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How Did The Meiji Restoration Affect Japan

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This year is the 150-year anniversary of the Meiji Restoration (1868-1904) which was a big turning point for Japan in terms of industrialization and modernization for Japan on its path to become one the world's great powers. It is important to know what events led to the Meiji Restoration and how it changed the country during this period, from Japan being a closed country for over 200 years to the highly industrialized, modern state that it is today. There were many changes, but the most rapid growth was seen in economic development and militarization from 1868 to 1904 due to the political and social change caused in part by investing in Western cultures. The goal of the Meiji Restoration was to build a "rich country, strong army" and there …show more content…

However, industrialization was a significant transformation and revealed rapid growth and alteration within the political system. One of the biggest changes was transforming from an agrarian society to an industrial society. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate remained in power, and Japan was an agrarian society. However, due to modernization and the importation of cultures and technologies from the West, Japan transformed into an industrial society. For instance, the government introduced superior agricultural techniques and shifted to a more commercial form of agriculture. There are four main factors that lead Japan to successful rapid economic growth during the Meiji period. First, modern science and technology helped industry, transportation, and agriculture operate more efficiently. In 1872, the first railroad line was built through Tokyo to Yokohama. This made the transportation of people and goods more efficient. Second, there was a continuous and rapid rise of Real Product per Capita rates and population growth. Third was the rapid and efficient transformation of industrial structures such as agriculture and manufacturing. Lastly, Japan increased contact with other countries such as increased in trading and missions to other countries. Without these four main factors, Japan might not have been as successful during the Meiji period. Changing the educational system helped to grow the economy by producing many educated individuals. One of the most well-known people to change the Japanese educational system was Yukichi Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa's main contribution to the Japanese educational system was the rejection of the study of classical literature and poetry and adoption of the Western way of learning which could apply to real life to improve people's living and enrich the country. The Western way of learning contained methods of Western societies and civilizations which could

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The Meiji period played a important role in Japan. The Meiji period was an important part of Japan’s changing western ways. According to the book The Meiji Restoration was a period of pollical and social revolution in Japan. Japan chose to remake themselves through

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Before this industrialization in 1968, was the Boshin war, which was directly responsible for the Meiji Restoration, due to the fact that after the war, Japan wanted to have one central power, which resulted in Japan’s government wanting to become like an already successful government with one central power, America, however they did not want America’s culture, but merely the style of government, which resulted in Japan becoming much more western. Then after the war, the Meiji Restoration started, which was the new government taking over Japan, this started a westernization movement in Japan, and during this westernization, industrialization started, and then it settled all throughout Japan, building factories, and machines. Similar to this, Russia experienced the Crimean war, which was essentially a wake-up call for Russia to industrialize after it’s terrible loss to both Britain and France, to add to the losses, after that, Japan and Russia fought, and Russia lost horribly, which shocked the entire

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During the time of 1941 the Japanese economy began to bloom exponentially in the industrial and militarily fields. Japan’s growth occurred due to the trade provided to the country due to its low resources. Acquiring Oil and Metals it allowed the Country to become a contender in their cause against the Allies. However, during this period Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had his own interests and goals of the war time.

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Japan was an isolated nation that had seen little technological innovation from the outside world, and was going through a period of economic downturn as well. It quickly transitioned into a modernized nation through its own reformation, called the Meiji Era. Similar to the Tanzimat and the Self Strengthening Movement, this saw a decrease in corruption, an increase in industrialization, and the incorporation of Western ideas into the system. Japan quickly came in par with all the other modern countries and proved to be a competent independent nation in the global economic

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By the nineteen twenties and thirties, Japan had become a strong country and their economy began to grow and develop rapidly. However, it lacked natural resources such as rubber, oil, coal, and petroleum. For this

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With the arrival of Commodore Perry in Japan during 1853, he attempted to put an end to Japanese isolationism and provide a successful transition to modernization which led to the eventual Meiji Restoration beginning in 1868. His arrival sparked the eventual signing of several treaties that opened Japanese ports to foreign trade with prominent countries such as the United States, Britain, and France (The Rape of Nanking the Forgotten Holocaust of World War 2, Chang). This trade leads to the increase in foreign currency present in the economy in Japan eventually deflating the value of Japanese currency. Evidence for this lies in the increase in the price of a variety of goods in Japan upsetting the common man and peasantry: "rice up by went up by 270 percent, lamp oil by 300 percent" and many others in addition (Motoyama, 22). However, an underlying cause of

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The Emperor Meiji adopted a system used by western Europe and north America to educate their citizens. This reform was widespread educational institutions for commoners. “This transformation occurred first in Western Europe and North America… convinced that a limited education for local masses would have a positive effect” (Platt, ND). North America’s education system was believed to have a positive effect on the country. Citizens could now build more technical products and become more efficient, making the country’s economy much better.

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“To guard against external influence, they also worked to close off Japanese society from Westernizing influences, particularly Christianity. When the Tokugawa shogunate grew increasingly weak by the mid-19th century, two powerful clans joined forces in early 1868 to seize power as part of an “imperial restoration” named for Emperor Meiji.” This restoration was the beginning of the end of feudalism, or the way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour, in Japan. The Tokugawa regime acted to exclude missionaries because of suspicion of foreign intervention and colonialism. Eventually, they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan.

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The Tokugawa state collapsed because, in its failure to carry out regular and meaningful reforms, the immense structural economic and social changes that took place during its two-hundred-sixty-eight years of rule undermined the system to the point where revolution was inevitable. The foreign crisis brought on by the demands of western powers acted as a catalyst and worsened these domestic problems. An ideological shift occurred with many movements focusing on the Emperor, not the Shogun, as the legitimate source of authority. Many of the problems of Tokugawa continued into Meiji, with unrest still present. However the Meiji government can be seen to have taken steps to address the causes of these problems, resulting in Japan emerging as a

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In the 19th century, European countries and the US began to expand into Asia. Along with that, the isolation system of Japan will collapse and will progress towards the formation of a modern state. In the process, the Ryukyu Kingdom was incorporated into the national system of Japan, and it came to close the curtain of the Ryukyu Kingdom era for 500 years. However, a steep road awaited ahead of newly established Okinawa Prefecture. Differences in institutions and customs with Japan, while belonging to the same state, made identification difficult, and there was also a persistent opposition to the Meiji government of the former ruling party.

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