SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This article argues that the pilgrimage of the 14th shogun Tokugawa Iemochi to Kyoto in 1863 was a defining moment not only in 19th century relations between military bakufu and civil court, but in the history of the Meiji restoration. Using spatial theory, the argument is made here for the reception by emperor Komei of the shogun in the Kyoto palace as a moment at which the political realm was thoroughly redefined. It now became an imperial realm, albeit one in transition. The article discusses the ensuing pilgrimage by emperor Komei to the Kamo shrine, with the shogun in tow, as a public demonstration that a new order has now emerged in the trealm. The article proposes that a new transitional, emperor-centred regime now in place and that this merits a new designation: the Komei administration. The article examines some of the challenges, political and ideological which this new regime faced and explores the tensions leading to its demise.