The Military Events of the Meiji Restoration

1643 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Japan industrialization dbq

In this investigation I will look at the major historical and military events of the transition of the Edo period to the Meiji Period and the Meiji Restoration and look at how they relate to the freedom of Japanese people.

Japan during the periods of 1600 – 1868 A.D. was a land of seclusion, military power and oppression. This was known as the Edo period. This however was one of the most peaceful times in Japan’s history. This peace was established through the military powers of the Tokugawa Shogunate. This peace brought with it no real individual freedoms. The supposed ruler of Japan the emperor was known as a du jure emperor, ruling by permission from the Tokugawa Shogunate. In 1868, the Tokugawa shogun lost its power and the emperor regained his power during what is known as the Meiji Restoration.

The Meiji Restoration (1868 – 1912 A.D.)

This period lasted through the reign of the Meiji Emperor (Pictured right). At the start of his reign, Japan had a weak military, the main industry being agriculture, and almost no technological advancement. By the time of the death of the emperor in 1912, Japan had a centralised, bureaucratic government, a constitution with an elected parliament, well-developed transport and communication systems, a highly educated population, a rapidly growing industrial sector based on the latest technology and a powerful army and navy. This rise in power scared several European powers and established the Japanese as an unwanted equal of the European powers. With this change in government and social thinking, the Japanese themselves gained personal public freedom from the feudal ways of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The first event that started the Meiji restoration was one that was oppressive but set for...

... middle of paper ...

....

Edoardo Chiossone, (1878), Takamori Saigo [ONLINE]. Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Takamori_Saigo.png [Accessed 23 August 11].

Onwar.com. 2000. Japan Russia War. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/romeo/russojapanese1904.htm. [Accessed 29 August 11].

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000. Japan, 1800–1900 A.D.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=10®ion=eaj#/Key-Events. [Accessed 25 July 11].

Uchida Kuichi, (1872), Meiji Emperor [ONLINE]. Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Meiji_Emperor.jpg [Accessed 15 August 11].

Ukiyoe Cities. 2008. Satsuma Rebellion. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.taisho.com/satsuma.html. [Accessed 24 August 11].

Watkins, T. 2000. The Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/tokufall.htm. [Accessed 02 September 11].

Show More
Related

  • Industrialization Expansion in Russia and Japan

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japanese revolts ensue with the opening of Japan to the Western World. The middle and lower classes wanted Japan to be open while the conservative daimyo did not. Both of these groups looked to the emperor for a decision. The shogunate, reliant on the isolation, collapsed under pressures caused by outsid...

    Read More

  • An Indepth Look at Warfare in Medieval Japan in Joseph Conlans' State of War; The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    Joseph Conlans “State of War; The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan” is an depth look at Japans emerging warrior class during a time period of constant warfare in Medieval Japan. His work however doesn’t revolve around the re-fabrication and in-depth analysis of battles sieged like many contemporary examinations of wars and battles won and lost. Instead the author vies to navigate the reader on journey into the warrior class’s lives and how they evolved through a statistical analysis of records. This illustrates how warfare changed and transformed with the constant evolving of the Samurai, but it also includes how their actions affected their Political environment as well as the society in which they dwelled from the bottom up. Through his survey of records and documents, Conlan is able to give readers a compelling look into the Warrior class and at times shatters in the process many of the pre-conceived general notions that one may hold about this ancient class of professional warriors. Many of the notions & common misconceptions debunked in this scholarly piece include the idea that the Samurai was a male only fraternity, reserved for those of impeccable candor and loyalty. When truth be known, woman and young men (boys) were also trained in the art of war and thus were as likely to be found on the battle fields as men when times were tough and solider numbers were depleted. Further, another misconception (Generally thought to be caused by the popular and well known; “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai”) of the warrior class is that all of these men were truly Samurai which translated to “one who serves” when really, loyalty for the warrior class as Conlan points out only went as far as ones right to ...

    Read More

  • Samurai: The Feudal Warriors of Japan

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    With his death, the last vestiges of ancient Japan died. The samurai only lives on through stories and legends. Bibliography Shigotoki, a.k.a. Shigotok Ideals of the Samurai. 1198-1261 - pg.

    Read More

  • The History of China's and Japan's Western Influence

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Print. The. Hall, John. The Whitney.

    Read More

  • The American and Japanese Trading: The Meiji Restoration

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the American Commodore Perry arrived and forced the Japanese to open up trading with the Americans in 1853 it caused a massive shift in the way Japan was run. The shogun could not deal with the looming threat and began a campaign of anti-foreignism “’Toi!’ (Expel the Barbarians!)” . The shogun eventually capitulated and began to allow foreign ships into Japan; this sparked the anti-foreign element, created by the shogun, to remove the shogun and reinstate the Emperor into power: “’Sonno’ (Revere the Emperor) was added to their mantra of ‘Toi’ to represent the old system where the Emperor was like a god. The Emperor took power back into his hands and renamed himself Meiji meaning “Enlightened Rule.” However, the Emperor did not expel the ‘barbarians’, instead he saw them as a method of creating a better Japan and began a campaign known as the ‘Meiji Restoration’ to modernize the nation. Japan needed to modernize because the western countries had forced the Tokugawa shogunate to sign unfair treaties that greatly favoured the western countries, notably the United States of America, Russia, Great Britain and France . One of the key events of the Meiji Restoration was the decline and fall of the samurai class in Japan. This essay intends to show the reasons for the decline of the samurai at the beginning of the Empire of Japan through the policies enacted during the Meiji Restoration. This will be shown through the military, cultural, political and social reforms enacted by the Japanese government.

    Read More

  • Comparing Britain To Japan

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    The establishment of the Japanese archipelago assumed its present shape around 10,000 years ago. Soon after the era known as the Jomon period began and continued for about 8,000 years. Gradually they formed small communities and began to organize their lives communally. Japan can be said to have taken its first steps to nationhood in the Yamato period, which began at the end of the third century AD. During this period, the ancestors of the present Emperor began to bring a number of small estates under unified rule from their bases around what are now Nara and Osaka Prefectures. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Tokugawa Ieyasu set up a government in Edo (now Tokyo) and the Edo period began. The Tokugawa regime adopted an isolationist policy that lasted for more than 200 years, cutting off exchange with all countries except China and the Netherlands. The age of the Samurai came to and end with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and a new system of government centered on the Emperor was set up. The new government promoted modernization, adopted Western political, social and economic systems, and stimulated industrial activity. The Diet was inaugurated, and the people began to enjoy limited participation in politics.

    Read More

  • Shogun

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout most of Japanese history, the power of the emperor, tenno, has been either limited or purely symbolic. Still, all Japan's effective rulers, from the Fujiwara and Hojo re...

    Read More

  • Shogunate Japan

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tokugawa period, also known as Edo period (1603-1867), was the final period of traditional Japan that lasted for more than 250 years (britannica.com,2013). The period was a time of internal peace, political stability, and economic growth under the Shogunate founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Tokugawa Shoguns maintained strict control over the structure of society by keeping a firm control over what they were allowed to do and what they were not allowed to do.

    Read More

  • The Old Badger

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sanson, George. "Tokugawa’s Practical Revolution." Makers of World History, Volume 2. Ed. J. Kelly Sowards. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995: 76-78.

    Read More

  • Western Influence on Japan

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    as well.8 The Meiji period was an important part of Japan's changing western ways. After World War II, Japan changed forever. With the Atomic bomb physically destroying their cities, and their defeat destroying their. imperialistic mentality, Japan was deeply wounded. Japan lost the respect of the world during the war and few people felt sorry for them....

    Read More

  • Effects of the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japanese History

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tsuzuki, Chushichi. The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan, 1825-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Rise, Embracing, and Effects of Modernization in Japan

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though it seems that it was the Western influence that set off this revolutionary change, a more scrutinizing look into Japanese society at the time reveals that Japan was in fact on the brink of supplanting the fixed, hierarchical Tokugawa order for one that was better suited for its fast evolving, capitalistic society. As historian David Lu states, “Our people began to discover [modern civilization’s] utility and gradually and yet actively moved towards its acceptance. However, there was an old fashioned and bloated government that stood in the way of progress.” (Lu, 351). Therefore in a way we can view the intrusion of Western powers in Japan on that infamous July day in 1853 as an event that occurred during a time when Japan was ready for a world renewal, and not a direct and complete cause of modernization of Japan; in fact it was Japan’s revaluation of modernization and what it meant to be Japanese amidst strong western influences that eventually ...

    Read More

  • Buddhist Art in Japan

    2007 Words  | 5 Pages

    Munsterberg, H. (1985) The Arts of Japan An Illustrated History Charles E. Tuttle, Tokyo, Japan.

    Read More

  • Japanese Imperialism Essay

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imperialism has not only influenced colonial territories to better themselves or to further the mother country’s realm of power, it also had a significant impact on the people’s culture, education, environment, and political systems. Japan and Britain were two imperial systems that countered each other in many facets but also had strikingly similar qualities that had helped them become strong imperial powers that needed one another to continue their position amongst others. The Japanese empire was an inspirational country to other Asians that spearheaded the fight against the European imperialism. After the Meiji restoration, the emperors decided that the modernization of Japan was going to begin and in order for it to be a success, the government had to change along with their culture, “.restored authority faced new dangers in a new age.

    Read More

  • Reflection of Modern East Asia

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...

    Read More

More about The Military Events of the Meiji Restoration

Open Document