Japan's Tokugawa, or Edo, was the final era of traditional Japanese government, culture, and society from 1603 to 1867. Emperor Meiji took control over Japan after the Tokugawa shogun lost his power in 1868. When Emperor Meiji came to power, Japan was a militarily weak country, it was primarily agricultural, and had little technological development. The Western Powers, Europe and the Unites States, contrived Japan to sign treaty, which limited their own control over foreign trade. The treaties also made crimes concerning foreigners in Japan to be tried in a Western court, not a Japanese court. Western powers control during the Meiji Restoration greatly affected Japan culturally and politically. The Meiji Restoration is worthy to investigate …show more content…
In the Tokugawa period, the government was ruled by a feudal system; everyone had their own ranking by their family and occupation. For example, “...the common peasant farmers were next below them, and the artisans and craftsmen were below the peasant and the commercial class was at the bottom.” (The Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate 2). This period had a systematic plan to freeze social orders and prohibited mobility between the four classes: warriors, farmers, artisans, and merchants to maintain stability. The Tokugawa period “...presided over 250 years of peace and prosperity in Japan, including the rise of a new merchant class and increasing urbanization.” (Tokugawa Period and Meiji Restoration 1). However, this period came to an end when two dominant forces united together in the early 1868. They seized power for Emperor Meiji as part of an “ imperial …show more content…
Emperor Meiji had to accept the advice of the group that defeated the shogun. The group consisted of limited “... ambitious, able, and patriotic young men from the lower ranks of the samurai emerged to take control and establish the new political system.” (The Meiji Restoration and Modernization 5). They eventually began to develop their own military and economic control. Then by 1869, the feudal lords lost all their powers and in 1871 their powers were completely abolished and transformed to prefectures of a unified central state. The new government offered the feudal lords and the samurai class a yearly stipend, which was later changed to a one-time payment in government bonds. Once the new government declared all classes to be impartial, the samurai lost all their privileges. Then in 1872, a national army was created, it required all men to serve three years in the military. The new government also created a national land tax system, where it required payments to be paid with money instead of rice. The national tax system allowed the government to stabilize Japan’s national budget, which allowed the government to spend money on building up the nation’s
Issues within the Feudal structure of Japan were already occurring, even with the support of their 200 years of peace, which eventually played a role in the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Internal changes were already taking place within Japan with peace for over 200 years under the policy of isolation. This already set in place issues, which helped push the decline of the Tokugawa shogunate over the line after the arrival of Commodore Perry and the Western influence he brought with him. Within the Japanese Feudal System, merchants were
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...
The goals of the Meiji Restoration included dismantling of the old feudal regime and the creation of a nation-state capable of standing equal among Western powers, including the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the Unites States. The leaders of the Meiji Restoration were mostly young samurai motivated by increasing domestic problems and threats of foreign intrusion. Saigō Takamori was also an influential leader in the Meiji Restoration. He was responsible for leading several rebellions against the government in companionship with samurai warriors and peasants who distrusted the new regime. The citizens of Japan were also, arguably, influential leaders of the Meiji restoration. Under their pressure to insist on the creation of a constitutional government, the government formed a Cabinet system in 1885 and in 1886 began developing the Constitution, which would be presented as a gift from the emperor to the people in 1889 and established a bicameral parliament. Revolutionary tactics from the Meiji Restoration included the development of transportation and communication. Railroads were built, telegraphs connecting major cities, and the institution of a European-style banking system developed. We can clearly recognize differences between the revolutionary tactics of the Meiji Restoration to those in the Mexican Revolution and those in the
This became the era of the shogun empire and was the beginning of a new duel government in
...after seven years the system was abolished , the samurai were compensate in “respect or political influence, [and] were reappointed as governors” but the point was to reinstitute the Emperors rule over all the ‘hans’ which were then reorganized into prefectures. These prefectures were governed by elected officials instead of appointed ones and allowed the government to begin collecting taxes from the land .
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 an 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. From around 1920 a democratic movement gained strength.
The top structure of the society includes the Shoguns, Daimyos and Samurais. ‘Shogun’ was the title granted by the Emperor to Japan’s top military commander (Web-japan.org, 2013). Initially Emperors controlled the country but over time Shoguns became more powerful than the Emperor and took over the whole government, the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until 1867 when feudalism was abolished (Web-japan.org, 2013). Daimyos were the lords and their roles were to manage and maintain the law, collect taxes and aiding in armed forces for the Shogun (Ask.com, 2013). Samurais were the members of the military class, they were the warriors of traditional Japan. The roles of the Samurais were to protect and serve their daimyos or lords usually in wars (Answers.yahoo.com, 2013).
When discussing the origin of the Samurai, an important time in history for their beginning can be seen in the formation of a Feudal System in early Japan. In 646 AD, Emperor Tenji enacted the Taika Reform. This reform allowed the aristocracy to adopt Chinese-Style political structures, bureaucracy, and culture (Farris). Basically, this allowed land to be redistributed among the people and while new taxes were formed. This was because more income was needed to support the newly adopted Chinese style empire. Due to these reforms, many peasants had to sell their land and work as farmers for other people while people who actually owned land were able to gain wealth and power. This resulted in the formation of a feudal system. This system was similar to that of medieval Europe and contributed to the rise of the Samurai social class.
Japan lasted from 1185-1603. During that time Japan had emperors, shoguns, daimyos, samurai, and peasants who were all apart of a social class, and all together it was called the Samurai Society. The emperor was just a figurehead for the shogun. The shogun was a powerful military leader that ruled in the emperor’s name. Daimyo were powerful landlords. The daimyo often led armies of samurai. These samurai were trained professional warriors who served daimyo and shoguns. The samurai had to follow a certain code of rules for samurai called Bushido. One of their rules included to always have self-discipline to become a good samurai. The samurai warriors wore light armor, helmets (usually shaped like an animal), and had two swords around their waist. Their armor had a lot of detail and color to it, like their unique helmets. After the samurai comes the peasants, which included farmers and fishermen. They usually always work, then pay takes to the shogun. They usually gave the shogun what they earned from working like food or crops. What made their jobs a bit difficult was their topography. Japan’s topography included many mountains, undersea volcanoes, and barely any flat land to farm on. The Japanese didn’t only work they also practiced their religion. For example, they practiced Confucianism, Buddhism (...
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....
It placed people in a fixed stratus of the hierarchy but also organized gender within each class. Separating gender from the status hierarchy is impossible because the it was arranged in a way that “construction of status would not have been possible without the initial work of constituting households and establishing gendered divisions of power within them.” Men had authority over women within each stratus and the organization of the structure was roughly a ruling class, peasant class, and a merchant or artisan class. This hierarchy fit the agrarian economy that was influenced by Confucianism because it discouraged excessive consumption but it was not compatible to the booming market economy that began emerging in Tokugawa Japan. The delicate balance of power that relied heavily on each person in the hierarchy to be perfect aligned with their role was thrown off when commercial trade became more prominent and people were disregarding morals like frugality and
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.
...ining power over its subjects. The Tokugawa instead took the wives and children of the shoguns semihostage in Edo to deter powerful families from taking over the Tokugawa. This is the way the Tokugawa handled the problem because they were no outsiders to Japan but they had many enemies within the state. The Tokugawa and Chinese, however, both closely maintained their contact with foreigners, especially in trade. The Chinese established the Canton system which limited the Europeans to trade in only one city and need a guild approval to trade. The Japanese solved this problem of foreign relations through directing all trade traffic to Honshu, a port city under Edo’s direct rule. This was significant because this direction of trade meant the Edo government could collect taxes on the products rather than another daimyo, drawing power and wealth away from rival families.
This lead to the formation of another unit of governing called the Shogunate;
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.