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[[Image:Meiji-naminoue.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Statue of Emperor Meiji at [[Naminoue Shrine]] in [[Okinawa]], identified as ''kokka'', or, "The State."]]
[[Image:Meiji-naminoue.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Statue of Emperor Meiji at [[Naminoue Shrine]] in [[Okinawa]], identified as ''kokka'', or, "The State."]]
[[Image:Meiji-tomb.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The tomb-mound of Emperor Meiji, at the former site of [[Fushimi castle]] in [[Kyoto]].]]
[[Image:Meiji-tomb.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The tomb-mound of Emperor Meiji, at the former site of [[Fushimi castle]] in [[Kyoto]].]]
*''Born: [[1852]]''
*''Born: [[1852]]/9/22''
*''Died: [[1912]]''
*''Died: [[1912]]''
*''Reign: [[1867]]-1912''
*''Reign: [[1867]]-1912''
*''Other Names'': 睦仁 ''(Mutsuhito)''
*''Other Names'': 睦仁 ''(Mutsuhito)'', 祐宮 ''(Sachinomiya)''
*''Japanese'': 明治天皇 ''(Meiji tennou)''
*''Japanese'': 明治天皇 ''(Meiji tennou)''
The Meiji Emperor was the great-grandfather of the current [[Emperor]] of Japan. Following the fall of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in [[1868]], he was the first Emperor since [[Emperor Kemmu]] in the 1330s to rule the country in the absence of a [[shogunate]]; he was also the last Emperor to reign in [[Kyoto]].
The Meiji Emperor was the great-grandfather of the current [[Emperor]] of Japan. Following the fall of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in [[1868]], he was the first Emperor since [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] in the 1330s to rule the country in the absence of a [[shogunate]]; he was also the last Emperor to reign in [[Kyoto]], doing so briefly before the move to [[Tokyo]].
==Life & Reign==
==Life & Reign==
Emperor Meiji, known by his personal name Mutsuhito during his life, was the son of [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]] and [[Nakayama Yoshiko]], an imperial concubine. His wife, Ichijô Haruko, came to be known as [[Empress Shoken|Empress Dowager Shôken]].
Emperor Meiji, known by his personal name Mutsuhito during his life, was the son of [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]] and [[Nakayama Yoshiko]], an imperial concubine. His wife, Ichijô Haruko, came to be known as [[Empress Shoken|Empress Dowager Shôken]]. At seven days old, he was initially named Sachinomiya.<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 378.</ref>
Meiji took the throne on 1867/1/9, less than a year before [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] stepped down as [[Shogun]], marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the "[[Meiji Restoration|restoration]]" of Imperial rule.
Meiji took the throne on 1867/1/9, less than a year before [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] stepped down as [[Shogun]], marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the "[[Meiji Restoration|restoration]]" of Imperial rule.
His reign, known as the [[Meiji period]] ([[1867]]-[[1912]]), was marked by dramatic, rapid modernization and Westernization, as the country industrialized, militarized, began colonial/imperial expansion, instituted a system of rule based around a constitutional/parliamentary monarchy, nationwide public education, and a myriad of other reforms and developments.
His reign, known as the [[Meiji period]] ([[1867]]-[[1912]]), was marked by dramatic, rapid modernization and Westernization, as the country industrialized, militarized, began colonial/imperial expansion, instituted a system of rule based around a constitutional/parliamentary monarchy, nationwide public education, and a myriad of other reforms and developments.
Among the many other significant events of his reign, the emperor received numerous foreign heads of state, royals, and other dignitaries who came to Japan on formal and informal visits, including US President [[Ulysses S. Grant]], King [[Kalakaua]] of Hawaii, Tsarevitch [[Nicholas II]] of Russia, and a number of British royals, among others. The emperor never learned to speak any English, and is said to have never been able to relax in conversation with foreigners, showing little personality and instead playing the part of Imperial host.<ref>[[Sir Hugh Cortazzi]], "Royal Visits to Japan in the Meiji Period, 1868-1912," in ''Collected Writings of Sir Hugh Cortazzi'', Edition Synapse (2000), 111.</ref>
Emperor Meiji died in 1912, and was succeeded by his son, the [[Emperor Taisho|Taishô Emperor]]. He was entombed at the former site of [[Fushimi castle]], a short distance from the grave of [[Emperor Kammu]]; thus, the first and last emperors to reign in [[Heian-kyo|Heian-kyô]] (Kyoto) are buried nearby one another.
Emperor Meiji died in 1912, and was succeeded by his son, the [[Emperor Taisho|Taishô Emperor]]. He was entombed at the former site of [[Fushimi castle]], a short distance from the grave of [[Emperor Kammu]]; thus, the first and last emperors to reign in [[Heian-kyo|Heian-kyô]] (Kyoto) are buried nearby one another.
==Image==
In the first years of his reign, the Meiji Emperor [[Clothing|dressed]] as his predecessors did. A written description by [[Ernest Satow]] of a meeting with the emperor in 1868, as well as [[:File:Meiji-1872.jpg|the first]] of his two [[Imperial portraits|official photographs]] by [[Uchida Kuichi]], taken in [[1872]], reveal the emperor in long, flowing ''sokutai'' robes (classical court dress), with his long hair pinned up, and a tall court cap. His face was whitened, and eyebrows shaved off, then painted back in a few inches higher, as was the classical style.
By [[1871]], however, the emperor declared in an imperial rescript a reform of court dress, on the basis that the traditional modes "gave the impression of weakness." Indeed, Satow's account describes the emperor as "bashful or timid," and as needing "to be assisted."<ref name=fuji174>Fujitani, 174.</ref> [[:File:Meiji Emperor.jpg|The second]] of his official portrait photographs, taken by the same Uchida Kuichi in [[1873]], shows a dramatic transformation. In this, another of the most famous and most widely familiar images of the Meiji Emperor today, the emperor is seen in Western-style military dress uniform, complete with epaulets and numerous frills; a formal hat in the style most stereotypically associated with Napoleon sits on a table next to the emperor, who sits in a Western-style chair and holding a sheathed saber. His hair is cut short and parted, and bears a thin mustache and beard.
Throughout his reign, newspapers and other media sources described the Emperor wearing classical court dress while performing sacred Imperial rites within the palace, reinforcing ideas of the emperor's transcendent nature and connection to an unbroken line of emperors stretching back to the gods, as well as to Japan's illustrious traditions and history. However, when seen in public, as he was in numerous very public [[Six Great Imperial Tours|imperial tours]], processions, [[Triumphal Military Review of April 1906|military reviews]], and other events over the course of the Meiji period, the emperor was almost invariably dressed in Western-style military uniform, a demonstration of his modernity and masculine strength as a modern, masculine monarch in the European style. This was essential to the [[Meiji government|Meiji government's]] efforts to pursue equal treatment for Japan among the great powers of the world.
[[:File:Meiji-1888.jpg|The third]] of the Meiji Emperor's official portraits, though widely assumed to have also been a photograph of the monarch, was in fact an [[1888]] photograph by Maruki Toshiaki of a drawing by [[Edoardo Chiossone]], based on sketches done by Chiossone during a brief in-person meeting with the emperor. It was this image which was copied countless times over and distributed to [[Meiji education|public schools]] and other institutions across the country.
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==References==
==References==
*"Chronology of the Japanese Emperors since the Mid-Nineteenth Century." in ''Handbook of Oriental Studies''. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2008. pp335-336.
*"Chronology of the Japanese Emperors since the Mid-Nineteenth Century." in ''Handbook of Oriental Studies''. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2008. pp335-336.
*Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996).
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Emperors|Meiji]]
[[Category:Emperors|Meiji]]
