Culture | The history of Japan

Tokyo rose

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ON FEBRUARY 11th 1889, the Meiji emperor, dressed for the occasion in a European field-marshal's uniform, took his seat on a Prussian armchair in a European-looking throne-room in the palace of his new capital, Tokyo. There, he announced the enactment of a new constitution, providing for Japan's first parliamentary elections. Japan, it was hoped, was taking its place among the world's great modern nations.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Tokyo rose”

Unjust, unwise, unAmerican

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