The various offices held under the Japanese Ritsuryo system can be divided into four types according to their appointing authorities : (a)chokuninkan (勅任官), or those offices appointed by the wishes of the Emperor : (b)soninkan (奏任官), or those offices originally selected as candidates by the Dajokan (太政官) and then, officially appointed through Imperial sanction. (c)hanninkan (判任官), or those offices appointed directly by the Dajokan itself. (d)hanbukan (判補官), or those officials appointed by two departments under the Dajokan, the ministry of civil personnel (式部省), and the ministry of military personnel (兵部省). In this essay the author investigates (a) and (b) with respect to the problems of what particular types of diplomatic forms were used, what ceremonies were carried out, and how both diplomatic forms and ceremonies changed during the 9th century. From this study the author was able to make clear the following three points : (1)Under the Ritsuryo system, the process of informing a candidate of his official appointment through a written diplomatic, a process similar to the modern day appointment by jirei (辞令), or written govermment order adressed directly to the appointee, had not been established. In the case of both appointment types (a) and (b), appointees were officially informed verbally before the Emperor in the Daigokuden (大極殿), the hall for public affairs and ceremonies, and its anterior courtyard. (2)Throughout the 8th century, before the appointment ceremonies, three separate diplomatics were drawn up. First, for both (a) and (b) types, a register of candidates was constructed (in later times this list was called omagaki (大間書)). Then, in the case of (a), an Imperial order, or choku (勅), naming the appointees was written. In the case of (b), a report to the Emperor, or Dajokan-so (太政官奏), naming the appointees to be approved by the Emperor was drawn up. Afterwards during the appointment ceremonies, both the Imperial order and the Dajokan reports were read aloud to all gathered. (3)At the advent of the 9th century, the appointment ceremonies came to be conducted in the Dairi (内裏), that is, the Emperor's quarters. And also, during the same time, as the high level bureaucrats in the Dajokan, or kugyo (公卿), became more and more conscious of their special political position, at the appointment ceremonies, kugyo appointees no longer lined up in front of the Emperor, but were ushered to special seats of distinction. For this reason, in the 9th century, kugyo who were also appointed to an office of type (b) came to be reported to the Emperor by a special Dajokan-so which was different from that reporting other appointees.

View full abstract

La Societe Republicaine Revolutionnaire a Paris nous interesse en tant que celle qui soutenait la cause des Enrages et qu'un exemple de l'activite politique des femmes sous la Revolution. Elle etait dirigee par Claire Lacombe et Pauline Leon. Les membres de la societe, passionnes pour la Revolution, pretendaient que les femmes s'occupassent activement de politique. Cependant, le but de leur action ne fut pas d'emanciper les femmes de la subordination sociale. Elles regardaient le menage comme un devoir feminin fixe par la nature. La societe fut fondee le 10 mai. Pendant les premiers temps, elle s'engageait de concert avec les Jacobins dans la lutte contre les Girondins. Mais en ete, les Republicaines-Revolutionnaires se rapprocherent de Leclerc, un des Enrages. S'opposant a la centralisation gouvernementale, Leclerc professait que le. peuple devait prendre lui-meme la direction de la Revolution. Au debut de septembre, la crise economique accentua la poussee populaire. Leclerc trouva une occasion de realiser son projet. Pourtant la Convention, maintenant la confiance du peuple par les concessions aux revendications populaires, reprima le mouvement des Enrages. Ceux-ci ne reussirent pas a prendre l'initiative du mouvement populaire. Les sans-culottes n'avaient pas appuye la campagne anti-jacobine des Enrages. Apres cela, les Republicaines-Revolutionnaires qui s'etaient associees a Leclerc, s'isolerent dans le mouvement populaire. En outre, elles avaient le desavantage a cause de leur sexe feminin. Les sans-culottes manquerent d'egards pour les droits politiques des femmes. Par ailleurs, les Republicaines-Revolutionnaires avaient conscience de faire partie d'une elite revolutionnaire. Elles ne purent pas refleter la voix des femmes du peuple. Une partie des femmes, par exemple les femmes de la Halle, les hairent. Les Republicaines-Revolutionnaires tombaient dans une situation difficile. Le 30 octobre, leur societe fut dissoute et les societes feminines interdites. Ce fut le premier coup que le gouvernement revolutionnaire porta aux organisations populaires. Enfin, les Republicaines-Revolutionnaires cesserent leur action quand la dictature gouvernementale se fut formee.

View full abstract

The period from the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 to the general resignation in 1913 of the third cabinet set up by Katsura Taro (桂太郎) has been characterized as the "Kei-En System" (桂園体制) in the sense that it was the time in which alternating cabinets were organized by Katsura and Saionji Kinmochi. (西園寺公望). Katsura enjoyed the backing of the Yamagata Aritomo faction (山県閥), mainly. composed of military men and members of the House of Peers. Saionji occupied the leadership of the Seiyukai (政友会) which was the majority party in the House of Commons. This period has also been known as the time in which men of new generation, namely Katsura and Saionji, came to head cabinets as the result of an impasse in a system of ministerial change which had continued from 1885 when the Genro (元老) first began to alternate as prime ministers. Up until now, in explaining the smooth transitions between the Katsura and the Saionji cabinets, the rather superficial image offered in the dairy of Hara Takashi (原敬日記) has often been referred to -that is to say, after the Russo-Japanese War, the participation of the Genro in state government became indirect and passive, and it created a political power vacuum. In this essay, by investigating the political process during the latter part of the first Saionji cabinet (1907-8), the author attempts. a revision of the accepted account of the position and role of the Genro in the political sphere after the Russo-Japanese War. The first section makes clear, through an examination of the process, of drawing up the 1908 budget, that both the tax increase of that year and the postponements in the agenda surrounding the military budget were agreed upon as a result of the initiative of the Genro. The second section examines the process from January to July, 1908, of accomplishing a smooth transition to the second Katsura cabinet, and clearly shows that the transition was decided upon as the result of a consensus of opinion reached by the Genro. In addition, during this process, the positive efforts of two Genro, former Seiyukai party's chairman, Ito Hirobumi (伊藤博文), and his colleague, Inoue Kaoru (井上馨), were particularly noteworthy in showing that the influence of the Genro, rather than waning during this time, was an important factor in bringing about a smooth changeover of cabinets. Finally, the author concludes that while, during the period following the Russo-Japanese War, the Genro handed over cabinet responsibilities to a younger breed of politicians, they by no means ceased to participate in decisions with respect to the important and fundamental problems of state government.

View full abstract