The Iwakura Mission in Victorian Britain: Cultural Contact and the Journey of "Knowledge" in the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration Periods

2024/02/21

Thank you for this precious opportunity today. My name is Akiko Ota, as just introduced. For many years, I have been involved in research on the history of modern Japan's foreign relations, focusing primarily on the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods. While this field tends to lean toward a Japanese perspective, I have tried to maintain a balanced view by considering the backgrounds of the countries Japan interacted with and keeping the framework of international society in mind.

To briefly summarize the outline of this lecture, the historical background in Japan is the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration period, which saw the diversification of cross-cultural contact. On the other hand, it is the heyday of Victorian Britain, also known as the "Victorian Heyday." The setting is Britain, where the Iwakura Mission stayed, and the main characters are, of course, the members of the mission. Among them, Kunitake Kume and Harry Parkes, the British Minister to Japan, are key figures. The keywords will be "education," "the maneuvering of information," and "the relationship between information and 'knowledge.'"

As background, I will summarize cross-cultural contact in Japan from the Tokugawa period to the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration period into three stages.

① The Tokugawa period was an era when a portion of intellectuals obtained overseas information primarily through text. However, the Tokugawa Shogunate's method of "collective management" of the flow of people, goods, and information collapsed, leading to the opening of the country. The next stage is ② the 1860s. During this decade, although limited, Japanese people became able to travel overseas. In other words, the physical experience of "going and knowing" was added. After the mid-1860s, as the movement to expel foreigners gradually subsided, the transmission of cross-cultural information brought back to Japan became active.

Then, ③ the acquired overseas information was transmitted to a wide range of people within the country, making it possible for people to "know while staying" in their own living spheres. Consequently, it became important to consider what information to convey, to whom, how, and for what purpose. In this way, the enlightenment of the citizens was sought, and in that process, the importance of education came to be strongly recognized.

To add a little, it is better to think that ② and ③ did not replace ①, but rather that ② and ③ were built upon ① as a foundation, and cross-cultural information was updated, overwritten, and accumulated.

For example, Yukichi Fukuzawa mastered Dutch Studies (①) and accompanied the overseas missions dispatched by the Tokugawa Shogunate, experiencing three overseas trips in the 1860s (②). He then sought ways to widely transmit the information and insights he gained to the people (③). Particularly in his early activities, Fukuzawa explored how to help ordinary children unfamiliar with foreign cultures know the world and broaden their horizons, publishing geography textbooks for elementary schools.

The reason I focus on education is that the Japanese who traveled overseas during the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods were strongly conscious of their mission to enlighten the people and focused on the role of education in human resource development. At the same time, education also played an important role in the foreign countries they visited.

The 1860s and 70s were a time when politics and society changed significantly not only in Japan but also in countries around the world, and the forms of cross-cultural contact diversified. Today, I would like to introduce cross-cultural contact as seen through the educational inspection tour of the main body of the Iwakura Mission, from both the Japanese and British sides.

The Iwakura Mission was a mission dispatched by the Meiji government that departed Yokohama on December 23, 1871 (November 12, Meiji 4), visited the United States and then toured Europe, returning to Japan on September 13, 1873. Led by Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador Tomomi Iwakura, it included four vice-ambassadors (Takayoshi Kido, Toshimichi Okubo, Hirobumi Ito, and Naoyoshi Yamaguchi), with a large party of 46 delegates, 18 attendants, and 43 students. Compared to the overseas missions dispatched by the Shogunate in the 1860s, the scale and the number of countries visited were far superior, and no government mission of comparable scale was dispatched thereafter.

Initially, the plan was for a small mission to take a westward route for about 10 months, but in reality, it was changed to an eastward route with 107 people at the time of departure, and due to various circumstances, the journey lasted one year and 10 months. In the United States, the stay was significantly extended due to heavy snow and the failure of treaty revision negotiations. During this time, the commissioners and attendants dispatched from various ministries acted separately from Iwakura and others, departing for inspections in various countries as separate units. In today's lecture, I will refer to the core members of the ambassador's party, such as Tomomi Iwakura, as the "main body," and the commissioners from various ministries as the "separate units."

The Iwakura Mission had three main objectives: 1. To visit treaty-bound countries, present credentials to heads of state, and pay respects. 2. To conduct preliminary negotiations for treaty revision. 3. To collect information on the systems and culture of Western countries for the purpose of domestic reorganization after the abolition of clans and establishment of prefectures, adopting their strengths to advance Japan's modernization. The third objective is closely related to today's talk, and this was documented in reports from various ministries, such as the "Riji Kotei" compiled by the separate units, and the culmination of these, the "Tokumei Zenken Taishi Bei-O Kairan Jikki" (A True Account of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary's Journey of Observation Through the United States and Europe, hereafter referred to as "Jikki").

Among the publications summarizing the information collected by the main body of the mission, the "Riji Kotei" was started by the separate units immediately after their return and published periodically. On the other hand, the "Jikki" took a little more time to compile the information collected by the main body and was published all at once in 1878, five years after their return.

The "Jikki" was compiled primarily by Kunitake Kume, who accompanied Tomomi Iwakura as a junior secretary (Gon-sho-gaishi). It consists of a diary-style section recording Iwakura's movements from departure to return, as well as "General Introduction" and "General Overview" volumes, with long analytical essays indented throughout the diary. Of the 100 volumes in five parts, the United States accounted for 20 volumes and Britain for 20 volumes, making up 40% of the total. Featuring numerous copperplate engravings, the "Jikki" possesses cultural-historical value beyond that of a mere report.

It was Shigenobu Okuma, a fellow clansman, who recommended Kunitake Kume for the position of junior secretary. Unlike Fukuzawa or Jo Niijima, who were proficient in foreign languages, Kume, a Confucian scholar, was not fluent in foreign languages; the information-gathering activities were made possible by the teamwork of the main body. Kume compiled the "Jikki" by organizing and deepening the understanding of information collected by the main body members and students, supplemented by information from the separate units. The observations and analyses in the "Jikki" can be safely regarded as Kume's views.

The main body of the mission departed the United States on August 6, 1872, and arrived in Britain on August 17. However, Queen Victoria was staying in Scotland for the summer, so the main body had to wait for her return to London. During this time, while holding talks with Foreign Secretary Granville and others regarding the treaty revision issue, Iwakura and the others toured various parts of Britain, visiting administrative agencies and various facilities, and actively interacting with industrial capitalists. Although an audience with the Queen finally took place at Windsor Castle on December 5, neither the Queen nor the Foreign Secretary attended the luncheon hosted by the British side, suggesting that the attitude of the royal family and government officials was not warm. On the other hand, the delegates were treated with hospitality by local dignitaries, such as industrial capitalists and aristocrats, at their regional destinations, deepening their understanding of Britain. Then, on December 16, about four months after their arrival, they departed for their third destination, France.

The main body of the Iwakura Mission sometimes acted separately, tracing various aspects of Britain over a wide area. Among these, the inspection of educational institutions was an important item among the mission's destinations, not just in Britain. They visited a wide range of schools, museums, art galleries, orphanages, and educational facilities for the disabled in various countries. However, the educational institutions they visited in Britain were characterized by many unique ones, with extremely few ordinary educational institutions. In this respect, it differed greatly from the United States, where the focus was on visiting general elementary and middle schools. There is not much research that has delved into this, and my research explores this area.

Queen Victoria's reign was long, from 1837 to 1901, and in the mid-19th century, Britain prospered as a leading modern industrial nation. However, this Victorian society was also a society with a large gap between its public face and its hidden reality. The "public face" was a society that was politically stable as the Industrial Revolution progressed and industrial capitalists rose to power. The British Empire expanded, and in the late 19th century, it became the center of international finance. From the mid-19th century, the momentum for mass consumption increased due to mass production in factories and the development of transportation networks, leading to new lifestyles. This was also the time when department stores were born. With the development of the railway network, resorts and suburbia were also born during this era.

In contrast, the "hidden reality" saw the manifestation of inequality: poverty and slums, crime and prostitution, harsh labor in factories, and pollution problems. Amidst the decline of the nation's "basic strength" and international competitiveness due to the exhaustion of the socially vulnerable, Britain began to feel threatened by the catch-up of the United States and Germany.

There are three representative ethics that supported Victorian prosperity, but these also have public and hidden faces. The first, "Self-Help," conversely implied that falling behind due to a lack of self-effort was one's own responsibility, and it cannot be denied that it contained elements of discarding the weak. The second, "Philanthropy," had the nuance of those at the "top" who were blessed reaching out to those at the "bottom" who were not, which also included a hierarchical relationship. The third, "Respectability," gradually transformed into an implication of formalism and came to mean something like "Snobbery." The social structure that supported Victorian society was such a class-based society.

With the progress of the Industrial Revolution, industrial capitalists, who grew more prideful as its drivers, began to demand the right to political participation to reflect their voices. As the middle-class industrial capitalists began to pursue the ownership of land and assets and the lifestyles that the upper class had traditionally enjoyed, the "Second Public School Boom" arose in the mid-19th century in conjunction with this. In the 19th century, "public schools" referred to prestigious private schools, not public ones. Industrial capitalists, who disliked being seen as upstarts, sought to have their sons educated at public schools.

On the other hand, some workers also gained the leeway to enjoy entertainment, mass consumption, and leisure. Since having skills could prevent a fall into the underclass—the lowest stratum of society—and offered the prospect of increased income, attention gradually turned toward expanding educational opportunities. From the 1860s, labor movements became active across Britain, and in 1871, the year before the Iwakura Mission's visit, trade unions were legally recognized. However, it was only after the mission's visit that organized labor movements got on track and increased their political voice. In 1872, the gap was still large, and there was a world of difference between the lives of the lowest stratum of society and the upper class. Not only in living environments but also in educational opportunities and employment, there existed stark inequalities that could not be overcome by individual ability alone.

In terms of education, the Victorian era was a time when elite education and popular education existed in clearly separated forms. Elite education was enhanced to cultivate the "Respectable Gentleman," represented by the rising enthusiasm for education seen in the Second Public School Boom. On the other hand, while popular education was reaching a major turning point, primary education was still in the process of being organized, and the government was reluctant to involve itself in education. The development of public education in Britain was slow, and it was not until 1876 that compulsory elementary education was established. This is a major point of difference with Japan.

The schools inspected by the Iwakura Mission were a unique lineup that differed from general schools. Unless one was very familiar with British circumstances, many of these schools would have been difficult for a foreigner to notice. On the Japanese side, Munenori Terashima had only recently arrived as the Minister to Britain, and although Vice-Ambassador Takayoshi Kido was enthusiastic about educational issues, he was not well-versed in British affairs. Considering this, it seems natural to think that the British side selected the mission's inspection sites.

When examining diplomatic documents, various things come to light. For example, at that time, the prohibition of Christianity in Japan and the restrictions on foreigners' travel to the interior were major diplomatic issues. However, the British government and Foreign Office seem to have felt that solving these during the main body's stay was unlikely, and records show that they entrusted Parkes and others, who were temporarily back in Britain, with attending to the main body. Thus, Harry Parkes, the Minister to Japan, and the military officer Alexander took charge of the overall reception and scheduling for the main body, assisted by the interpreter Aston. Records of Parkes's instructions based on the British government's intentions also remain.

Parkes was a so-called self-made diplomat. Having lost his parents and his guardian at a young age, he went to Macau in 1841 at the age of 13 and learned Chinese while working. He was formally hired by the British Consulate at age 15 and later distinguished himself as an efficient official with outstanding linguistic skills. He served as consul in Amoy, Canton, and Shanghai before being appointed as the British Minister to Japan in 1865. Parkes's activities during the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods are well known. After attending to the Iwakura Mission, Parkes returned to his post in Japan in the spring of 1873. In 1883, he transferred to become the British Minister to Qing China and ended his life in Beijing in 1885 due to illness.

Parkes was decorated twice in his life. First, in May 1862, while serving as the consul in Shanghai, he was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) at the age of 34 and given the title of Knight. Previously called Mr. Parkes, he came to be called Sir Harry. In Britain, even today, when given the title of Sir, one is called by "Sir" followed by their first name, not their surname. His second decoration was in 1881, at age 53, when he was awarded the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).

In the mid-19th century British Foreign Office, the diplomatic branch and the consular branch were clearly separated. Diplomats in the diplomatic branch were mainly from prominent families, had attended prestigious schools, and possessed assets. Their posts were in European countries that had close ties with Britain and were easy to live in, where they conducted diplomacy using networks among the elite. In contrast, the consular branch consisted of capable individuals who could speak local languages and gather information, but they were positioned as a secondary branch. No matter how efficient they were or how well-versed in local affairs, only a very small number could move from the consular branch to the mainstream diplomatic branch and be promoted. Parkes and his predecessor Alcock were exceptional examples of this. Although the title of Sir was for one generation only, the decoration and appointment as Minister served as proof of his ability and recognized achievements as a diplomat, becoming a source of pride for Parkes.

Having achieved such an extraordinary promotion, Parkes was an undeniable presence in Japan from the Bakumatsu to the early Meiji period as the representative of the British Legation. However, although he had joined the ranks of the "Sirs," within the organization of the home Foreign Office, he was ultimately from the consular branch and held a position close to weak, lacking high status, academic background, or powerful connections. No matter how capable he was recognized to be, Parkes was not infrequently made aware of the existence of a stark wall due to differences in origin and career. In the evaluations of Parkes by those involved in both Japan and Britain, negative words such as short-tempered, prone to tantrums, intimidating, and overbearing appear alongside high praise for being shrewd and capable. It should not be overlooked that there was an element of a reaction to his frustrations, not just his temperament.

Let me introduce specific examples of the educational inspections of the main body, selected primarily by Parkes and his team. First, two examples can be given of places they did not visit. One is famous higher education institutions or prestigious schools like Oxford and Cambridge. This is also related to the conservatism of British higher education and academia at the time. For example, what was emphasized at Oxford and Cambridge were fields like law, medical sciences, classics, and theology, while the fields Japan needed for modernization were placed somewhat on the periphery. Parkes likely thought that higher education institutions for the so-called elite were not only high-threshold but also did not have many elements useful for Japan. The other was general primary and secondary schools. As mentioned earlier, this is also related to the fact that the development of primary education in Britain was slow and the spirit of universal education was weak.

So, what did the main body see? I will focus on a few groups here.

First is Christ's Hospital school. This is not a hospital or a School of Medicine. It is a private school of the so-called public school type. The Lord Mayor of London personally guided them through this school, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Bank of England, and Guildhall (London City Hall), and the Governor of the Bank of England, the equivalent of the Governor of the Bank of Japan, also attended the luncheon hosted by the Mayor.

Christ's Hospital is still known to British people today as a somewhat unique private school. This school was a boarding charity school established in eastern London in 1552 by the then King Edward VI, who urged the Lord Mayor of London to create it for children from poor families with a desire to learn. The original founding philosophy of public schools was "Open to the Public"—a spirit of charity to open doors to the people. While many public schools subsequently strengthened their elite orientation, Christ's Hospital continued to uphold this philosophy and was maintained by donations from many philanthropists even in the 1870s.

Furthermore, Christ's Hospital had strong ties with the City of London; it was customary for the Christ's Hospital brass band to perform at City events, making it a unique presence in the sense of being a school closely linked to the local community. The British side seems to have thought that the attitude of maintaining cooperation with local governments while being a private school would be more useful for Japan than prestigious public schools that were elite-oriented and closed to the local community. The fact that the Lord Mayor of London personally guided them suggests that there was also an initiative from the City of London for this inspection.

The higher education institutions selected for visits were Owens College and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Owens College was the predecessor of the University of Manchester, which emphasized science education and actively conducted experiments and practical training. Scotland had an educational system separate from England and was a friendly area with human exchanges with Japan. I believe these two were chosen because they were judged to have conditions more useful for Japan's future than prestigious public schools.

The mission also visited a model village called Saltaire. I mentioned earlier that educational development at the national and local administrative levels was in progress, but from another perspective, this meant that in the early 1870s, there was still considerable room for the discretion of industrial capitalists involved in school management to be reflected in the educational field. Among the schools managed by industrial capitalists who were rich in the spirit of "philanthropy" and considered the living environment of workers, Saltaire and its elementary school were particularly noteworthy. Incidentally, Saltaire was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

Saltaire is a factory village newly created by Titus Salt, who managed an alpaca spinning and weaving factory in Bradford, Yorkshire. He moved the factory in 1853 from Bradford, which was suffering from a rapidly increasing population and terrible environmental pollution, and built the village over about 14 years starting in 1854, systematically arranging housing, churches, schools, hospitals, and almshouses. The gender-segregated elementary school visited by the mission was founded in 1868, with a total of about 750 students. Most were working children who took classes at school in between working at the spinning factory. The school was equipped with facilities that considered the health of the students, such as central heating and gas lights, which was groundbreaking for a school attended by children of the working class at the time.

The movement of some industrial capitalists to build factory villages began in Britain in the 18th century and developed primarily in Yorkshire in the mid-19th century. Among them, the environment and standards of Saltaire were outstanding. The village was essentially completed in 1868, but Salt continued to improve it thereafter, banning the opening of pubs in the village due to his dislike of the negative effects of drinking. Instead, he created social clubs as cultural facilities equipped with libraries and lecture halls, and also opened a vast park where everyone could take walks. Saltaire was created based on a solid management foundation and combined the spirit of charity with advanced industrial technology. What Parkes and his team tried to show the mission was not just an industrial facility or a school for working children, but a community centered on a factory equipped with schools, hospitals, and almshouses—in other words, a new form of town planning led by industrial capitalists.

In the United States, the development of primary and secondary education was generally advanced, and the mission had conducted quite systematic inspections in various places during their stay, becoming discerning. Parkes was aware of this, and to overcome the disadvantageous situation for Britain, he focused on factory-affiliated schools managed by industrial capitalists and model villages like Saltaire. Showing the education and town-building of conscientious industrial capitalists killed two birds with one stone in terms of industrial and educational inspections. Parkes and his team believed that these inspections would contribute to the Meiji Japan's policies for encouraging new industry, educational policies, and urban planning, and would also be useful for Anglo-Japanese trade in the medium to long term.

Another noteworthy thing among the schools visited by the Iwakura Mission is the training ships (ship schools). There were naval-type and merchant-type training ships. The latter ranged widely, from ships where sons of the upper class received training as cadets to correctional facilities for juvenile delinquents. The delegates inspected a naval training ship in Portsmouth, four ships in Liverpool, and one training ship at the mouth of the River Tyne. In Portsmouth, they also observed 800 "convicts" engaged in the manufacture of artificial stone at a dock construction site. In Britain at the time, convicts were also made to work on construction projects such as docks.

In 1872, there were 55 facilities in Britain for the correction of juvenile delinquents on training ships and farms. The mission inspected facilities that housed juvenile offenders with relatively light sentences. Since many juvenile delinquents belonged to the lowest stratum of society, sending them to prison did not lower the crime rate and was not a fundamental solution. Therefore, the aim of the correctional facilities was to separate them from their living environment, instill a disciplined life, and have them acquire skills and knowledge useful for reintegration into society. In other words, as a measure against juvenile delinquency, youth correction policies that could also contribute to industrial development were being attempted.

The inspection of training ships was included in the itinerary because the British side thought that showing a model that integrated important industries like shipbuilding with social policies for the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents would be useful for modern Japan. It was likely also more efficient in terms of the itinerary than traveling all the way to a farm. It can be said that through the inspection, the Iwakura Mission was shown one of the options other than legal development in measures against juvenile delinquency. Parkes ordered his subordinates to have the party of Takayuki Sasaki, who was inspecting the judicial system as a separate unit of the Iwakura Mission at the time, inspect not only the penal system but also various types of correctional facilities.

I have spoken about the intentions of the British side, but how did the Japanese side receive them? Although there are some inaccurate points in the descriptions of the inspections in the "Jikki" "General Overview of Britain," it can be said that they were based on a generally appropriate understanding. For example, it was pointed out that those blessed with the opportunity to receive higher education in Britain at the time were primarily the sons of the middle class and above, many of whom went from private boarding schools to Oxford or Cambridge University. It is recorded that many prestigious schools were located in the countryside or rural areas away from urban centers to separate students from the stimulation and luxury of the city, and that they lived simple and disciplined lives in dormitories away from their parents.

So, what was the evaluation of the educational institutions they inspected? They showed interest in the financial foundation of Christ's Hospital and seem to have asked the Lord Mayor of London, who guided them through the school, various questions. Takayoshi Kido saw the swimming pool in the school and noted that it was something he had not seen in the United States. It is clear that the Japanese side also received the British side's intention to show a school that was slightly different from the educational institutions the Iwakura Mission had inspected in the United States, involving the whole community.

The Iwakura Mission also went to various museums, art galleries, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, and libraries, including the British Museum, inspecting places where people could "know while staying" in their own living spheres. When inspecting the British Museum, Kume developed an essay indented in the "Jikki." He stated that by inspecting a museum, one can naturally sense the origin of that country's culture, but if you trace the origins of any country, there is no country that developed suddenly. Progress occurs gradually as predecessors transmit the knowledge they have gained to future generations and as pioneers stimulate those who come after them; progress does not mean discarding the old.

He then preached the importance of making people learn through recording and transmitting the excellent points of people's words and deeds, recording the history of "progress from ancient to modern times" for future generations, and appealing to the senses and moving people at museums. He also warned that neglecting such efforts and doing nothing while attributing the differences between East and West to differences in habits is a lack of policy. It is noteworthy that Kume developed such a view of history and education through a museum visit.

On September 17, 1872, the mission visited an elementary school in London. Here, they observed a spinning and weaving class for female students. They praised the point that theory based on perspectives such as mathematical optics was being taught in parallel with practical skills. On October 17, they inspected spinning and weaving factories in Manchester, and Kido also focused on the role of the schools attached to the factories and the way the schools were managed, such as employment and schooling regulations. On October 25, they visited Saltaire, and Kume wrote the following about the school:

"An elementary school has been built in the village, and the children of the villagers work in the factory for half the day and take classes at the school for the other half. This is a good method for acquiring both academic knowledge and work skills (a good method for advancing both theoretical knowledge (taorikku) and experimental practice (purachikaru)), and receiving wages from the factory is useful for the children and also benefits the factory side. British people consider it an honor to protect workers and strive to relief the poor. (...) The subjects taught at the school are the ordinary subjects of elementary school, limited to things that both boys and girls must know, and advanced subjects are not taught."

Theoretical knowledge (taorikku) and experimental practice (purachikaru) were keywords that Kume liked to use in the "Jikki." Following the description of various facilities in Saltaire, Kume evaluated it as "this is the structure of a worker's city, and it has deep significance as a method for industrial promotion," receiving the message the British side intended with the Saltaire visit.

On the other hand, Kume also gave sharp evaluations. His evaluation was harsh when he judged that even if the philosophy was fine, the educational content did not match it. For example, at Owens College, which was known for science education such as experiments and practical training, they attended a chemistry lecture and visited the laboratory, but the impression in the "Jikki" was curt: "nothing to record." One factor for this may have been that they had become discerning through their inspections in the United States.

The evaluation of training ships was similar. The party recorded the interior and educational content of the ships they inspected in detail, and understood that the reason there were two correctional training ships was to house Protestant and Catholic boys separately because fights would break out if they were put together. However, in reality, the training conducted on the correctional ships for juvenile delinquents centered on simple labor, corporal punishment was rampant, and numerous diseases also occurred. In the Liverpool inspection, the naval training ship (Conway) received high praise as "everything is prepared carefully," but for the sailor training ship (Indefatigable), it was "the reception on the ship was very coarse" (meaning sloppy), and for the working ships for juvenile delinquents (Clarence, Akbar), it was harsh: "everything was irregular, and the climbing up and down the masts was very sluggish (movements were disjointed, and they fumbled climbing the masts)."

At that time, it was customary for the boys on any training ship to dress up when guests arrived, take off their hats on the masts and shout banzai, welcome them with a band performance, and see them off with a salute upon disembarkation, but that was not highly evaluated either. Although they left detailed records because they were interested in the system itself, they likely thought that training ships had not reached an impressive level as correctional facilities for juvenile delinquents.

In this way, the educational inspections of the Iwakura Mission were arranged by the British side. However, I would like to focus on the point that they did not take the information provided at face value and conducted calm evaluations.

The "Jikki" contrasted British and Japanese education in various places. For example, in the overview of education in the "General Overview of Britain," it is recorded that tracing back through history, there was a long period in Britain when learning was monopolized by the aristocracy and clergy, and high-minded learning using French and Latin had a high threshold for the common people. It continues, "Currently in our country, the intellectual class is learning Chinese studies and Western studies, but that is difficult for the general public to understand, and the commoner class believes books to be high-minded things and is in a situation very similar to not having the desire to pursue the path of learning." While introducing British education, Kume also pointed out the bias of knowledge in early Meiji Japan.

Here, I would like to broaden the perspective a little and examine how the Iwakura Mission perceived not only education but also British society, systems, and classes. The "Jikki" explored the background of how Britain reached "wealth and power" in the early 1870s, and for that purpose, it tried to convey the living conditions of various people to Japanese readers to make them feel it. To know the background of wealth and power, it was essential to grasp not only industrial technology know-how and systems such as law and politics, but also the social framework that supported them, and it was necessary to explore both the public and hidden sides of British society in the early 1870s. In the "Jikki," the expression "business power (eigyo-ryoku)" appears in various places as a word symbolizing British prosperity. This is different from modern "sales" and is closer to the meaning of the production power and economic power of the entire nation.

Kume proactively synthesized the "shown" information and tried to explore the source of the power that Britain was enjoying at the time. He visited the manufacturing sites of items closely related to the food, clothing, and shelter of daily life, as well as key industries, and while overwhelmed by the activity, he repeatedly states in the "Jikki" that the progress of industrialization and prosperity is only about 30 to 40 or 40 to 50 years old. The fact that the history of "development" in Western society is relatively shallow was a message the "Jikki" sent to its readers.

The Iwakura Mission's gaze toward the labor environment and educational opportunities was strictly from the perspective of those who manage the industry and the nation. Although they also focused on the negative aspects of the Industrial Revolution, such as pollution, poverty, and poor living environments, it cannot be said that it was a perspective that stood by the suffering people, and the "Jikki" does not mention the labor movement. While the British side did not actively provide information regarding the labor movement, the Japanese side also did not seem to show a strong desire for information disclosure. It is safe to think that there was no maneuvering over information regarding the labor movement between Japan and Britain.

There were other aspects that the British side was not active in "showing." In the process of exploring the driving force of Britain's wealth and power, the mission experienced maneuvering over "what they wanted to see" and "what the British side did not want to show." For example, even if the Japanese side asked "what does this mean?" at factories in various places, the British side often tried to evade the essential points. In other words, the delegates also felt firsthand that the principle of competition was at work in the driving force of wealth and power, and that the British side was severe about providing information.

Another thing the British side did not want to show was not just information related to industrial technology. The lives of the people at the lowest stratum of British society were also inconvenient realities they did not want to show the mission. However, the delegates dared to attempt an exploration of the hidden side. While Tomomi Iwakura could not easily go anywhere due to his position as the representative of the mission dispatched by the Meiji government, Takayoshi Kido and Toshimichi Okubo, accompanied by Yoshinari Hatakeyama as an interpreter and guided by Alexander from the British side, visited the slums of the East End, opium dens, and lodging houses incognito. After returning to the lodging, Kido told Kunitake Kume, "Rather than a slum, it is a den of villains, and its state can only be described as beyond words." Okubo lamented, "Seeing that, I felt the world has become wretched," and both seemed to feel strong discomfort and disappointment.

During the journey through various countries, the three—Iwakura, Kido, and Okubo—frequently talked about Japan's future and were aware that civilization and enlightenment were accompanied by danger, but they seem to have felt pessimistic after actually witnessing the "hidden side of civilization." For Parkes, who was trying to impress them with Britain's advancement and gain a further advantage, inspections that sought to explore the hidden circumstances of Victorian society would not have been welcome. That is why Kido and the others acted in a very small group incognito to see the hidden side of society. I think this can also be evaluated as evidence showing the subjectivity of the mission.

In various parts of Britain, the main body of the mission was invited to the homes of local dignitaries, such as industrial capitalists, aristocrats, and wealthy farmers, to share tea or meals, and in some cases, to stay overnight, directly touching upon their lifestyles and deepening their understanding of the reality of a class-based society. This was an opportunity that could not be obtained in other European countries they visited in a hurry. Being able to enter living spaces can be said to be a byproduct of the prolonged stay in Britain. They met with heavyweights in local political and business circles and frequently gave speeches at luncheons and dinners. Incidentally, in the "Jikki," speeches are not translated into Japanese but are recorded as "speech" as is.

What appeared frequently in the records of interaction between the main body of the Iwakura Mission and the dignitaries were mentions of their lifestyles and hunting, and observations on the nature of large land management. The lifestyle of upper-class people, who spent the winter at their main residences in London to devote themselves to state affairs and returned to their estates in the summer to build wealth while enjoying hunting, is recorded in detail.

Parkes occasionally set up schedules for hunting inspections and preached the importance of hunting. The way he preached at length in the hotel where they stayed about how important hunting was for the upper class is recorded in Kume's memoirs as follows: "On this day, Parkes left Ambassador Iwakura and acted as the leader himself in everything," and before eating grouse, he gave a speech saying that wild fowl should be made into aged meat before cooking and took the head seat at the table. After the meal, he reportedly gave a disparaging evaluation of the stipends of Japanese samurai, and Kume and the others pointed out that it was a factual error. In Worcester, they inspected hunting immediately upon arrival, before inspecting the famous Royal Porcelain Works. Incidentally, the hunting mentioned here is different from the hunting of hunters or the falconry of lords; it is the hunting of foxes, rabbits, and wild birds within estates by upper-class people, and women often participated. The "Jikki" records the love of hunting among the Western upper class, stating, "Western royal families and aristocrats enjoy hunting, and women also learn to handle guns."

The fact that Parkes occasionally set up hunting schedules and preached its importance was closely related to the talks between Tomomi Iwakura and Foreign Secretary Granville. In the talks held on November 22 and 27, the British side brought up the importance of hunting in connection with foreigners' travel to the interior of Japan. When examining Anglo-Japanese diplomatic documents, the maneuvering between the two sides also comes to light. Parkes likely had the intention of impressing upon them the importance of hunting in Western society multiple times to get them to move toward abolishing restrictions on foreigners' travel to the interior of Japan. The main body's hunting inspections were unnaturally frequent, making one feel as if he was even trying to imprint a certain idea on the delegates.

How did the delegates understand this intention? In Japan at the time, cases where foreigners went outside the settlements on the pretext of hunting were occurring frequently and becoming a problem. During the talks with the Foreign Secretary, Iwakura avoided answering the interior travel issue, stating that the abolition of extraterritoriality was a prerequisite. Parkes, in an irritated tone, criticized the Japanese government's stance toward Iwakura, who did not give a favorable answer at the meeting. Regarding the hunting inspected in Worcester, the "Jikki" records the pattern of the hunt relatively in detail, stating "this hunt is similar in principle to our inu-ou-mono," but what Kume devoted space to observing following that were the nature of large land ownership, the gap between rich and poor, and the systems supporting commerce and industry. The "Jikki" was compiled on the premise of not touching upon diplomatic issues, but even taking that into account, it can be said that Parkes's intention to evoke improvement in diplomatic issues through travel within Britain and the Japanese side's gaze, which was focused on the structure of British society, economy, and politics, did not necessarily coincide.

Interaction with the British upper class brought another unexpected byproduct. That was the mission party witnessing Parkes's standing in British society. While there are no blatant descriptions in the "Jikki," which is an official report, Tadasu Hayashi, who accompanied the mission, states the following in his memoirs ("Ato wa Mukashi no Ki"): "Speaking of the British Minister Parkes, in Japan he had the power to bring down a flying bird, and I thought his treatment in his home country would be likewise, but when the mission negotiated with the Foreign Secretary at the Foreign Office, Parkes also attended, but he only took the lowest seat and spoke only when waiting for a question from the Secretary; the Secretary sometimes called him Mr. Parkes (it is proper to say Sir Harry Parkes) or called him Sir Henry, and since even his true rank and name were not known to the Secretary, as they say, the 'backstage' was revealed and his reputation fell greatly." For Parkes, who had been granted a title at the young age of 34 and had joined the ranks of the Sirs, being called "Mr. Parkes" must have been humiliating.

Parkes was the British Minister who wielded great power as a central figure in the diplomatic corps in Bakumatsu and early Meiji Japan, and was known for exercising strong authority and taking an overbearing attitude not only toward Japanese people but also in the foreign community living in Japan. Seeing that Parkes was making himself small, the mission seems to have felt a sense of satisfaction. The fact that Parkes was treated lightly within the British Foreign Office reflected his own origin and career, as well as the position Japan occupied in international society at the time, but for Parkes, this must have been an inconvenient thing he did not want known. In other words, no matter how much Parkes preached things like the importance of hunting, how much persuasive power did it have for the delegates? For the delegates, who had accumulated information and deepened their understanding of the class-based society through their stay in Britain, there is no doubt that this "discovery" regarding Parkes did not at least work as a positive factor.

The "Jikki"'s observations on Victorian society were generally on the mark. While pointing out the gap between rich and poor, Kume also focused on the fact that people have the "right of independence" and are engaged in competition for profit. In other words, he stated that in Western society, hierarchical power relations naturally arise due to the gap between rich and poor, the gap in knowledge and skills, and the gap in strength, and for the government to protect people's lives, it is important for those who stand above society to protect and relief those below while maintaining industrial profits for a long time. He records that he learned through traveling to various parts of Britain that in British society, the upper and lower levels work together to establish laws suitable for the social structure, forming a government and achieving results in striving to protect the people. Although it is an interpretation that is a bit too idealistic, Kume grasped the multilayered relationship of the power structure. Then, as the conclusion of the second part of the "Jikki," he emphasizes that the main purpose of the Britain section was to make Japanese readers feel the process by which Britain reached wealth and power, and that the purpose was realized by knowing the reality of their lives through interaction with various people. It is noteworthy that Kume states that it was because physical experience was added to the accumulated information through the journey that they were able to deepen their understanding of the local society and convey it to Japanese readers.

What the main body of the Iwakura Mission experienced in Britain was maneuvering over information. Also, what Kunitake Kume, the compiler of the "Jikki," experienced can be expressed as a journey toward the critique of "knowledge." The "knowledge" mentioned here was new insight including beliefs, philosophies, values, spirit, and faith, nurtured while trying to systematically discern the characteristics at the root of a different culture, and was deeply related to the framework of thinking itself.

For the Japanese of the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods, the experience of touching upon the knowledge and information of a different culture meant an encounter with a culture rooted in value standards different from the cultural soil familiar to them, and was also an experience of facing a new framework for perceiving and thinking about things that differed from traditional values.

The pursuit of "knowledge" was not a vague quest for information, but rather increasing the perspectives for perceiving things and seeking elements lacking in oneself after becoming aware of the nature of "knowledge" lacking in oneself or one's affiliation. They sublimated overseas information selected through various filters into the comprehensive concept of "knowledge" and proactively faced "knowledge" in their respective styles.

The Western-style knowledge held by Kunitake Kume, who was a Confucian scholar, was limited, and he was not proficient in languages. The reason such a person as Kume was chosen for the mission was that the Meiji government was looking for someone who could face overseas information without leaning toward the glorification of the West. Kume possessed a backbone in Confucianism, his standpoint was stable, and he turned a calm gaze toward Western society and Meiji Japan while maintaining a certain distance from any camp. This can truly be called an attitude of the critique of "knowledge." Kume's Confucian background is projected in the analysis of information, and reading the text written in a dignified and elegant Kanbun style makes one re-recognize that the Meiji government's decision to appoint a person who could critique comprehensively from a balanced perspective was a case of the right person in the right place. We must not forget that the Meiji government's foresight in appointing Jo Niijima as an attendant to the Ministry of Education commissioner in the separate unit of the mission during the era of the prohibition of Christianity, and appointing Kunitake Kume, who was not a Western scholar, as the compiler of the "Jikki," also shows an attitude of proactive pursuit of "knowledge."

In today's lecture, I focused on the stay in Britain and the education of the main body of the Iwakura Mission, tracing the process by which information obtained through cross-cultural contact is sublimated into "knowledge." The 1860s and 70s were a time when politics, economy, and society changed significantly in countries around the world, including Japan, and the forms of cross-cultural contact diversified. And now in the 21st century, we are placed in an environment where we "know while staying" various information in a form different from the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods. How to face information and how to sublimate it into "knowledge." What should be noted at that time? When considering these, examining the footsteps of our predecessors in the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods should be useful.

In an environment where new, unknown information is jumbled, there is an aspect where those who master information quickly can take leadership. In modern society of the 21st century, various information and information tools are jumbled to an extent incomparable to the mid-19th century, and discerning information is not easy. What is required in the past, present, and probably the future is to acquire the ability to discern the intentions that actors in various positions hide in information. Examining what the requirements for understanding and selecting information are, what the ability to discern and digest provided information is, and what the meaning of having some kind of backbone when encountering information is, can be called our future tasks and prospects. And in considering these, there is much to learn from history.

Thank you for your attention.

(This article is based on a lecture given at the 712th Mita Public Speaking Event held at the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) on December 21, 2023. The modern Japanese translation of Kunitake Kume's "Tokumei Zenken Taishi Bei-O Kairan Jikki" in the text was done by the author while referring to the modern Japanese translation by Shu Mizusawa (Keio University Press).)