Criminal trials in the early Meiji era-with particular reference to the Ukagai/Shirei system

Precisely when, following the Meiji Restoration, did criminal trials in Japan come to be conducted on a national scale, broadly throughout the entire country? In seeking to answer that question, an observation by Yutaka Tezuka1 is of great significance. As he noted, the abolition of the han and establishment of prefectures on July 14, 1871 (Meiji 4), which were made possible by the rise in "political power" of the new Meiji government, and the nationwide putting into force of the first post-Restoration uniform penal code, the Shinritsu kōryō (Outline of the New Criminal Code), promulgated in late December of the prior year, were mutually related. That is because the existence of a uniform penal code is essential in establishing the milieu for achieving a national system of criminal trials.