The issue of state development strategy in the beginning of the Meiji period. Kido Takayoshi (1833–1877) on the power and responsibility of the state

Abstract

Kido Takayoshi (1833–1877) was one of the leaders and main political figures of the Meiji Restoration (1868), as well key figures in Japanese politics in the post-restoration period. Thanks to his ideas and efforts in the end of the 1860s the leadership of the country began preparing and then implementing a program to reunite all the lands of the state under the rule of a single ruler – the emperor, which in practice meant the abolition of feudal principalities clans and the establishment of new state administrative entities – prefectures. In 1871 a new administrative system came into effect. It is noteworthy that shortly after the implementation of the above-mentioned reform, Kido Takayoshi's ideas about what the basic principles of the state system should be underwent serious changes. The presented research is an attempt to understand the reasons for these changes through the analysis of his diaries, personal letters and official documents.