FM Page i Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM CREATING A PUBLIC FM Page ii Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM FM Page iii Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM CREATING A PUBLIC People and Press in Meiji Japan James L. Huffman University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu FM Page iv Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM © 1997 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 02 01 00 99 98 97 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huffman, James L., 1941– Creating a public : people and press in Meiji Japan / James L. Huffman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8248–1882–2 (alk. paper) 1. Press—Japan—History—19th century. 2. Press and politics— Japan—History—19th century. 3. Journalism—Social aspects— Japan—History—19th century. 4. Japan—History—Meiji period, 1868–1912. I. Title. PN5404.H78 1997 079'.52'0934—dc21 96–48431 079'.52'0934—dc21 96–4CIP1 University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Book design by Nina Lisowski FM Page v Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM To Judith Huffman, Whose work this was as much as mine and to Robert and June Huffman, Who showed me first the joy of exploring FM Page vi Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM FM Page vii Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM Contents acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 The Legacy: In Spite of the Authorities 12 2 Coming into Being, 1868 36 3 Serving the Government, 1868 to 1874 46 4 Finding Its Own Voice, 1874 to 1881 68 5 Serving the Political Parties, 1881 to 1886 111 6 Developing a New Persona, 1886 to 1894 150 7 Reporting a War, 1894 to 1895 199 8 Building a Mass Base, 1895 to 1903 224 9 Covering a Bigger War, 1903 to 1905 271 10 Leading a Public, 1905 to 1912 310 11 Conclusion 359 appendixes 1. A Chronology of Tokyo and Osaka Papers 381 2. Circulation of Major Papers 386 3. Selected Subscription Rates 388 4. Number of Registered Newspapers and Magazines 389 5. Newspapers and the Law 391 6. Fifty Journalists: Biographical Sketches 393 notes 403 bibliography 511 index 545 vii FM Page viii Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM FM Page ix Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM Acknowledgments I am a debtor. This study has been under way for two decades, and with each passing week I have become more and more aware of the crucial role played by those friends and colleagues who have plowed the furrows before (and sometimes beside) me, lightened my re- search load, prodded me to keep going, and provided unending sus- tenance. I must say a public thank you. One important group consists of scholars of Japanese jour- nalism, many of whom know Meiji press history far better than I. It would be impossible to express adequate thanks to Uchikawa Yoshimi, whose friendship and advice have cheered me even while keeping the study from wandering too far astray. I also am thankful to Yamamoto Taketoshi, Ariyama Teruo, and their colleagues (in- cluding Giles Richter) in the Medeia Shi Kenkyûkai, to Nagai Michio whose conversations so often raised fresh ideas or opened new doors, as well as to Koito Chûgo, Arase Yutaka, Kato Hidetoshi, Roger Purdy, and Gregory Ornatowski. I also owe much to a number of scholar-friends outside the field of press history whose advice about matters large and small helped me in this study: the late Jackson Bailey, my mentor Roger Hackett, Asahi Shimbun executive Kobayashi Masayuki, John Dower, Sidney Devere Brown, Yamaji Hiroki, Kobayashi Toshio. I am especially in debt to several who agreed to read all or parts of the manuscript, dear friends whose suggestions I sometimes was too stubborn to take but who gave wonderful advice and saved me ix FM Page x Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:29 PM x Acknowledgments from considerable embarrassment: Mikiso Hane, Sally Hastings, Jane Bachnik, Barbara Sato, Fred Notehelfer and another anony- mous reader at the University of Hawai‘i Press—as well as to Sally Serafim and Susan Stone, whose editing of the final manuscript was not only meticulous but gentle. To the editor, Patricia Crosby, a special word is needed: more competence or graciousness I cannot imagine. I also want to thank a number of colleagues and research assis- tants who have helped me find details, summarize materials, keep things organized, and maintain my sanity. I think of Kathy Schulz and Gina Entorf in the Wittenberg Library, Kitane Yutaka and Fujii Sachiko at the Meiji Shimbun Zasshi Bunko, Kimura Hiroshi at the University of Tokyo’s Shakai Jòhò Kenkyûjo library, two marvelous secretaries, Margaret DeButy and Rosemarie Burley, and former stu- dent assistants Kaoru Abbey, Doug Buchanan, David Hewitt, Jeremy Hunter, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Kathryn Mensendiek, Michael Molasky, Josh Pifer, Tracy Pollard, Madoka Yamakawa-Ermarth, and Miho Yasukawa. And I must express my appreciation for undeservedly generous financial support to the Fulbright-Hays Commission (and Caroline Yang), to the Japan Foundation (and Murayama Atsushi), to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a summer travel grant, the American Philosophical Society and to Wittenberg’s own Faculty Research Fund Board for help at key points along the way. I also am deeply thankful to the University of Tokyo’s Shakai Jòhò Kenkyûjo and the National Institute for Multimedia Education in Chiba for providing a research home during two extended stays in Japan. Finally, I must say a personal word to a particular group of friends whose fields range far from mine but whose ideas and values inform every page of this study: Eugene Swanger, Stanley Mickel, Fumiko Togasaki, and the other members of Wittenberg’s East Asian studies program; Warren Copeland in the religion department; Charles Chatfield, Joe O’Connor, Bob Cutler, and all of my stimu- lating colleagues in the history department—and so many others I wish I could name. And then there are the members of my family: Jim, Kristen, and Dave, whose ideas and energy constantly push me in new directions, and my late wife, Judith, a partner and confidante beyond peer, who read every word of this study, kept me going when I might have quit, provided many of my freshest ideas, and was consumed by a passion not only for life but for helping peoples of the world understand each other.