孝道
Chapter LXIII: Home Front Japan
After the conclusion of her world tour, (And a deserved chewing out and embrace from her mother over the incident in Vienna.) Empress Hoshiko turned her attention to the state of Japan's national government.
Japanese Democracy was a fragile creature, viewed with suspicion by many powerful Japanese, especially many in the military. Further, Japan did not have a long tradition of democracy and civil liberties. Yet Hoshiko knew that without stronger democratic institutions Japan must either eventually become either a totalitarian military state like Germany or else suffer revolution such as in Russia or Spain.
Fortunately her father had displayed a willingness to intervene in cabinet affairs practically from the start of his reign in 1912. The Taishō Crisis (so named for the newly enthroned emperor) erupted in late November 1912, out of the continuing bitter dispute over the military budget. The army minister, General Uehara, unable to get the cabinet to agree on the army's demands, resigned. Prime Minister Saionji sought to replace Uehara. A Japanese law (intended to give added power to the army and navy) required that the army minister must be a lieutenant general or general on active duty. All of the eligible generals, on Field Marshal Aritomo Yamagata's instruction, refused to serve in Saionji's cabinet. The cabinet would have been forced to resign except for the swift intervention of the Emperor who took the genro to task and issued an Imperial edict requiring the Army to provide a minister. This avoided establishing a precedent that the army could force the resignation of a cabinet. This was despite Saionji's personal philosophy that the Imperial Court should refrain from involvement in politics.
The studied and proactive hand of the Taisho Emperor also is believed to have been instrumental in lessening the impact of the Depression in Japan when he intervened directly to keep Japan off the Gold Standard, the resumption of which in Britain by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill (Albeit unwillingly by Churchill who faced insurmountable political support for the return of the pre-Great War Gold backed valuation of the pound.) resulted in deflation, unemployment, and a worsening of the Depression in that nation and came to be regarded by Churchill as perhaps the gravest political mistake of his career. The refusal of the gold standard in Japan prevented the nation from suffering from rampant speculation in gold and further strengthening the relative economic health of the Empire.
In spite of her father's successes, Hoshiko knew that Japan's democracy was still in development. It could easily be overwhelmed either by the militarists ...or by a careless hand from the Imperial Throne. Hoshiko felt it was imperative first and foremost to strengthen the position of the Prime Minister.
Her father had prevented the Army from acquiring the means to dismiss the government at will. Now as she prepared to receive her new Prime Minister, she would move to further strengthen the office of the Prime Minister from the whims of an Emperor... Or an Empress.
Here to fore, the Prime Minister was appointed by the Emperor, normally after being selected and nominated by the genro. But Prime Ministers could be turned out at an Emperor's whim. Hoshiko had come to see that both democracy in Japan, and her own ability to rule justly relied upon having ministers who would be willing to disagree with her opinions openly if necessary without fear of dismissal. Therefore; by Imperial Edict, no Emperor or Empress could dismiss a Prime Minister without obtaining the backing of a two thirds majority of the Diet. In practice, no Prime Minister was likely to resist an Imperial request for the minister's resignation, but if she was going to play a more active role in shaping her country's future, reform and restraint upon her own powers had to begin somewhere.
Presently the new Prime Minister entered. After two further years of service from the faithful Prime Minister Okada, Hoshiko had decided it was time to allow the visibly worn statesman to retire honorably. While still seeking the advice of Saionji, the last surviving genro, Hoshiko had instead of a single candidate, requested him to choose four candidates for her to select from. The message being that while Hoshiko would not publicly embarrass the venerable Saionji by rejecting his advice, she intended to exercise a greater prerogative in selecting the man she thought best suited to strengthening Japan and in working with her to realize her vision for Japan's future.
The four men nominated by Saionji were the following:
Prince Fumimaro Konoe: A protege of Saionji's whom had split with his mentor over Japan's alignment with the Western Democracies. Saionji; nevertheless, believed that Konoe would be able to restrain the military.
Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma: A crusader against government corruption, Hiranuma was seen as an exemplary jurist, but he was known to harbor many strong right wing views and a deep seeded suspicion of communism, democracy and foreign influences.
General Nobuyuki Abe: A compromise candidate, Abe was viewed as a moderate by all interested parties but lacked the solid backing of any. He was also strongly disliked by several senior army officers due to his lack of battlefield experience.
Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai: Another moderate, Yonai was also in favor of maintaining the alliance with Britain and America, further; unlike Abe, he held strong support in the navy.
"Your Majesty..." Yonai bowed and greeted his Empress...
