Winds of Change: 1744 to 1748
Emperor Naohito II, Dec 1744 - May 1748
The short reign of Emperor Naohito II is remembered as a turning point in Japanese history. He came to the throne of a country which had made its peace with the actions of the 1717 regency, but unlike his father the new Emperor was determined to finish what the regents had started.
As soon as he was established in Kyoto, Naohito ordered the universities to offer instruction only in French and Latin. These European languages had made inroads amongst Japanese scholars, but the move was still a controversial one which reignited many of the old hatreds.
Nevertheless, the determined Emperor was to have his way and the decision proved fruitful as new ideas from abroad now flowed more easily to the Japanese intelligensia.
In particular the study of French inspired many intellectuals to wish to emulate that powerful nation culturally as well as scientifically.
Naohito himself was caught up with a clique of Japanese
philosophes, who emulating their French heroes sought to bring the spirit of the Enlightment to the Empire.
This did not go without protest. In 1717 peasants had taken to the streets when they thought their customs were being threatened. Now they actually were, but despite the wave of ill-feeling that engulfed rural Japan the authorities were able to keep dissent to a minimum except in the most isolated regions of the empire.
One such place was the Muslim outpost of Makassar. When they had first been incorporated into Japan the local nobility had been allowed to retain many of their old practices, but heavy-handed interference by imperial bureaucrats now seemed to threaten this.
Making common cause with the more superstitious elements of the peasantry the nobles rose up and destroyed the small Japanese garrison. A larger force sent to quell the revolt was likewise summarily dispatched.
The Japanese response was slow in coming. Colonial troops had proven inadequate to deal with the revolt, and it would take months before regulars could be shipped in from China. The garrison in Makassar city held out for as long as it could, but with no help in sight it was forced to surrender.
Furious that his soldiers had been bested by such backward-looking heathens, Naohito commanded that a full field army be assembled to take back the city and punish those who had participated in the rising.
When the fleet sailed from Guangzhou the result could be in no doubt. Isolated in their province the nobles of Makassar were crushed and order restored, although resentment would linger on for years.
Across the Empire peasants expressed their anger at the changes taking place, but the example of Makassar meant that nowhere else did this turn to open violence.
One surprising outcome of the revolt was a growing awarness of what it meant to be Japanese, although by this time the term had come to mean any Imperial citizen from Ezochi to Thang Long. In times past being Japanese had simply meant being ruled by a Yamato, but this was now replaced by a growing sense of otherness and superiority of a people blessed by destiny.
In government this manifested itself in increasing acceptance of state-directed economic policy, while the people themselves showed their willingness to sanction war against foreign states.
The inner turmoil that now gripped Japan was creative as well as destructive. Over the brief period of Naohito's reign great strides were made in every sphere of Japanese knowledge.
The effect was self-reinforcing, with every new advance building on the one before it and contributing to the next in a great tide of progress that was to sweep Japan into the modern age.
Naohito would not live to see this however. His short but crucial reign ended less than four years after it began.
By its own lights it had been a tremendous success. The Empire was now far more aware of the world beyond its borders, and more aware of the threats it faced.