The governing class determined to change
all this. They insisted on the Shinto doctrine that the Mikado
descends in direct succession from the native Goddess of the Sun,
and that He himself is a living God on earth who justly claims
the absolute fealty of his subjects. Such things as laws and
constitutions are but free gifts on His part, not in any sense
popular rights. Of course, the ministers and officials, high and
low, who carry on His government, are to be regarded not as
public servants, but rather as executants of supreme--one might
say supernatural--authority. Shinto, because connected with the
Imperial family, is to be alone honoured.
All this is not mere theorizing; it is the practical basis of Japanese
politics. The Mikado, after having been for centuries in the keeping of
the Tokugawa Shoguns, was captured by the clans of Satsuma and Choshu,
and has been in their keeping ever since. They were represented
politically by five men, the Genro or Elder Statesmen, who are sometimes
miscalled the Privy Council. Only two still survive. The Genro have no
constitutional existence; they are merely the people who have the ear of
the Mikado. They can make him say whatever they wish; therefore they are
omnipotent. It has happened repeatedly that they have had against them
the Diet and the whole force of public opinion; nevertheless they have
invariably been able to enforce their will, because they could make the
Mikado speak, and no one dare oppose the Mikado.
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