Japan

Abstract

The system of government of the Japanese empire is as yet but imperfectly known. The nominal head of the State is a Spiritual Emperor called the Mikado, invisible to the people, and considered of semi-divine origin. At his side stands a Temporal Emperor, the Ziogun, or, as commonly called, the Tycoon, whose office also is hereditary in his family, and who represents the central executive. But neither the Mikado nor the Tycoon appear to be possessed of general authority, extending over the whole State. The actual government is vested in a number of feudal princes, or Daimios, proprietors in their own right of a more or less extensive territory, over which they exercise absolute sway. The central authority is not only powerless as far as they are concerned, but they claim the right even of removing the Tycoon and his ministers—a right exercised in January 1868, when the present ruler was seized and made a prisoner by two of the most powerful Daimios, who assumed the government in the name of the Mikado.