THE MEIJI RESTORATION Y11 Mod His Sydney Bao

THE MEIJI RESTORATION

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, INCLUDING:

KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT ALLOWED MODERNISATION TO TAKE
PLACE IN JAPAN

The Tokugawa/Edo Period (1603 – 1867)

 Shogunate – military dictatorship; maintained authority, hegemony over
Japan
 Enforced isolation, believing overseas influence would shift balance
between shogun and feudal lords
 Internal peace, political stability, and economic growth
Social hierarchy:

Empe
ror
No
power
,
puppe
t of
Shogun
shogu
Military dictator,
n held
power
Daimyo
Feudal lords - large landholders
Employed samurai

Peasants and artisans

Heavily taxed, could lose land due to debt

Merchants (chonin)
Abolition of guilds by gov pushed them into debt, creating discontent

-
THE DECLINE OF THE BAKUFU (SHOGUNATE)
 Corruption of shogunate – discontent among lower classes
 Lack of permanent change by Shogun
 Revival of Shinto religion  growth of Japanese reverence for the emperor,
divine right to rule  shogun corrupt and illegitimate

THE CHANGED ROLE OF THE SAMURAI

 Samurai originally defended authority of Shogun and Daimyo’s land
 Tokugawa shogunate was time of peace; no longer needed military
abilities of the Samurai

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o Spent more time focused on trade

 Fixed stipends declined as the Daimyo grew poor from maintaining
multiple households

ARRIVAL OF THE “BLACK SHIPS” AND COMMODORE PERRY

 July 8, 1853
 Perry arrived at Tokyo harbour with 2 steamers and 2 sailing vessels
 Demanded friendship, trade, provisions for American ships and
protection for shipwrecked whalers
o Presented trade as beneficial for Japan, purely self interest
 “Gunboat diplomacy” – Japan had no navy to defend themselves
Unequal Treaties
Treaty of Kanagawa – 1854
 Opened 2 ports to US ships
 Began extraterritoriality
 Ended Japan’s isolationist policies
The Harris Treaty (1858)
 Commercial and diplomatic privileges for US in Japan
 Opened extra 5 ports
 Religious freedom, extraterritoriality
 *Resulted in Russia, Britain, France, and Holland following Perry to force Japan
to sign unequal treaties in the following years*
Japanese reaction
 Shogun wanted foreigners expelled from country but had to concede to
demands fearing an attack on Edo
o Demonstrated weakness of the shogunate – discontent of Samurai
 Fear that Japan would face the same fate of China
 Emperor summoned Shogun to Kyoto and demanded that Shogun
expel foreigners by June 1863
Satsuma and Choshu alliance, 1866
 Discontent against lack of action of shogunate against foreign powers
 Defeated shogunal forces with Western weapons and tactics
 Alliance brought the emperor to power in the Meiji Restoration of 1868

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Reasons for the failure of the Tokugawa shogunate:

Social Economic Political Military
Farmers forced to pay  Agriculturally based  Samurai + nobleman  Outdated
high taxes on rice tax system dissatisfied over how weaponry/tactics
destabilised by 20 shogunate handled 
Natural disasters and great famines from foreign influence  No navy to defend
famine from 1840s 1675-1837 against Perry’s ships
  Corruption in
Social unrest, peasant High inflation in cities government, too many Outdated weapons
uprisings over taxes and bureaucrats (over due to isolationist
food shortages Unequal treaties + lack 17,000) policies
of benefit from trade

THE NATURE OF THE MEIJI RESTORATION, INCLUDING:

1868 – 1889: Period of political, social, military, economic and technological reform
 Japan’s struggle for recognition of equality with Western nations
 Renewal of respect for traditional Japanese values, traditions and
religion while modernising Japan
o Coexistence of both Japanese + Western ideals

HOW AND WHY JAPANESE MODERNISATION OCCURRED

THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS IN THE MEIJI

RESTORATION

Emperor Meiji/Mutsuhito
 Encouraged the Japan’s modernization, from a closed feudal society
into an imperial power
 A symbol of the unified nation and renewed importance of the role of
the emperor
o “Father of the nation”
 Appeared in public during the completion of the nation’s first rail line
o Link between the emperor and modernization
o Symbolic of the new relationship between the people and their rulers
 Well educated – progressive education, open-minded and receptive to
Western ideas
 Cultivated a balance between traditional Japanese customs + Western
ideas

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o Disciplined, frugal, good moral character – embodiment of Confucian

ideals
o Wore western clothes, western food, looked/presented western, wore
military clothes
 Embodiment of the state, raised above politics – role became largely
ceremonial, influence in policy minimal
 In the last court of appeal
 Emperor played active role as commander in chief of armed forces in
Russo-Japanese war and Sino-Japanese war.
o Sympathetic father figure during the war
o Understood politics
 Direct role in increase in assistant to the needy and social issues –
emperors image evoked to ease antagonisms between the people and the
state
Samurai:

 Became discontent after charter oath took their role, prestige, wealth,
and status

 Satsuma Rebellion (1877):

 Satsuma clan led by Saigo Takamori

 Before MR, the Satsuma clan invested heavily in armaments, building
a new shipyard with weapon factories and ammunition depots
 Government intended to raid and confiscate weapons
 Battle of Shiro Yama (24 September 1877): all samurai died to peasant
conscript army
 Aftermath:
o End of samurai era
o Proved conscript army could defeat samurai
o Signaled beginning of Japanese Imperial Army’s rise to domination in
Eastern Asia
Peasants:
 No longer tenants of daimyo
 Forced to find employment in factories
 Lives improved as they no longer paid taxes to daimyo, but lost their
livelihoods
 National land tax system established, payment in money instead of rice
which stabilized national budget
Merchants:
 Exploited and transported resources from investments into infrastructure by
government

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CONSEQUENCES OF MODERNISATION FOR JAPAN, THE REGION AND

THE EMPEROR
 Religion: Rise of Shinto
 Emperor was head of Shinto religion
 Took on national prominence and replaced Buddhism as national
religion
 Political:
 The Charter Oath
 5 key aims:
o Establish new constitution
o All classes would participate in carrying out the administration of affairs
of state
o Common people allowed to make their own decisions
o Return to traditional Shinto religion
o Knowledge shall be sought through modernisation to strengthen
imperial rule
 Tldr; Charter oath appeared to end feudalism, but the power lay in the
hands of the central government
 Consequence of charter oath:
o Daimyo gave land to state, becoming merchants
o Samurai lost role, lost prestige, wealth, and status
 The new government
 Constitution guaranteed civil rights – people demanded for rights
 Elected parliament, diet, prime minister, and cabinet appointed by
emperor
 Influenced by western models, particularly the Prussian model due to
strong emphasis on militarism and power
 Originally, only the wealthiest 1% could vote. Changed in 1925 to allow
men to vote
 Emperor held absolute power – supreme commander of army, navy,
with veto power to appoint/dismiss cabinet
 Freedom of religion, occupation and speech granted

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
 Legal
 Japan convinced the west to change the unequal treaties they were
forced to sign in 1850s in 1894
 Adopted new criminal and civil code modelled after France and
Germany
 West acknowledged Japan as equal in principle, but not in international
power
 Societal changes:
 Feudal system abolished in 1871
 Land divided in to 43 prefectures controlled by governor
 Government headed by emperor
 Samurai lost power and status
 Mant peasants no longer worked in fields but found employment in
industries
 New right wing militaristic group emerged, people who had previously
supported samurai
 Social classes:
o Kazoku: nobles and former daimyo
o Shizoku: old samurai
o Heimin: commoners
 Military: new national army
 Based on universal conscription, requiring 3 years military service from
all men
 Battle of Satsuma won with greater numbers and superior weaponry
o Signaled beginning of Japanese Imperial Army’s rise to domination in
Eastern Asia
 Economic changes:

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 Government faced bankruptcy and huge inflation

 Tax system required payment in money instead of rice
 Stabilised national budget; no longer dependent on weather
 Invested in new technology and industries, such as telegraph,
shipyards, consumer industries
o Expensive to maintain, sold in 1880 to private investors (zaibatsu –
major corporate conglomerates who control modern industrial sector)
o Encouraged economic activities through subsidies and other incentives
 Educational
 National education system introduced
 Point 5 of charter oath
 Government closely controlled schools, making sure in addition to skills
like mathematics and reading, all students studied “moral training”, which
stressed importance of duty to emperor, country and families (nationalism)
o Moral training was reinforced in 1890s in the Imperial rescript on
education)
 Western liberalism (democracy, right of individual, secularism) was not
accepted
 Citizens able to choose their own careers and be included in modern
workforce
 Educated citizens able to travel abroad to introduce western knowledge
(Iwakura Embassy (1871 – 1873)
 Over 300 foreign advisors to train Japanese people in new medical
skills and military technology

 Old Japan  Meiji Restoration
- Trade limited with - Trade expanded due to
Portuguese and Spanish commodore perry forcing Japan
- Feudal system of sign treaties (unequal treaties)
government, shogunate/military for trade, leading to
- Feudal classes: most westernisation – treaties
people peasants, shogun/daimyo changed by 1890s: accepted by
at the top. Merchants at the western trading nations –
bottom extraterritoriality ended by 1899.
- Economy: Tax on rice - Emperor still at top, Diet,
produced, agriculture – unstable government, constitutional
income monarchy
- Women excluded in - 3 classes: heimin
education. Only for wealthy - Economy: new currency
people called yen, land tax based on
- Most people followed value of land rather than
Buddhism production. New industries (light
- Military: used traditional and heavy). Capitalist.
Japanese weapons, samurai - Communications improved
worked for the shogun, no – telegraph lines
conscription. Fighting was in - Maths, science,
Japan between shogunates. High technology promoted
position in society, had a lot of - Emperor installed

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power. teachings about morals and

 ethics
- Primary school for all
citizens
- Shinto religion promoted –
reinforced divine nature of
emperor
- Military: high military
expenditure, hemin was
conscripted, new types of
weaponry (guns, artillery,
armaments). Militarism gained
from France and Germany.
Successful military (e.g., Russo
Japanese war, Boxer Rebellion,
Sino Japanese war)
- Westernised – men wore
military uniform of Europe and
women wore western clothes
 Changes:

 Social   Economic  Political

 Social System:  Under old feudal  New idea of

 ·   Feudal system system: farmers paid tax constitution
ended (based on quantity of rice became subject
 ·   Replaced by produced – gov. income of heated debate
constitutional monarchy fluctuated depending on  Emperor
 ·   3 new classes: seasons/impact of climate oversaw/could
 Kazoku w/ nobles + + natural disasters) dissolve National
former daimyo  Tax now based on Diet
 Shizoku (mainly assessed value of land  Emperor retained
previous samurai)  Gov. high income – put into absolute power –
 Heimin (commoners) – infrastructure/developing dyadic tension
new opportunities w/ economy/building between
abolition of feudal industries – now benefits J. absolute power +
system, work in  Gov. reformed currency voice of people
factories/developing system - introduced yen  Reformed under
industries, move to (decimal system) the new
town, improvement in  Gov. became largely self- constitution
quality of life, liberty sufficient, relying less on  Japan was
 ·   Role of Samurai foreign investors forced into a
changed significantly:  1876 samurai paid by gov. treaty with
 Bureaucrats – turned Bonds Western
into gov. Officials  The Japanese government societies
  Oversaw developing hoped that the economy  Japan gradually
economy would grow over the years, grew in strength
 Implemented gov. so they liked 10 years and overthrew
policy bonds so over the time extraterritoriality

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 they could pay everything 

 Number of classes back
reduced to 3   The value of the land
 continues to go up so they
 Big changes to the income continues to go up
educational system   The government's income
used to go up and down.
o

GROWTH OF JAPANESE MILITARISM AND IMPERIALISM FOLLOWING

THE RESTORATION
 Imperialism
 Growth in imperialism due to western influence; colonies would provide
resources to develop industry, economy and help Japan grow in international
reverence and wealth while taking away the humiliation of unequal treaties
 Militarism
 Imperial Japanese army followed model of Prussian military; second in
size to Prussian army at the turn of the century
 Followed organisation of British Navy
 Constitution allowed military or genro to involve Japan in war without
cabinet approval as long as Emperor agreed
 Russo Japanese war (1904-05)

 Advantages of Russia  Disadvantages of Russia

 125 million people while  Russian troops positioned

Japan only had around 67 million in eastern Europe – Japanese
people was able to face forces with
 More military strength relative ease
 More warships (64 to 30)  Trans-Siberian railway not
 More industrial production fully complete
– iron + steel = more production  Warships were stationed
of artillery and heavy weaponry in black sea/far east – took time
to go back to Russia


 Advantages of Japan  Disadvantages of Japan

 Greater military  Outnumbered

expenditure

 Geographically positioned
well

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 Japan modernised earlier


 Japan captured Liaodong peninsula and defeated Russia at battle of
Tsushima
 Negotiations resulted in treaty of Portsmouth, which promised:
o Japan gaining Korea under sphere of influence
o Russian withdrawal from Manchuria
o Russia gave up control over southern portion of Sakhalin Island
o Transferred leasing rights of Port Arthur and Liaodong peninsula from
Russia to Japan
 Military power was majorly underestimated as an Asian state,
demonstrated success of Japanese military reforms
 Boxer rebellion (1899 – 1901)
 One of the foreign countries that put down the boxers – part of an
international military force (8 nation alliance)
 Demonstrated ability to get along with western countries
 Sino Japanese War (1894 – 1895)
 Demonstrated superiority of Japanese navy and the success of new reforms to
the military under the Meiji government
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEIJI RESTORATION IN JAPAN, ASIA AND
THE REACTIONS OF THE WEST
 Significance in Japan
 Major political, economic, and social change
 Paved the way for Japan to become a major international power
 Significance in Asia
 Made other Asian countries believe that they can modernise beyond
the colonisation of Western countries, like how Japan modernised during the
Meiji Restoration and used the unequal treaties and trade to their advantage
and internationalise
 Significance in West
 Japan acknowledged as an equal due to victories in various wars and
reversal of unequal treaties
 Anglo-Japanese alliance 1902
 Recognised each other as equals and had faith in individual victories
 Safeguarding respective interests in China and Korea.
 Britain, an established dominant world power was willing to accept
Japan as an equal

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A RELEVANT HISTORICAL DEBATE OR ISSUE, FOR

EXAMPLE:
THE MEIJI REFORMS – ‘OPPRESSIVE AND REACTIONARY’

Oppressive and reactionary Rational and pragmatic

- Revolution from the top of - Meiji rulers dealt firmly
society typified by the genro (elite with opposition to their reforms,
group of ex-daimyo who ran Meiji but it was necessary if Japan
Japan) was to be a modern nation that
- This led to peasants. could be equal to western
Women and urban labourers powers
wanting more freedoms than the - Meiji reforms improved
repressive regime was willing to production, and provided
grant resources for development
- Resulted in social and - Meiji military reforms and
political upheavals foreign policy aided in obtaining
- Development of a strong western support, able to
and repressive state run by the renegotiate unequal treaties
ruling group - Reforms so successful
o Constitution based on that Japan could defeat both
imperial Germany China and Russia
 Evidence:  Evidence:
- Ministers appointed in - Iwakura mission
name of emperor and not by - Japanese legal system
majority of the diet (democracy) modelled on western examples
- Emperor held absolute - National education, army,
power and tax developed
- Women were oppressed; - Army and naval officers
prevented from voting despite appointed to war ministers,
playing a key role in developing making armed forces more
light industries powerful

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