...“MEIJI ERA’s (1868-1912) IMPORTANCE IN JAPANESE MODERNIZATION.” Japan is a country that has never been colonised and was never colonised during the colonial period. It was governed by the Emperors, Shoguns, Daimyos and the Samurais through the feudal structure of governance with the Emperor as the head of the hierarchy. It maintained its isolationist policy and never opened-up to the outside world for centuries and was in a stagnant stage in terms of development. However, in the 19th Century it dumped its feudal past and subsequently emerged stronger and economically superior after the rubbles left behind by the Pacific War in the 20th Century. Japan showed her strength in the two World Wars. Japan is now ranked one of the world’s largest power/economy behind The United States and China. It is regarded as a distinct civilization of its own, with very unique history. To fully understand present day Japan and its economic miracle, critical investigation needs to be done on its past history to see where its foundation of modernity and industrialization has been laid. When investigation was done, it showed that the Meiji Era (1868-1912) is considered to be the upward trajectory that fired-up Japanese industrialization and helped establish its modernization path. This started when Japan’s pre-modern political system and its feudal society (1603-1865): the Edo Period, led by the Tokugawa Shogunate, with its band of radical samurais was ended in 1868. The Tokugawa Shogunate/central...
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...Japan is the technological typhoon of our generation, and a modern paradise for any nerd, therefore, it is hard to think of Japan as anything other than this modern paradise. During the 1700’s to early 1800’s Japan was referred to, by many as nothing more than a feudal backwater, a people who would amount to nothing better than well-versed fishermen, a stark contrast from today’s image of Japan(Copeland p. 11). It is hard to come to terms with these stark differences in Japan’s history, but it all can be attributed to Japan’s ability to rapidly modernize. The changes brought on by this rapid modernization are important to everyone in Japan, but none more so than women as these changes allowed them to work outside of the home, and better accessibility...
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...Some historians refer to Japan’s social, economic, and political advancements during the late 19th century and early 20th century as the “Meiji Miracle.” During the 1860’s the Tokugawa shogunate was at its weakest point and it would soon fall after the shotgun abdicated his power. In 1868, the Meiji regime was established under Mutsuhito in Edo, or modern Tokyo. Previously during the Edo rule; the weak Tokugawa rulers were forced into signing unequal treaties with various Western powers. The Meiji emperor and his advisors soon realized that Japan must change and initiate reforms in order to prevent the Western powers from dominating Japan. The Meiji rulers would soon embrace western technologies, industries, and lifestyles to initiate modernization policies that would forever alter Japanese politics, society, and economics. The Meiji would begin their political reform by stripping the daimyo of titles to the land in 1871. To maintain peace among the daimyo the Meiji rulers made the former daimyo regional governors over their prefectures. By doing this, the Meiji rulers were able to successfully remove the daimyo from holding full possession of the land without major resistance. The Meiji government would continue to modernize Japanese politics by establishing a parliament and constitution based on the Western government. The use of a constitution sparked a debate on among the officers and intellectuals of which form of parliament was more beneficial. The politicians favored...
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...Behind every success is the journey to it. Japan has always been one of the most educationally successful countries on the world, yet, its success comes with a long period of modifications and changes to its education system. When European countries travelled throughout the world with their advanced technology and science, Japan was still struggling with its weak and corrupted government. In 1853, Tokugawa era, Commodore Matthew C. Perry of U.S. navy went to Japan and forced it to allow its merchants to trade with foreign merchants, apparently with greater benefit for foreign merchants. (OECD) Dazed by this event, a large number of low-ranking samurais were resented with the powerlessness of the Emperor with foreign “threats”. Due to this,...
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...Question: What steps did Japan take to reform its system of feudalism to a more modern form of government? The 18th through 19th century was truly an imperialistic era orchestrated by military superiority by the West. In the interest of avoiding battles they undoubtedly would have lost, East Asian nations signed lopsided treaties that benefited the West. Not only did the treaties open East Asian ports for trade, a demand the West insisted on, but in some cases they included land cessions to the West. The Japanese, having witnessed the demise of the once great Qing Dynasty, were determined to avoid the same destructive folly in their homeland. Japan embarked on a thorough introspection and restructuring that resulted in a modern form of government. Japan was in a new era and they would soon become East Asia’s greatest power. The Shogunate unintentionally sparked the beginning of the restoration period in Japan when he reversed the nation’s long standing sakoku—closed door policy. Many of the samurai and nobles thought the Shogun was showing weakness when he conceded to America’s demands and signed an unequal treaty favoring the West. The first step towards reform began when Japanese troops seized the Imperial Palace and convinced the young Emperor that the Shogun must be overthrown in order to usher in a new imperial era of leadership in Japan. This led to the Boshin War which was a civil war led by imperial forces to uproot the Shogun and his supporters. The Shogun submitted...
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...Meiji Japan. In 1867/68, the Tokugawa era found an end in the Meiji Restoration. The emperor Meiji was moved from Kyototo Tokyo which became the new capital; his imperial power was restored. The actual political power was transferred from the Tokugawa Bakufu into the hands of a small group of nobles and former samurai. Like other subjugated Asian nations, the Japanese were forced to sign unequal treaties with Western powers. These treaties granted the Westerners one-sided economical and legal advantages in Japan. In order to regain independence from the Europeans and Americans and establish herself as a respected nation in the world, Meiji Japan was determined to close the gap to the Western powers economically and militarily. Drastic reforms were carried out in practically all areas. The new government aimed to make Japan a democratic state with equality among all its people. The boundaries between the social classes of Tokugawa Japan were gradually broken down. Consequently, the samurai were the big losers of those social reforms since they lost all their privileges. The reforms also included the establishment of human rights such as religious freedom in 1873. In order to stabilize the new government, the former feudal lords (daimyo) had to return all their lands to the emperor. This was achieved already in 1870 and followed by the restructuring of the country in prefectures. The education system was reformed after the French and later after the German system. Among those...
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...events of 1868 in Japan as a 'restoration', but to those of the years following 1911 in China as 'revolutions'? Introduction The Meiji Restoration of 1868 in Japan and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 were responsible for producing an enormous amount of upheaval in both countries. Both nations were immersed in social, political and economic backwardness. In this context, both political episodes should be construed as an attempt to reverse decline and set the course for modernization. The main thesis of this essay is based on the notion that whilst there are some similarities between both political events, the main difference resides in the fact that the Meiji Restoration began the centralization of the mechanisms of governance and induced the social and economic modernization of the country. At the same time, the Chinese Revolution of 1911 did not succeed in engendering a sound system of government capable of reversing the country’s decline. The first part of the essay will deal with the main characteristics of the Meiji restoration of 1868. The second section of the essay will outline the main features pertaining to the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The third part of the essay will examine the similarities and differences between these two events, with the ultimate purpose of determining the qualitative differentiation to be made between the concepts of “restoration” and “revolutions”. The main characteristics of the Meiji restoration of 1868 The Meiji Restoration of 1868 can be...
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...actors that was responsible for the major achievements of the Meiji Restoration were Hisamitsu of Satsuma domain and Kido Takayoshi of Choshu domain. The two were both daimyos, the great lords ofthe Shogun. In order to overthrow Tokugawa Shogunate, Hisamitsu and Takayoshi joined together to form an alliance because they wanted to Emperor Komei to be in charge. The reason behind all this was because they believed that Komei was able to deal with foreign threats. They did not want to suffer like China did after the Opium Wars, therefore they felt like it was important to have a strong Emperor to defend them from foreign threats, especially the Western imperial power. However, due to the fact that the Emperor died so early, his son took over the throne....
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...and lived in permanent villages. they were also considered non-humans. Q2. ans: The Russo-Japanese War was 110 years ago. The war killed upwards of 125,000 people, and limited Russian influence in Northeast Asia. The shogun and the bakufu were warned to be prepared for the trouble that came from the outside world. Q3. ans: China already had some knowledge about Europeans, but the change was in 1543 when the portuguese were the first europeans to arrive in Japan, creating a great impact, because of firearms, which were unknown. In Japan the portuguese also reseted trade, the first global trade since they had a lot of outposts and forts linking Japan and Europe for the first time. But the the Bakufu in Japan decided to expel all the foreigners....
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...[pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 INTRODUCTION 5 KONGO GUMI ENVIRONMENT 7 Feudal Japan 8 The Restoration of Edo 8 The Meiji Restoration 9 World War 1 12 The Mid War Period 13 World War 2 15 The Occupation of Japan and Post War Reconstruction 16 The Economic Miracle 17 The Lost Decade 18 Global Financial Crisis 19 Natural Disasters 20 Abenomics 21 STRATEGIES KONGO GUMI USED TO SURVIVE TURBULENCE 23 Kongo Gumi in the 20th Century 23 Meiji restoration 23 The Mid War Period 24 World war 11 24 KONGO GUMI WOULD HAVE SURVIVED IF: 25 WOULD KONGO GUMI HAVE SURVIVED IF IT MADE IT THROUGH TO THE ABENOMICS ERA? 26 LESSONS FROM KONGO GUMI 27 CONCLUSION 28 REFERENCES 31 Appendix 1 – Infographic of Japan’s timeline EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Kongo Gumi was a success as it operated in a stable industry. The belief system has survived for thousands of years and has many millions of adherents. With this firm foundation, Kongo had survived some tumultuous times. The temple construction had until recently been a reliable mainstay, contributing 80% of Kongo Gumi's $67.6 million in 2004 revenues. The story of Kongo Gumi suggests that firms should blend elements of conservatism and flexibility. This means that firms should stay in the same business for more than a millennium and...
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...by strong central governments battling internal rebellions and external threats and maintained its strong roots of the early religion/ideology of Confucianism. ! From 1400-1900, East Asia experienced an increase in imports from Western nations while undergoing the process of industrialization. In Japan, the annual average of silk production increased by approximately 6000 tons between 1868-1899. Coal, used for industrial steamships and railroads, production increased from .6 million metric tons in 1875 to 5 metric tons by 1895(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration). We see such increases in industrialization because the Japanese elite initiated economic reforms under the Meiji Restoration in order to industrialize Japan in hopes of catching up to more dominant Western countries that were dominating the world politically and economically. During this period we also see an increase in East Asian trade with Western nations. In China, we see an increase in opium imports from Britain. This change occurs because China was forced to open trade to European countries after losing the 1st Opium War against Britain after its population had become dependent on an opium addiction. In Japan, we an increase in foreign imports from 1860 to 1865 of 13.34 million Mexican dollars(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_of_Japan). This was due to forced opening of Japanʼs trading “doors” by a US naval fleet...
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...Fukuzawa Yukichi: From Samurai to Capitalist Fukuzawa Yukichi was born in to a low ranking samurai family in 1835. This meant that there was very little chance for Fukuzawa to advance in social class, regardless of his individual ability. In February 1854, just a month after his 19th birthday, Fukuzawa decided to leave his home town Nakatsu to Nagasaki so he can begin his studies in Dutch. Which for the time being was the only prominent Western presence at the time. Once arriving in Nagasaki, Fukuzawa immediately began to study the Dutch language as well "the manufacture and technical operation of guns and cannon." Eventually, he progressed further than his housing patron, Okudaira Iki, who wrote a fake letter from Fukuzawa's mother about being ill. Although knowing the letter was fake, Fukuzawa still left and went to Osaka where his brother was residing in. His brother then holding up a previous obligation, helped Fukuzawa get enrolled at the Tekijuku school for Dutch studies headed by Ogata Koan in April 1855. After a year, Fukuzawa had to depart to Nakatsu to become head of the family because his brother had become very ill and died....
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...called the “High Qing”. However, in 1840, Chinese was hardly beaten by Britain in the Opium War, followed by another failure in the second Opium War in 1858, which they were forced to sign unequal treaties. Eventually, they realized the gap between the West and China and therefore started the Self-Strengthening Movement to study Western science, technology and machine manufacturing. Around the same period, Japan, recognizing how China had been made to concede their power, started to feel pressure from the increasingly rising of Western power. Finally, during the Japanese Ansei era, Japan too was forced to sign an unequal treaty- Ansei Five-Power Treaties, which triggered a movement that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure- the Meiji Restoration. In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War broke out. Japan won the war and emerged as a new imperial power. The Sino-Japanese War demonstrated the success of Japan’s Meiji Restoration as well as the failure of the Qing Empire's Self-Strengthening Movement. As both movements were drove by similar incidents, “Why did Japan succeed and not China?” In this paper, I will compare the two movements and draw out factors that led to Japan’s success. Due to the contrast in their history backgrounds, the two countries showed different attitudes toward changes. Chinese had always seen themselves as Tianxia, meaning under heaven, thinking that they were the center of the world, contemning all foreign things. Moreover, since ancient...
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...WHAT DO KUME KUNITAKE’S OBSERVATIONS OF THE WEST DURING HIS TRAVELS WITH THE IWAKURA EMBASSY REVEAL ABOUT JAPAN IN THE 1870S? In December 1871 the prominent Japanese minister Iwakura Tomomi led almost half of the new Meiji government (“the government”) on an embassy around the Western world. Travelling with the ‘Iwakura Embassy’ was Kume Kunitake, a Neo-Confucian scholar and historian. Employed as both Iwakura’s personal secretary and the Embassy’s recorder, Kume along with his assistant Sugiura Kozo (later Hatakeyama Yoshinari) were instructed to record what the Embassy witnessed in the West. The record they produced was to form the basis for Kume’s ‘True Account’ (‘Jikki’) of the Embassy’s ‘Journey of Observations’ (‘Kairan’). Clearly set aside from the Jikki’s narrative in indented sections are Kume’s ‘personal views and observations’ (“Kume’s observations”). Yet these are much more than mere observations. Indeed, before Kume could publish his work he required the approval of Iwakura. While this presumably encouraged Kume to toe the government line, it also gave Iwakura considerable influence over Kume. Considering that the Jikki was revised over ten times before it was approved, it seems that Iwakura fully exercised this influence. Indeed, as Kume’s observations often appear to digress from the main narrative it suggests that they were imposed into Jikki at a late stage of compilation, presumably during these revisions. This suggests that these observations were written...
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...history in Japan and the United States. There are many types of police operations. Policing in general has a wide range of different kinds of strategies and areas. I will discuss the development of both policing styles as well as how implementation can affect both countries. Japan: Japan is known for it low crime rate and its unique policing styles and homogeneous society. Sam Bacca, Chief of Police in Albuquerque New Mexico stated, “This is police paradise”, while he was visiting Japan. (Rebenfien, 1989) “Every law enforcement officer would love to have a community like this”, he continued. (Rebenfien, 1989) Chief Baca and many others offers came to Japan to observe their police system and bring those ideas back to their community. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Statistics Bureau, Director-General for Policy Planning and Statistical Research and Training Institute reports Japan's total population in 2011 was 127.80 million and total density measured 343 persons per square kilometer in 2010. Japan has endured many trial and tribulations has a country, having to rebuild after wars and conflict. During the fourteen century short lived imperial rulers, followed by a new government established by the Ashikaja family, lasting for two centuries. (Sccnet, 1998) This was a time of great prosperity, following the way of the warrior, Bushido, the way of the warrior Japan feudalism hierarch after more than 265 years of consolidation, Japan was cut off...
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