Military conscription

Military conscription from the peasantry, for the formation of a standing army loyal to the central Imperial government, was chiefly only practiced in Japan in the Asuka and Nara periods, and again from the Meiji period into the 20th century; during the Heian through Edo periods, government relied on samurai forces (either hired, or called up by feudal obligations) for military action.

Asuka & Nara Periods

The Yamato court introduced a Chinese-style militia by the end of the 7th century, along with its adoption of many other features of Tang Dynasty-style government. Each province had one militia commanded by the provincial governor, formed by drawing upon the peasantry through a corvée system connected to the equal-field system for infantry, and drawing upon prominent families for cavalry. Most provinces had only one militia group per province, but extra units were stationed in Kyushu to defend against possible invasion from the continent (in the aftermath of the wars with Tang & Silla).

During this period, the militias chiefly saw battle against the Emishi, skilled horsemen against whom the Chinese-style system of ranks of infantry, armed chiefly with crossbows, was cumbersome and not particularly effective. Conscription, furthermore, proved a heavy burden on the peasantry, and was ultimately abolished in 792.

Meiji Period

Military conscription was first established in Meiji period Japan by a set of Conscription Acts in 1872-1873, and later revised in 1883. This established the first citizen army in Japan - the Imperial Japanese Army - and the first organized in service to the nation-state in the modern sense of the term. Men of all classes were conscripted into service for a period of three years.

The chief figures involved in pushing for the institution of conscription included Ômura Masujirô (who suggested it as early as 1868), as well as Yamada Kengi of Chôshû,Tani Kanjô of Tosa, and Yamagata Aritomo. They saw conscription not only as a means by which to strengthen the country's defenses against outside attack, especially from the Russians, but also as a means of strengthening it against uprisings against the new government. A centralized military would also help guard against regional governors gathering power and becoming regional warlords.

E.H. Norman argues that these men were well aware of elements within the Meiji government, and new-formed military, who still believed strongly in samurai ideals, who believed that commoner/peasant troops could not be as loyal and dutiful nor as skilled in combat as the samurai, people who might lead pro-feudal revolts against the new government in order to restore samurai rule if they were rubbed the wrong way. They were to be proven right, as the 1870s saw numerous samurai uprisings of this sort, particularly in Kyushu, culminating with the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877.

References

• Norman, E.H. Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. pp41-42, 49.