Sea of Japan via the Hokuriku Highway. （4） The Kyoto Stage Okubo traveled to Kyoto often after his first visit. His base of political activities had already moved to Kyoto in 1866. During those unstable political times, these activities included the investigation of the political strategies of the other clans like Choshu and the nobility, and other political maneuvers. In 1866, he had a house at Kamigyo in Kyoto and lived there until 1869. Okubo made several trips out of Kyoto during this stage. He traveled to Osaka frequently, at least eight times, for political reasons. His rich experiences from these visits later influenced his 14） proposal to shift the capital from Kyoto to Osaka.

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