The Meiji Restoration of 1868 inaugurated a period of great change in Japan; it is seldom associated, however, with advances in civil and political rights. By studying parliamentarianism—the theories, arguments, and polemics marshaled in support of a representative system of government—Kyu Hyun Kim uncovers a much more complicated picture of this era than is usually given.

Bringing a fresh perspective as well as drawing on seldom-studied archival materials, Kim examines how parliamentarianism came to dominate the public sphere in the 1870s and early 1880s and gave rise to the movement among local activists and urban intellectuals to establish a national assembly. At the same time, Kim contends that we should confront the public sphere of Meiji Japan without insisting on fitting it into schemes of historical progress, from premodernity to modernity, from feudalism to democracy. The Japanese state was inextricably linked, in its origins as well as its continuing growth, to the self-transformation of Japanese society. One could not change without effecting a change in the other. The Meiji state's efforts to ensure that the state and society were connected only through channels firmly controlled by itself were constantly and successfully contested by the public sphere.

Contents
		Maps, Figures, and Tables	xx
		Note to the Reader	xx
		Introduction	1-0
		Theoretical Considerations / 00
		Historiographical Considerations / 00
		Chapter Organization / 00
Part I
Precedents and Conditions
1		Political Discourse and the Public Sphere in Transition 
		from Tokugawa to Meiji Japan	00
		The Public Sphere and the News Media in Early Modern Japan / 00
		From "Public Authority" to "Public Opinion": 
			The Discourse of Kogi Yoron and Its Evolution / 00
		Restoration of the Monarchy and the Failure 
			of the Kogi-based Polity / 00
		Kogi yoron, "Public Opinion," and Parliamentarianism / 00
2		The Meiji State, Nation-Building, and the Public Sphere, 
		1868-74	00
		The Iwakura Mission and the Caretaker Government, 1871-74 / 00
		The Seikanron Controversy and Its Outcome: 
			New Visions for Imperial Japan / 00
		News Media in Transition / 00
		The Fictive Space of the New Public Sphere / 00
Part II
Effervescence
3		Parliamentarianism in Ascendancy, 1874-78	00
		The 1874 Proposal to Establish a Popularly Elected Assembly / 00
		Criticisms of the 1874 Proposal / 00
		Defenses of the 1874 Proposal / 00
		"Public Opinion" and Its Institutional Representation / 00
		The Osaka Conference and the Kochi Group: 
			Rapprochement and Failure of the Compromise / 00
		From Armed Insurrections to Mobilization of Public Opinion: 
			The "Kochi Alternative" / 00
		The Discourse of Kogi Yoron and the Emergence 
			of Parliamentarian Opposition / 00
4		Metropolitan Intellectual Associations, 1871-81	00
		The Rise of the Metropolitan Intelligentsia / 00
		The Ambivalence of the Meirokusha / 00
		The Kyoson Doshu / 00
		The Omeisha / 00
		The Kokuyukai / 00
		The Kojunsha / 00
		Metropolitan Intellectual Associations and the National 
		Public Sphere / 00
5		Local Notables and the Parliamentarian Movement, 
		1878-82	00
		Local Notables in the Early Meiji Period / 00
		The Prefectural Assembly and the Struggles over Taxation and Local 
			Administration / 00
		The Aikokusha Revival Conferences and the Parliamentarian Movement / 00
		The Wave of Petitions / 00
		Local Notables Become Parliamentarians, But on Their Own Terms / 00
6		"Lecture Circuits" and Communicative Polyphony: 
		The Political Culture of Early Meiji Japan	00
		Inventing "Speechmaking": Fukuzawa Yukichi and the Evolution 
			of the Term Enzetsu / 00
		The Development and Politicization of Nationwide "Lecture Circuits" / 00
		Public Lectures as Subversive Performances / 00
		Women and Public Lectures / 00
		"Lecture Circuits" and the National Public Sphere / 00
Part III
Reaction
7		Parliamentarianism and the Meiji State: Toward the 
		Consolidation of State Ideologies, 1874-81	00
		State Interventions into the Public Sphere, 1873-81 / 00
		Conflicting Visions of Representative Government / 00
		Okuma Shigenobu's Constitutional Opinion / 00
		The Meiji State versus Civilian Parliamentarians: 
		No More Compromise, Only Appeasement or Suppression / 00
8		The 1881 Crisis and the Hokkaido Colonial Office Scandal	00
		The Evolution of Political Scandals in the Japanese Public Sphere / 00
		Problems with State Finance / 00
		"Publicity" of National Finances / 00
		Civilian Discourse on the Hokkaido Colonial Office Scandal / 00
		Escalation of the Controversy: Public Lectures 
			and the Kochi Group's Response / 00
		The Expulsion of Okuma Shigenobu / 00
		The Significance of the 1881 Crisis 
			and the Hokkaido Colonial Office Scandal / 00
Part IV
Development and Institutionalization
9		Civic Constitutions in the Public Sphere	00
		The Senate's Model Constitutions / 00
		Constitutional Drafts by Metropolitan Intellectual Associations / 00
		Constitutional Drafts by Local Parliamentarians / 00
		The Undivided Popular Will: Constitutional Drafts 
			by Kochi Parliamentarians / 00
		The Discourse on the "National Contract Constitution," 1879-81 / 00
		Shutting out the Public, 1882-89 / 00
		The Historical Meaning of Civic Constitutional Drafts / 00
10		"Pre-Diet" Political Parties and Their Ideologies, 1881-84	00
		The Liberal Party (Jiyuto) / 00
		Ideologies of the Liberal Party / 00
		The Constitutional Progressive Party (Rikken Kaishinto) / 00
		Ideologies of the Progressive Party / 00
		Parliamentarianism and the Political Parties / 00
11		"With My Two Eyes, I Want to See the Opening of the Diet": 
		Parliamentarianism Triumphant? 1884-90	00
		The Grand Solidarity Movement, 1884-87 / 00
		The "Three Issues" Memorials and the State Response, 1887-89 / 00
		Debates on the Party-Cabinet System and the Inadequacy 
			of "Transcendentalism" / 00
		The End of the Parliamentarian Movement / 00
		Conclusion: 
		The National Public Sphere in Early Meiji Japan	00
Reference Matter
		Bibliography	00
		Character List of Names	00
		Character List of Terms	00
		Index	00