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Western Influence On Japanese Culture

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For the longest time, Japan had been an isolationist country, a country that let no foreigners enter it, but that changed in 1853 Japan started to open its borders once more. As it did so, Western influence on its culture began to grow. While the changes in its war tactics were the most famous and well-known form of Westernization, there were many smaller ways Japan's culture changed. Some of these ways were changes in fashion and architecture. Some of the biggest changes in Japanese culture that were caused by Westernization was the fashion industry. It manifested in two major fashion cultures with many sub-cultures branching from the main culture. These two cultures were Gyaru and Lolita. The first of these two fashion cultures to form …show more content…

The Lolita culture isn't like most fashion cultures which sexualize women, instead, it is where those participating try to follow the ideal of dignity, manners, …show more content…

Before the introduction of western style architectural techniques, most buildings were made of stone, wood, and paper which was influenced by Chinese architecture, which was manipulated to fit the Japanese culture (http://www.museumofthecity.org/). While Westernization of architecture had started small in the Meiji Period with the change to brick as a building material, the largest changes in architecture happened after World War Two (http://www.museumofthecity.org/). After World War 2 most post-war buildings were built in an efficient manner that did not use wood, a material that was easy for earthquakes, something they were able to become the pioneers on dealing with, and bombing runs to destroy. Also, due to the country being smaller then most Japan modified Western-style buildings, making them smaller and more compact, in order to give their large population more room (http://www.museumofthecity.org/). While being in isolation from the world for the longest time, Japan's culture changed greatly when it met the west. Old Victorian style dolls gave rise to the Lolita Style in the 1980s, a style that continues to this day. Another fashion subculture that rose thanks to Westernization was the Gyaru, a culture that used expensive western clothes and accessories as a way to show off wealth. Westernization of architecture

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Another change would be Japan's introduction of the shogunate which created a period of peace and order for Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate was created because Japan's government was decentralized and torn apart from warfare. It focused on reorganizing the government of Japan in order to

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In the 19th century china and japan were under pressure when the west opened up foreign trade and relations. The industrial revolution created a wide gap between them and the west and left them behind in technology and the military. They both signed unequal treaties that forced them to open their ports and cities to foreign merchants. Both country's reacted very differently and this will be the topic of this essay.

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Japan didn’t open to foreigners until the mid-19th century. Japan quickly realized the situation and began to modernize and westernize as fast as possible. Japan wanted to be strong enough to resist domination of western imperialists who wanted Japan for their own. Japan also wanted to become the strongest Asian country. Japan’s tactics of rapid modernization succeeded, and kept the country and government independent of foreign control.

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries industrialization was a big thing in Japan. This industrialization had economic, political and social effects on Japan. According to document 1, “The Constitution of the Empire of Japan: The Meiji Constitution (1890-1947)one political change was a written constitution was formed. In 1868 this constitution was created to show how Japan is a capable of deserving respect while keeping their own power.

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There are many nations that are continuously changing. Japan is one of the nation that is continually changing not only economy, but also the culture. According to the book, “the Western world was increasingly impinging upon Japan..” which result isolation from Europe and American. In the document 19.1 it stated, “We have issued instructions on how to deal with foreign ships on numerous occasions up to the present”. This have shown that the Japanese have isolated from foreign.

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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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Though the comparison between two countries has a weakness in the way it can be mistaken for connection. Comparison is more of the differences and similarities between two countries, as opposed to the impact that the countries have on each other. One very obvious comparison between two countries lies in the depiction of Western society penetrating that of the Japanese civilization. Visual Source 19.2 shows Japanese women dressed in European styled dresses, and engaging activities typically normal to the European elite such as playing a violin, or playing the piano. The Japanese incorporation of the West is very different from the Chinese who believed they were self-sufficient and did not need European aid.

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Fashion never remains the same and with the advancements in technology fashion has become even more wavering. Fashion is highly influenced from the social, technological and economical changes. A series of events that replace current societal patterns with the

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