With the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese imperial government was established, and Japan moved from the feudal era to the modern era. In 1896, "The Situation on board the Matsushima during the Battle of the Yellow Sea," published by Captain Kokichi Kimura of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was banned. The authorities banned the book because of its realistic and true representation of the war during the Meiji era, including the brutal deaths and bleeding. Furthermore, even in peacetime, restrictions on speech and publication were intensified.
In 1868, the Meiji government banned the first issue of "Shoka Shinbun Vol. 1," edited and published by Inoue Fumio. From then on, the suppression of expression became more severe. In 1903, it became compulsory to deliver books to the Ministry of Home Affairs, and prior censorship of publications became more strict, with many publications and magazines being banned. In addition, for the crime of disturbing the peace and order of the nation, the ban was extended back in time. As a matter of course, from before the Middle Ages to the Edo period, victims were often punished as criminals due to the ban on writing, even more so than in the Meiji period.
In 1868, a proclamation of the Grand Council of State was issued, and in 1869, the Newspaper Printing Ordinance and the Publication Ordinance were issued to permit publication. In 1869, the Newspaper Printing Ordinance and the Publication Ordinance were issued. In 1875, the government issued the Newspaper Ordinance and the Slander Ordinance to suppress speech. The Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated in 1889. Article 29 of the constitution states, "Within the limits of the law, there shall be freedom of speech, writing, printing, assembly, and association," and freedom was taken away by various laws. Starting with the Daibaku Incident of 1910, the government imposed a devastating crackdown on thought and speech.
On May 29, 1910, Taikichi Miyashita and Tadao Niimura were arrested in Nagano Prefecture on suspicion of using explosives to assassinate the emperor. Immediately three days later, on June 1, Kotoku Shusui was arrested in Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture. This was followed by the arrest of hundreds of other ideologues and others across the country. In accordance with Article 116 of the former Penal Code of 1880 (Meiji 13), those who harmed the Emperor or the three Empresses were sentenced to death. After the Daibaku Incident, the Japanese Imperial Government established the Special High Police to clean up the area, including citizens, by secretly abusing and massacring them based on personal information.
