The Meiji Restoration
Overview
Tokugawa Period (Edo) 1603 - 1867
1640 decided to exclude foreign traders and missionaries, closed from foreign influence
1800’s Japanese society began to change with increase in population and shift to cities
People argued that if japan was to keep up with foreign nations they were to open up
1853 American ships commanded by captain Commodore Perry, demanded that japan establish trade relations
From the 1800s onwards, Japan’s foreign policy of isolation was relaxing
The opening of Japan to the west lead to major political, social and economic changes within the country
Meiji restoration 1868 deconstructed the long reigning Tokugawa Shoguns and propelled the country into the modern era
Treaty of Kanazawa was signed allowing the Americans to station a consular official in Japan
The shogun consulted with the emperor and the daimyos upon whether to agree to treaties proposed by the Americans
Alliance between Satsuma and Choshu, domains responsible for the overthrowing of the Tokugawa Shogunate — imposing and maintaining national unity
Japan introduced its first constitution in 1889 based the European style
Compulsory education system
Conflicts of interests in Korea between Japan and China, led to the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895
About a decade later, new conflicts over Korea between Japan and Russia resulted in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
The Meiji rule ended with the death of the emperor on July 30, 1912
This era in Japanese history was a momentous epoch that saw the transformation of feudal Japan into a modern industrialized state with a parliamentary form of government and its emergence as a world power through military adventures abroad.
By 1914 Japan had become a major economic and military power feeling increasingly self-confident to challenge the superiority of western powers in Asia
The Meiji period brought about drastic political, economic, and social changes in Japan, which in turn became the framework and foundation of modern Japan as we know it.
The Tokugawa Shogunate
1600- 1868
Traditionally the emperor of Japan was in power but by the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the emperor was primarily a symbolic figurehead
Individual shoguns (military commanders) took power, some using western firearms
The Shogunate unified and stabilised the country, almost ceasing civil warfare. A period of peace ensued. This was largely created because of the feudal Bakafu system.
The Shogun and his immediate followers controlled about a quarter of the land. The rest was divided up into domains controlled by Daimyo’s. All daimyo were loyal to the shogun.
The shogun feared that foreign influence would lead to instability and social unrest and would undermine nationalism.
Nationalism “A devotion to the interests, culture and advancement of your own people, sometimes in opposition to foreign influence, regardless of how this might affect other countries.”
Isolation also controlled the economy and prevented any problems such as foreign debt.
Society was based around agriculture and production, and the economy reflected this.
Non-industrialised, Non-urbanised.
Unstable economy as the was no unifying central banking system, and many were still being paid in rice or land, including the samurai.
Decline of the Shogunate
In July 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan with the demand that Japan open its country to foreign trade with the United States
The Tokugawa shogunate was almost threatened, forced to sign the Kanagawa Treaty with the United States in 1854.
Opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to foreign ships for supplies and repairs
Shogunate was forced to sign with the Western powers
These unequal treaties all favoured the foreign counterpart, as the treaties gave extraterritorial rights as well as the power to set Japanese tariff levels.
The opening of Japan and the way in which the treaties were agreed upon seriously weaken the shogunate’s already feeble position.
The emperors acceptance to the treaties showed his lack of power and revealed complete failure of the shogunate government, leading to the overthrow of Tokugawa shogunate by the new Meiji regime.
For Americans, Perry’s expedition to Japan was but one momentous step in a seemingly inexorable westward expansion that ultimately spilled across the Pacific to embrace the exotic ‘East.’ For the Japanese, on the other hand, the intrusion of Perry’s warships was traumatic, confounding, fascinating, and ultimately devastating.
The Meiji Reign 1868 - 1912
Japan saw that if it did not follow the western trend of industrialisation, it would be left far behind and would be open to being overpowered.
An influencing factor was China’s defeat by Britain in the Opium war which lead to the shogun deciding in 1842 that foreign ships accidentally landing in Japan would be supplied with water, food and fuel.
Markets and raw materials – needed to boost economically due to population.
Wanted to follow the European way of gaining power: wealth + territory.
Fear of Western domination.
Militarism – believed to be a successful policy and a strong tradition
Lack of democracy – government in more favour of imperialistic expansion.
Discontentment with low living standards and low wages.
An oligarchy of three leaders from Choshu and Satsuma held power for the first ten years of the Meiji period.
Wanted to open up to western ideas — (Modernisation and Industrialisation) in order to build a strong Japan and avoid being a victim of western imperialism.
They learnt to ‘conquer or be conquered,’ and that they had to make themselves equal to the Western powers. They modernised in self-defence, as after the Treaty of Kanagawa they knew the Western powers were looking to colonise Japan.
What precipitated the Meiji Restoration
The numerous events and contingent factors that precipitated the restoration are key to understanding the Restoration itself
Major events:
arrival of Commodore Perry off the Japanese coast
‘unequal treaties’ - shogunate discredited by signing
balance of power in Japan which led to the daimyo and samurai revolting
social and economic unrest internally
In order to modernise Japan, the Meiji government had three goals:
industrialisation (economic modernisation)
establishing a national constitution and parliament (political modernisation)
external expansion (military modernisation)
Opposition to changes
The revolutionary changes carried out by restoration leaders, who acted in the name of the emperor, faced increasing opposition by the mid-1870s.
Disgruntled samurai participated in several rebellions against the government, the most famous being led by the former restoration hero Saigō Takamori in the Satsuma Rebellion, 1877.
Uprisings repressed only with great difficulty by the newly formed army.
Peasants, distrustful of the new regime and dissatisfied with its agrarian policies, also took part in revolts that reached their peak in the 1880s.
Political Changes
Charter Oath 1868 — The early goals of the new government:
The first action was to relocate the imperial capital from Kyōto to the shogunal capital of Edo, which was renamed Tokyo (“eastern capital”).
Followed by the dismantling of the old feudal regime. By 1871 administrative reorganisation largely accomplished, when domains abolished and replaced by a prefecture system.
All feudal class privileges were abolished.
A national army formed in 1881 and further strengthened two years later by a universal conscription law.
Policies to unify the monetary and tax systems - agricultural tax reform of 1873 providing its primary source of revenue.
Introduction in 1872 of universal education in the country, which initially put emphasis on Western learning.
Road to Constitution
At the same time, a growing popular rights movement, encouraged by the introduction of liberal Western ideas, called for the creation of a constitutional government and wider participation through deliberative assemblies.
Responding to those pressures, the government issued a statement in 1881 promising a constitution by 1890.
In 1885 a cabinet system was formed, and in 1886 work on the constitution began. Finally in 1889 the Meiji Constitution, presented as a gift from the emperor to the people, was officially promulgated.
It established a bicameral parliament, called the Imperial Diet (Teikoku Gikai)—to be elected through a limited voting franchise. The first Diet was convened the following year, 1890.
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Developing a Constitution
Idea of a writing a constitution had been discussed from the very outset of the Meiji Era (from 1868), both within and outside the Government, but drafting the Meiji Constitution did not begin in earnest until around 1886 (Meiji 19).
Based on the preliminary draft constitution drawn up by Inoue Kowashi and the German Hermann Roesler, another draft constitution was honed by Ito Hirobumi, Ito Miyoji, Kaneko Kentaro, and Inoue, from June to August 1887 (Meiji 20). That document is now referred to as the ‘Natsushima Constitution’.
The reworking of the draft, reflecting the debate on each provision, was presented by Ito to the Privy Council with his original proposal for the Constitution, having made some last-minute alterations.
Meiji Constitution 1889
The Promulgation of the Meiji Constitution, also known as the Imperial Constitution, was Japan's first modern constitution. It's interpretation has been a source of great debate for historians of Japan.
Official ont
Created some limits on the power of the prime minister, as well as creating an independent judiciary.
The constitution was notable for creating Asia's first parliamentary government and seen as a great modernising achievement for Japan at the time.
Created constitutional democracy in Japan.
Industrialisation and Economic Changes
As the feudal domains and the bakufu system were abolished, agriculture became less important to the individual, and subsequently to the economy.
The government set up many large companies such as banks, railways, mines, shipping stations and communications centres, which led the way towards industrialisation by example. Many former peasants now worked in these places.
Industrialisation, and the 3rd part of the Charter Oath led to capitalism, as each man worked for himself.
The economy moved towards a mercantile basis, becoming the first Asian industrialised nation, and going against both the previous economy and social structure, where merchants were seen as lower class.
Agrarian based to industrial based economy.
Trade – exports of raw materials and silk in exchange for imports of machinery.
Feudalism —> Capitalism.
Social Changes
Feudalism —> Capitalism.
Changes in social hierarchy.
Development of a strong sense of nationalisme.g. women’s rights and education.
CONCLUSION:
The leaders from the provinces of Choshu and Satsuma overthrew the feudal society of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868. They restored the emperor as they saw that the Shogunate would not follow the trend of Industrialisation and modernisation that the western world was undertaking, and knew that their country needed to ‘conquer or be conquered’. Their principle aim was of a unified country that was powerful enough to resist Western colonisation, unlike many of their Asian neighbours. They had a strong principle of nationalism, as they wanted a strong Japan, and would go to great lengths to achieve this, sometimes at the expense of other countries.
The oligarchy of officials from Satsuma and Choshu, who ruled for the first ten years of the Meiji period, overthrew the trends Japan had followed for the last 600 years. Their foreign policy turned from isolation to expansionism. Economy went from non-unified, agricultural and feudal, to strong, industrialised and fiscal. The military went from an incoherent group of separate domain armies and samurai to one strong, well organised and well-equipped central army, which could rely upon conscription if required.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan began its own empire, signalling its exponential rise in military strength. Japan colonised Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and the Ryukyu islands, and succeeded in wars against both China and Russia.
Japan went from tbw
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