Samurai Status, Class, and Bureaucracy: A Historiographical Essay

Abstract

Historically, tokugawa Samurai were a legal creation that grew out of the landed warriors of the medieval age; they came to be defined by the Tokugawa shogunate in terms of hereditary status, a right to hold public office, a right to bear arms, and a “cultural superiority” upheld through educational preferment (Smith 1988, 134). With the prominent exception of Eiko Ikegami's recentThe Taming of the Samurai(1995), little has been written in English in the past two decades regarding the sociopolitical history of the samurai in Tokugawa and Meiji Japan. E. H. Norman's seminal work,Japan's Emergence as a Modern State, established the parameters of debate among American historians of Japan from the 1950s through the 1970s. Drawing on the Marxist historiography of prewar Japan, Norman interpreted the Meiji Restoration in terms of class conflict: a modified bourgeois revolution directed against a feudal Tokugawa regime, led by a coalition of lower samurai and merchants, and supported by a peasant militia (Norman [1940] 1975).

The Emperor is dead! Long live the Emperor!: a study of institutional persistence

“…According to several historians (Craig 1959;Waswo 1996;Howland 2001), although the Restoration shares the theme of shifting from an agrarian feudal society to a modern nation state, it should not be equated with European versions of bourgeoisie revolution and class struggle. While the bureaucracy was revised together with the new government, it was still dominated by former samurai (due to the literacy skills and administrative experience acquired through the Tokugawa bakufu).…”

“…Some historians (Craig 1959;Howland 2001) have debated this image of the Restoration as a 'lower samurai' movement akin to Western bourgeoisie revolutions. Given the role and position of several key change proponents within the bakufu and opposition forces (e.g.…”

“…The work of three key authors provided the initial base data; the seminal book for Western scholars (Norman 1940), combined with noted Japanese historians Beasley (1972) and Jansen (1995aJansen ( , 2000. These sources are supplemented by additional articles and books (Craig 1959;Westney 1987;Waswo 1996;Khan 1998;Beasley 2000;Bix 2000;Howland 2001;Souyri 2002;Ikegami 2003;Hunter 2006), including the Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture (Bowman 2000) (which identifies key historical actors and events), the six-volume Cambridge History of Japan (Hall et al 1988 -99), and original Japanese historical accounts of the Restoration (Monbusho 1893;Okuma 1909;Akamatsu 1972).…”

Markets and jungles

“…The Meiji constitution was put in place in 1889, granting the rule of law, independent judiciary, property rights, freedom of occupational choice, and moderate provisions for free speech. As for social change Howland (2001) notes that in Tokugawa Japan "most positions of leadership and responsibility were, in fact, filled on a hereditary basis and justified in terms of loyalty". Bendix (1966) puts forward the idea that by contrast in the Meiji period the samurai warrior code, traditionally emphasizing concepts such as loyalty, evolved to place more weight on competitiveness and achievements.…”

“…See e.g. the review article byHowland (2001) for details on social class and status in Tokugawa Japan.…”