The was a political association of the early

Meiji Period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

that was founded in 1878 by Morikazu Numa, who was grand secretary at the Genroin. It strongly advocated democratic rights and the establishment of a national parliament. It established its head office in Tokyo and set up branches all over the country, including in Kantō and Tōhoku, reaching at its height a membership of more than 1000 people.

History

Morikazu Numa, who had accompanied Japanese commissioners on their foreign trips in 1872, had observed the vigorous free speech enjoyed in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

and in 1873, with Togama Kono and his associates, he established the Horitsu Koshukai, or Institute of Jurisprudence, which was the predecessor organization of the Omeisha, at the home of the director of Shitaya Marishiten Temple in Tokyo.Saburo Ienaga, 植木枝盛研究 (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1960), 94. This organization was active in organizing speaking tours and debates. At first the Horitsu Koshukai didn’t attract audiences of more than 10 people, but because Numa persevered attendance increased. In July 1875 Numa became grand secretary at the Genroin on the recommendation of Togama Kono and because he accepted legal inquiries, many scholars were among his colleagues. Among those, Saburo Shimada, Kozo Tanaka, and Seiichi Koike, and others joined his movement. In 1878, after the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...

, Horitsu Koshukai changed its name to Omeisha, moved its meeting place to the Manpachi Restaurant in Yanagibashi, Tokyo, and met there every Sunday. They decided that they would in part research law and politics and also deliver speeches and stories to gathered citizens. Saburo Shimada, Sukeyuki Kawazu, Ryu Koizuka, Tokiyoshi Kusama,

Ukichi Taguchi was a Japanese historian and Georgist economist of the Meiji period, and one of the foremost proponents of the '' bunmeishi'' view of history. He was elected to the House of Representatives of Japan in 1894. He is sometimes referred to as "the J ...

, Kentaro Kaneko, and Teccho Suehiro participated in these activities. Kaneko and Suehiro, with others, drew up the Omeisha’s Kenpo Soan, a prominent example of the many popularly written draft constitutions that were circulated prior to the promulgation of the

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...

in 1890. One in three Omeisha members were working as civil servants and so when public speaking by people employed in the Japanese government was prohibited in May 1879, Omeisha members launched Omeisha Magazine in October, which continued for about three and a half years, and put out their official newspaper, Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun, in November. On the one hand they encouraged members of their audiences to join the Omeisha and, on the other hand, members who were employed with the government henceforth explained to the citizenry that they were unable to meet them and instead would publish the notes of their lectures in Omeisha Magazine. Membership soon rose to several hundred and Omeisha also created branches for people outside Tokyo who applied to join. Even within the organization, opinions differed over the structure of Japan’s proposed parliament and electoral system. Numa and his associates joined the

League for the Establishment of a National Assembly The , later called the Great Japan Public Association of Volunteers for the Establishment of a National Assembly (大日本国会期成有志公会), was a Japanese political organization that played a central role during the Meiji period in the ...

in 1880, and though they showed willingness of participate in the formation of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, in 1882 they joined the

Rikken Kaishintō The was a political party in Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Kaishintō. The Kaishintō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu on 16 April 1882, with the assistance of Yano Ryūsuke, Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio. It received fin ...

with

Shigenobu Okuma Shigenobu is a Japanese name. It is usually a male given name but can be a surname or the name of a place. As with most personal names, the meaning of the name is derived from which ''kanji'' (Chinese characters) are used, and there are several di ...

who had been forced to leave public office during the Political Crisis of 1881. In July 1882 the government of Japan ordered Omeisha to dissolve as part of repressive amendments to the Public Assembly Ordinance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omeisha Politics of the Empire of Japan

History

See also

References