Blood Tax

The imperial decree authorizing conscription at the end of 1872 stated that "Westerners called conscription a 'blood tax,' and with their living blood 生血, they repay their debt to the nation." Of course, the expression "blood tax" was meant as a vivid metaphor for the possibility (stated positively, the opportunity) to make the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield. Hearing this language, the typical Japanese peasant at the time was horrified--but not of dying on the battlefield, which seemed a remote possibility. Instead, the image conjured up in their minds by "blood tax" and "living blood" was that of military officials extracting the blood our of the bodies of new conscripts, presumably to sell for medicinal purposes. I am not sure where the idea came from that westerners use the term "blood tax" for conscription. It would certainly have been an indication of poor marketing. The relevant passage in its original language is: ". . . 西人之ヲ称シテ血税トス。ソノ生血ヲ以テ国に報ズルノ謂ナリ。" In addition to unfounded fears like blood extraction, military service was a major economic burden on poor households. And of course, there were other possible downsides in the event of actual fighting.

The ostensible theory behind conscription was that all adult male citizens are soldiers. In fact, however, there were numerous categories of exemptions, including: short people (those under 5 shaku 尺 in height); people with severe infirmities; handicapped people; government officials; students at certain specialized schools of higher education; those living abroad; heads of households; those in line to become heads of households; the sole living member of a household; men adopted into another household (yōshi--typically by marrying into it); those who are supporting  a household with infirmed parents or siblings; criminals; and the siblings of those currently conscripted into the military. And if you did not fit into any of these categories but had some serious wealth, you could pay 270 yen to hire somebody else to serve in your place. Shintō priests were also exempt, resulting in a sudden upsurge in those seeking to join the clergy.

Protests arose throughout Japan, and books soon appeared for sale purporting to assist people in avoiding military service by exploiting loopholes in the conscription law (typical titles: 「徴兵免役心得」"Precepts for conscription exemption" or 「徴兵令のがれ法」"Method for dodging the conscription law"). Typical techniques included splitting households in two so that all the male members of each branch would be household heads, next in line to be heads, caring for infirmed family members or in some other way meeting the criteria for exemption. Also arrangements to be adopted into other households gave rise to terms like the slightly sarcastic "heitai-yōshi  兵隊養子," literally "soldier adoptee." Another common step was to falsify the ages in household records to make members appear too old or too young for conscription.

In response, the government amended the conscription law three times:

Was there any way left to stay out of the military? Yes--move to Okinawa. Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879 and made it into Okinawa Prefecture. Though theoretically an integral part of the homeland, during the nineteenth century, it was more like a colony. Most of the laws affecting all of the rest of Japan were delayed or suspended in Okinawa. As a result, after the law chance in 1889, there was a sharp increase in mainland Japanese moving to Okinawa. The conscription law was not in effect for Okinawa because, bluntly stated, most government officials did not trust Okinawans to be reliable soldiers. But, as much to thwart draft dodging as anything else, conscription began in Okinawa Island itself in 1898, but not in the outer islands of Okinawa Prefecture until even later. Suzuki Umetarō is an example of such a draft dodger.  He eventually became a well-known scientist, the first to extracted vitamin B successfully, but he moved from Tokyo to the remote island of Yaeyama in Okinawa Prefecture in 1896. He lived there until 1916, when he returned to Tokyo, but he kept his permanent address in Okinawa Prefecture even after that.

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