ed; it was
responsible solely to him. (Warshaw, 1990, p. 72)
In practice, however, the Emperor seems to have remained as much of a figurehead in the new system as he had been under the Shoguns. At most, perhaps, the effective status of the Emperor was comparable to that of the contemporary British monarchy; certainly he did not personally dominate the political scene in the manner of the Kaiser or the Tsar of Russia. The semimystical role of the Emperor seems to have militated against a genuine political role; in histories of Japan in this period the Emperor is nearly invisible as a political personality, though all is done in his name.
In practice, during the Meiji period, political power was concentrated in a self-perpetuating oligarchy. As the original leaders of the Meiji Restoration disappeared from the scene, however, one effect was to leave no one with true overall control of the government. In particular, the military was subjected to no civilian authority. In law the emperor appointed the ministers for the army and navy; in practice, he named the candidate
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