The Image of Prussia in Japan During the Boshin War (1868–1869)

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CHAPTER 3 The Image of Prussia in Japan during the Boshin War (1868–1869)

Hakoishi Hiroshi

The Boshin civil war commenced with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in the first month of Keiō 4 (February 1868) and concluded with the Battle of Hakodate in the fifth month of Meiji 2 (June 1869).1 A study of the image of Japan’s Boshin War is not only instructive because this era of conflict marked the most sig- nificant turning point in Japan’s move toward modernity (Haraguchi 1963), but also because it witnessed a boom in new forms of media. Newspapers and magazines, in particular, grew at an explosive rate. This chapter examines the image of Prussia that emerged in popular newspapers and magazines at this time.2

The Image of Prussia in Journals of the Foreign Settlement

Satirical Caricatures in The Japan Punch The caricatures in the satirical English-language magazine The Japan Punch are valuable sources not only because they include illustrations of Prussians resident in Japan during the late Edo period (1603–1868) and during the Meiji Restoration (1850s–1860s), but also because they provide a visual behind-the- scenes look at the diplomatic relationship of Western countries toward Japan that cannot be found in other historical documents (fig. 3.1).3 And this is largely due to the role of the magazine’s publisher, the Englishman Charles Wirgman (1832–1891) who lived in the foreign settlement of Yokohama. Initially dis- patched to Japan as artist and correspondent for The Illustrated London News, Wirgman enjoyed the close friendship of many prominent foreign inhabitants

1 In the same year, on the 8th day of the 9th month (October 23, 1868), the Japanese era name was changed and Keiō 4 became the year Meiji 1. 2 See Hakoishi 2007 for current views on the newspapers and magazines of the Boshin War period. 3 The Japan Punch is easily accessible in a reprint version (Wirgman 1975). For a general analy- sis of Wirgman’s illustrations, see Haga et al. (2002).

Figure 3.1 Cover of The Japan Punch. 1868. of Japan, such as members of the British Legation to Japan and its Secretary Ernest Mason Satow (1843–1929). Although it must be remembered that Wirgman’s information has a particular bias, much of what he published appears to have been fairly accurate. He was apparently acquainted with the resident diplomats of the Western treaty powers, and therefore the portraits he drew of many of these figures capture their individual characteristics quite realistically. As such, the magazine’s caricatures are useful historical materials that offer a glimpse into the inner workings of the foreign diplomatic corps in Japan.4 Its portrayals of the British Legation are particularly noteworthy, since that organization had a substantial influence on the political process during

4 The illustrations referenced in this chapter give the year and month of the original publication, as well as volume and page number in the reprint version (Wirgman 1975). However, the month of publication is unspecified until 1872; in this case the month of the magazine’s publication is an estimate that appears in the reprint (Wirgman 1975).