Understanding Cultures: Modern Japan (UCMJ)
Fall 2006
The Five Charter Oath (1868)
“Gokajyo no Goseimon”
1. "Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all
matters decided by public discussion."
a. What do you think this means about how Japan’s government will function?
b. In light of the struggles surrounding the Meiji Restoration, and its implications
on Tokugawa social and political arrangements, who might this statement be
aimed at and why?
2. "All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of
the affairs of state."
a. What is goal of this statement?
b. How is this different than the political situation that existed before the Meiji
Restoration? (EXAMPLE and HINT: Bakufu members were ONLY chosen from
the highest tier of daimyo – there were three.)
3. "The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall each be
allowed to pursue his own calling so that there may be no discontent."
a. What statement/slogan does this sound like?
b. What image does this give you of “modern” Japanese society and social
mobility?
4. "Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of
Nature."
5. "Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundation of
Imperial Rule."
a. What Japanese slogan(s) does this statement support?
b. What does this tell us about the sources of modernizing influences?
c. What school of scholarly thought does this support: Mito School or Dutch
Learning, and why?
6. Finally, what, in particular, about the Charter Oath would appeal to Western officials
and/or observers?