How Did The Meiji Restoration Influence The Development Of Traditional Japan

Under Meiji rule, agricultural practices specifically significantly improved, as traditional Japanese technology was combined with modern Western technology. Before Meiji restoration, Japan was primarily agricultural and consisted mainly of rice cultivation. In order to promote agricultural productivity growth, the solution lay in modifying traditional Tokugawa agriculture by raising crop yields and developing seed varieties. Farmers experimented on high yield seed varieties and extended irrigation systems, improving water storage and drainage for the crops (Mosk 195). The farmers also honed their farm practices such as transplanting techniques, weeding, the timing and placement of fertilizers, the timing and density of planting, and seedbed preparations which were

The unique social organizations that were established and reproduced in America helped the Japanese convert the dry land into a productive one. The shift in Japan’s social organization from a strictly gender based division of labor to a more balanced one upon immigrating to America helped transform the land (Bernstein). During the Tokugawa period, women were not educated, denied opportunities, and required to fulfill their duties as a faithful wife and obedient mother. On the other hand, men received a thorough education and had access and rights to more opportunities. Women “had a lower status and possessed fewer rights compared to men;” They were always subordinate to men (Choi 39). This patriarchal society could not be sustained in the United States. Both the women and men needed to help each other to support their family, as the men were not able to make enough capital on their own. Although women were traditionally required to stay home and care for the children, immigrant “women had double duty – field work and housework” (Takaki 190). Both men and women worked long hours a day. Men typically worked the farm