In the middle of the Meiji era, the prospect of the forthcoming implementation of a parliamentary system arouses hopes for a swift revision of the 1858 unequal treaties. Public debates abound and editorial writers stand in the front line. This thesis aims at assessing their actual political influence between 1884 and 1894. The first section is dedicated to the analysis of three prominent editorial writers' line of reasoning. An analysis of their writings has shown Fukazawa's preference for pragmatic arguments and metaphors, Kuga's taste for fierce debates and meticulous demonstrations and Soho's predilection for ideological arguments. If "public opinion", defined as a fiction of the constitutional law system, can help to reinforce a journalist's position in the minds of Fukuzawa and Kuga, for Soho it is merely an undefined group that the journalist has to guide. Based on these conclusions, a typical editorial has been defined for each of the three writers. The second section concentrates on three diplomatic crises that occur in 1886, 1889 and 1891. Comparing the editorial press' arguments with the daily evolution of the government activity has shown that editorial writers sometimes force the government to significantly change course. In the middle of the Meiji era, political power has various contenders, and the final decision often comes out as the result of triangular debates, in which the government, the editorial writers and the "public opinion" participate.
Role and power of the press editorial writers in the middle of the Meiji era (1884-1894). Fukuzawa Yukichi, Kuga Katsunan, Tokutomi Sohô.