The was issued by Emperor Meiji

Emperor Meiji

The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...

 of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on 4 January 1882.

It was the most important document in the development of the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 and Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

.

Details

The Rescript was intended to be the official code of ethics for military personnel, and is often cited along with the Imperial Rescript on Education

Imperial Rescript on Education

The ' was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan...

 as the basis for Japan's prewar national ideology. All military personnel were required to memorize the 2700 kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

document by heart.

The initial draft was written by Nishi Amane

Nishi Amane

was a philosopher in Meiji period Japan who helped introduce Western philosophy into mainstream Japanese education.-Early life:Nishi was born in Tsuwano Domain of Iwami Province as the son of a samurai physician who practiced Chinese medicine...

, an Army Ministry bureaucrat and scholar of western philosophy. It was extensively edited by Inoue Kowashi

Inoue Kowashi

Viscount was a statesman in Meiji period Japan.- Early life :Inoue was born into a samurai family in Higo Province , as the third son of Karō Iida Gongobei. In 1866 Kowashi was adopted by Inoue Shigesaburō, another retainer of the Nagaoka daimyō...

.

The Rescript was presented to Army Minister

Ministry of War of Japan

The , more popularly known as the Ministry of War of Japan, was cabinet-level ministry in the Empire of Japan charged with the administrative affairs of the Imperial Japanese Army...

 Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo

Field Marshal Prince , also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese...

 directly by Emperor Meiji in person in a special ceremony held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace

Kokyo

is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace , the emperor left Kyoto Imperial Palace for Tokyo...

. This unprecedented action was meant to symbolize the personal bond between the Emperor and the military, making the military in effect, the Emperor's personal army. Coming shortly after the Satsuma Rebellion

Satsuma Rebellion

The was a revolt of Satsuma ex-samurai against the Meiji government from January 29 to September 24, 1877, 9 years into the Meiji Era. It was the last, and the most serious, of a series of armed uprisings against the new government.-Background:...

, the Rescript stressed absolute personal loyalty of each individual member of the military to the Emperor. The Rescript also cautioned to military personnel to avoid involvement with political parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 or politics in general, and to avoid being influenced by current opinions in the newspapers, reflecting Yamagata's distrust of politicians in particular and democracy in general. The Rescript also advises military personnel to be frugal in their personal habits (reflecting back to the samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

tradition), and respectful and benevolent to civilians (reflecting on European traditions of chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...

). However, a clause that the military was subordinate to civilian authority did not make it into the final draft.

The Rescript also contains a number of Confucian

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

 themes including "proper respect to superiors," and also draws upon Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

influences in that "The soldier and the sailor should make simplicity their aim."

A famous precept in the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors states that "duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather."