Abstract:
February 11th 1889 marks one of the sharpest historical turning points of modern Japan. On this day, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was officially proclaimed by means of a state ceremony conducted by the Meiji Tennô. The date of the proclamation referred back to a mythic-legendary event, the accession of Jimmu Tennô, ostensibly the first emperor of Japan and alleged founder of the empire in the year 660 BC. Although the entirely mythic-legendary fictive character of both, this “first Tennô” as well as the founding date itself, has long been proven by historical research, this date has been and is to this day (kenkoku-kinen-bi, “Day of the Foundation of the Empire”) attributed high significance for national politics.
In accordance with the imperial court's modernization efforts, the conception of the constitution's celebration on February 11th 1889 was incumbent upon the Imperial Palace Ministry (kunaishô), to which the Prussian diplomat Ottmar von Mohl (1846-1922) also belonged as foreign consultant. From his records the terms, as well as diverse problems, of the development of an appropriate ceremonial – which sought to do equal justice to the requirements of Japanese tradition and those of a modern state in the sense of the late 19th century – become apparent.
This article examines the tense relationship between traditional Japanese and modern European court ceremonial in this context. The focus is on the synthesis of state ceremonies especially with regards to the Japanese-German exchange. While doing so, the article addresses fundamental problems of the so-called Invented Traditions as well as the forces of globalization in the context of the development of nation states in this historical period.