Baba Tatsui

2016/10/10

On November 2, Meiji 29 (1896), Yukichi Fukuzawa attended the 8th anniversary memorial service for Tatsui Baba held at Tennoji Temple in Yanaka. In the "Eulogy for Mr. Tatsui Baba" read on his behalf by Tsuyoshi Inukai, Fukuzawa praised Baba, writing, "Though your physical form has already passed, the nobility of your character during your life is something your acquaintances cannot forget even if they tried, and a hundred years hence, it shall still serve as a model for others." This was just the day after Fukuzawa had engaged in public speaking at the Keio University Alumni Reunion held at the Koyo-kan in Shiba Park, stating that The Mission of Keio University is to be "a source of honorable character and a paragon of intellect and morals for the entire nation."

Baba was born on May 15, Kaei 3 (1850), in what is now Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, as the second son of his father, Raihachi Baba, a samurai of the Tosa Domain, and his mother, Tora. He showed talent immediately upon entering the domain school, Bunbukan, at the age of 13. When the domain recognized the need to develop a Western-style navy in response to the demands of the era, he was selected in March, Keio 2 (1866), as a student to study steam engineering in Edo.

Upon arriving in Edo, Baba believed it was necessary to consult original texts to study steam engineering introduced from the West, and he searched for a school where he could learn English. This led him to the Fukuzawa Juku in Teppozu. In the aforementioned "Eulogy," Fukuzawa reflected on Baba at that time, noting that "not only was his countenance beautiful, but his natural character was truly noble and pure," and that "his literary thoughts were meticulous, earning him the affection and respect of his senior classmates."

After returning to Tosa at the end of Keio 3, Baba headed to Nagasaki the following year with the intention of further English study. However, realizing he could not learn English sufficiently in Nagasaki, he desired to go to Edo again. In January, Meiji 2, he knocked on the door of the Fukuzawa Juku, which had moved to Shinsenza—namely, Keio University. Baba, who "immediately realized that the method of studying English had made extraordinary progress" compared to the Teppozu era (from "The Autobiography of Tatsui Baba," translated by Kocho Baba), spent about a year as a teacher in charge of reading and reciting original texts, while reading many original works such as Wayland's "Elements of Political Economy."

It may have been natural for Baba, who had been diligently studying original texts, to want to study in the West. Upon hearing that the Tosa Domain would be sending several samurai abroad, he hurriedly petitioned domain officials and was sent to Britain as a domain-sponsored student. The subject he was ordered to master was naval engineering.

Arriving in Britain in September, Meiji 3 (1870), Baba first studied English, geometry, geography, and history. From October of the following year, he began attending lectures on physics at University College London.

However, Baba's interests had shifted early on. When the Iwakura Mission visited London in August, Meiji 5, he requested and was granted permission to study law. At the same time, he was switched to a government-sponsored student and attended the Inner Temple. Additionally, Baba showed a strong interest in British parliamentary politics. At that time, Britain was in what would later be called the golden age of parliamentary politics, a period when the Liberal and Conservative parties were engaged in heated debates in the House of Commons. Baba frequented the House of Commons, witnessing firsthand the mechanism by which the will of the people is reflected in national politics through elections, and how freedom of speech forms the foundation of parliamentary politics. This experience would have a profound impact on Baba's life.

When the Japanese government decided on a general recall of government-sponsored students in December, Meiji 6, Baba returned home at the end of the following year. However, he immediately wished to study abroad again and, receiving 500 yen in assistance from Fukuzawa, set foot in London once more in June, Meiji 8.

It was then that he met Nobukichi Koizumi and Hikojiro Nakamigawa, who had arrived in London to study just as Baba was returning. They carried a letter addressed to Baba entrusted to them by Fukuzawa. In this letter, Fukuzawa argued that a "reform of the people's spirit" was necessary to compete with Western nations, continuing, "In the end, my only purpose is the sincere desire to protect our nation's nationality." Fukuzawa's sentiment of advocating for "national independence" in various places is evident here as well, but beyond that, he expressed his expectations to Baba, saying, "I hope you will study to your heart's content and, upon your return, take charge of our nation's destiny."

No record remains of Baba's impressions regarding these expectations. However, after this, Baba devoted himself to mastering law and continued his efforts to grasp the characteristics of parliamentary politics. In addition to observing the House of Commons, he visited rallies held across the country by the opposition Liberal Party of the time, observing how political parties appealed to the public for support. One cannot help but imagine that Fukuzawa's expectations became the driving force for Baba.

Baba returned to Japan in May, Meiji 11 (1878). This was a time when the Freedom and People's Rights Movement was gaining momentum and calls for the establishment of a national assembly were growing louder. Having become convinced in Britain that parliamentary politics was the form of government to strive for, Baba encountered this trend and said, "I thought it was necessary to attempt to educate the people and to find a means to appeal to their public opinion" (from the aforementioned "Autobiography of Tatsui Baba"). He had indeed resolved to lead the "reform of the people's spirit." Baba belonged to enlightenment organizations such as Kyozon Doshu and Kojunsha, where he discussed the nature of parliamentary politics, primarily through public speaking. At Kojunsha, he was elected as a founding committee member and also served as a councilor.

In the midst of this, the government, which had long been suppressing the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, promulgated the Public Assembly Ordinance in April, Meiji 13, stipulating that police permission was required to hold public speaking events, among other things. This was a law that threatened the freedom of speech, which is the foundation of parliamentary politics.

After the promulgation of this law, Baba intensified his criticism of the government. Even after the Imperial Edict for the Establishment of a National Assembly was issued during the Political Crisis of 1881 and the government declared it would establish a form of parliamentary politics, his criticism grew harsher. In October 1881, he became a standing committee member upon the formation of the Liberal Party (Jiyuto), a democratic rights party, and actively went on public speaking tours. He also founded the party's organ, the "Jiyu Shimbun," and became its editor-in-chief.

However, his days in the Liberal Party did not last long. The year after the party's formation, Taisuke Itagaki, the president (leader) of the Liberal Party, planned a trip abroad. Baba discovered that the funds for this trip were coming from the government and argued that this was inconsistent for a democratic rights party intended to oppose the government. Itagaki was infuriated by this inquiry, and Baba was expelled from the "Jiyu Shimbun." Disappointed in Itagaki, Baba left the party of his own accord in September 1883.

Baba continued his public speaking tours, but for about nine months starting from late June 1884, he did not engage in public speaking. Although he resumed in March 1885, he was no longer the figure he once was, inspiring people not to yield to government oppression. He began to place more emphasis on disseminating non-political information, such as introducing speaking techniques in a public speaking engagement titled "Elocution" (Yubenhō).

Baba did not explain the reason for this change in his own words. However, regarding Baba's period of silence, Enju Hagiwara points out that Baba may have been "continuing to doubt and search" for what he could achieve after seeing the internal chaos within the democratic rights movement, such as the riots by radical Liberal Party members (represented by the Chichibu Incident) and the subsequent dissolution of the Liberal Party (Hagiwara Enju, "Baba Tatsui"). Considering the fact that he chose a more passive approach than before, what comes to mind is the image of Baba experiencing frustration as a Freedom and People's Rights activist.

In November 1885, Baba visited Yokohama to prepare for his departure to the United States. The reason for these preparations is not entirely clear, but it was likely a decision made based on a combination of various feelings, such as wanting to study in the West once more or feeling that there was no point in staying in Japan.

However, Baba was arrested because he stopped at a shop called Morrison & Co., which handled dynamite, while shopping. The charge was a violation of the Explosives Control Regulations. The authorities, who had detectives tailing Baba due to his anti-government stance, imagined that Baba would use dynamite to attack government officials.

Ultimately, Baba was released about six months after his detention due to insufficient evidence. During this time, his tuberculosis—a chronic illness since his time in Britain—had worsened, but he left for America only ten days after his release. He departed without having enough time for medical treatment or time with his family. Was he that disappointed in Japan?

Arriving in San Francisco in June 1886, Baba stayed in Oakland for a while before moving to New York in November. In February of the following year, he settled in Philadelphia and later visited Washington and Boston. What Baba did in America was criticize the Japanese government through contributions to local newspapers and public speaking.

Baba's aim was to create American public opinion that Japan was a feudal, backward country by introducing the fact that the Japanese government did not guarantee freedom of speech. If such public opinion were formed, it would be inconvenient for the Japanese government, which was then aiming for treaty revision and trying to build equal relationships with Western countries. Baba's idea was that the Japanese government would be forced to guarantee freedom of speech in order to change that public opinion. Baba, who had once been at the forefront of the "reform of the public mind," began appealing to the "public mind" in America as well. There, one could see Baba standing up again after overcoming his setbacks.

However, Baba's lonely battle did not last long. As 1888 began, Baba's tuberculosis gradually worsened, and on November 1, he died in a foreign land at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, watched over by Hisaya Iwasaki and others who were studying at the university. He was 38 years old. His remains were buried in Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Just before his death, Baba had published a work titled "The Condition of Affairs in Japan," which denounced the wrongdoings of the Japanese government. On its cover, the following was written in Roman letters: "Tanomu tokoro wa tenka no yoron, mezasu kataki wa bogyaku seifu" (What I rely on is the public opinion of the world; the enemy I aim for is the tyrannical government). For Fukuzawa, who had advocated for the "reform of the public mind," the grief of losing Baba, who had tried to appeal to the "public mind" until the very end, must have been great.