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.
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.
From approximately 1000 - 1600 CE, Samurai and knights were fierce and loyal warriors who fought for their country. Knights were in Europe while Samurais were in Japan. Without samurais and knights, the world would be in a different place then where it is now. Although they have many similarities and differences, mostly samurai and knights have more similarities than differences. Samurai had a code called, Bushido.
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.
Japan’s economic development had been shaped in various ways, including Japanese internal forces, and external forces from other countries. Although during the Tokugawa era, the Japanese were very closed off from the world for 250 years, once Commodore Perry and the rest of America threatened Japan with war Japan was forced to open ports for trade. Due to the Japanese lack of weapons the trading environment was very biased on the side of America with unequal trade. The shogun was once a Samurai and is now almost in control of Japan.
So, Japan started to copy europe in some aspects, such as politics, military, social structure and culture . But for today i’m going to be narrowing down the changes to one specific change… Social. The social advancements were in a way very useful but also very hurtful, depending on who you ask. For the daimyo and samurai the change was good they got better weapons which helped them defend their country more and had werre abit less restricted.
Samurai and Knights: Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences? Japan and Europe had unique lifestyles, one part being its military. It consisted of archers, who wielded bows and skilled swordsmen, called samurai. In Europe however, their military consisted of archers and swordsmen called knights. These two military figures share many similarities between each other, outweighing the differences.
When related to Immanuel Wallerstein’s “World Systems Analysis”, the Meji Restoration developed Japan into a core country. As a dominant power, they took advantage of periphery countries for labor and every opportunity to become a world
In the chronology adapted from Akira Iriye, Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War mentions many times in which the U.S. made it very uncomfortable for Japan. These uncomforts stem from Japan feeling threatened as well as the U.S. cutting them off of certain products that are necessary for Japan. In 1939 the U.S. placed an embargo (or stopped the trade) of aircraft and aircraft parts (Doc C). This makes things difficult for Japan because Japan is an island and their only real mode of transportation for troops or other goods was airplane or ship. In fact according to Wiki, the Japanese alone built over 3,000 transport airplanes because of U.S. parts and taking that away had a huge impact on their mobility.
“An old order … (European and American) … is now crumbling.” (Document A)Which makes Japan want to be the new leader that Germany and America once were. Japan took advantage of America in a depression and Germany in the war. Japan wanting to be the new "leader" was one main causes of Japan attacking pearl harbor because they wanted to be stronger and more powerful leader like America and Germany once were.
This changed a lot of Japanese people’s lifestyles. In Meiji Restoration Japan decided to all the people from all the classes to be equal except the emperor. This meant that shogunates and farmers became into the same
The war influenced people to leave making a difference in the spread of different cultures. The war also affected trading, making it extremely difficult for a country to export and receive goods. The text states, “Thereafter, Japan sank back into isolation. No one could leave the country under pain of death, an no foreigner enter under the same grim penalty. Nor were oceangoing ships allowed to be built” (24).
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.
Youssef Marakby ID:900130817 Instructor: Richard Byford Rhet 1020 The Samurai’s affect on Japan’s culture For many years, the legendary Japanese samurai warriors showed that they are the most well known class of ancient Japan and also known with their supremacy of honor, service, and duty which the Japanese society still have today. The samurai helped lay the foundations of Japan 's culture.
But also change within the military occurred with the replacement of Samurai authority. Trying to be equal competitors in world power as their Western neighbors. Japan had gotten imperialist ideas from 1853 when the U.S. black ships steamed
