A Discourse By Three Drunkards On Government Summary

During the 1800s, the island nations of Great Britain and Japan depended on their location to move them forward. Although they share many geographical similarities, they began handling their government policies very differently. While Japan's isolationist policies kept it locked in the past, imperialist Britain charged forward into a bright and powerful future. It would take the weakening of one Japanese government to bring about the rise of another, a government that would be far more modern and progressive than the last. Overall, when handled to their advantage, the geography of these island nations seemed to positively influence them.

Louise Young in her meticulous and groundbreaking monograph, Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism, calls for a turn to the study of ordinary people’s agency in building Japanese imperialism and empire. She accurately points out the problem at the root of previous scholarships that concentrate on the state as the sole actor in the history of Japan’s expansionism. Certainly, to drag the ordinary into the swirl of history and the responsibility of its cause is not to negate the state’s role, but to have a fuller picture of how the empire worked at the home front. It is interesting, in this sense, to juxtapose Wilson’s piece along with Young’s to understand Japan’s empire at home in the early 1930s.

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

Although Japan changed in many ways from 1853 to 1941, there were also many factors that remained the same throughout the history of Japan. One such continuity was the maintained existence of a figurehead ruler controlled by other political authorities. The feudalistic emperor of Japan was the supposed “highest, most powerful authority” in the land, but was actually controlled by the military leaders- the shogun. Similarly, the militaristic emperor of Japan decades later continued to remain a figurehead ruler controlled by military and government officials. In addition, Japan continued to remain reliant on exports in order to maintain its economy. As a result of Japan’s small geographical size, the island nation had few natural resources and was forced to rely on exports to survive economically. The nation also grew increasingly reliant on other nations to provide materials and supplies that it could not provide for itself. This complete reliance on other nations was seen illustrated when the Japanese military was provoked to attacking another superpower- the United States, in response to the 1940 United States embargo

In the present, Japan is a military and economic superpower with strong influence. However, it was not always like this. In the early 1700s, Japan isolated itself from the world and greeted foreigners unfortunate enough to shipwreck in Japan with hostility. In the 1850s, the United States attempted to make contact with Japan to establish a treaty. The U.S. knew even though Japan was hostile, it was weak compared to a western power. Although the U.S. was stronger than Japan, it was nowhere close to being as strong as other western powers such as Brittan or France and was struggling to keep up. Japanese hostility, U.S. power struggles, and Japan’s isolation all led to the inevitable Japanese and U.S. conflict.

To top it off, the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor gave the Americans a legitimate reason to join the war and to portray their intervention as a strictly defensive and protective one. Claiming to spread democracy and stunt the spread of fascism, the United States managed to build its reputation as a protector of the weak, despite its subtle plans to build an American empire.

For the last several decades China and Japan have both risen as superpowers and dominated the Pacific. Japan during the 1980s had the “economic miracle”, however it had a recession in the 1990s that set Japan back. As China becomes a rising superpower due to growing populations and cheap labor and, while Japan remains a “fragile superpower” because of the lack of resources and ageing population both nations will continue to grow, or will China become another fallen communist nation and will the tiger of the Pacific come to a roaring halt? Ever since the Four Humiliations in 1839 China was in desperate need to modernize and change many aspects of its government if it wanted to keep up with the ever-changing world.

One of the three characters in the book, Champion, had a very unique view of how Japan should be that was extremely different from that of the Gentleman. The Champion thought that Japan should step it up and become more forceful in its handling of foreign disputes. He thought that if Japan was going to be attacked by another nation, Japan should not be passive and should in fact answer with strength and force. He brings up a good point when he says that Japan could not respond to foreign attacks by trying to verbalize and reason through the problem. Champion is a skeptic when it comes to relations with other nations and thinks that other countries are solely looking out for their own best interests which to me seems to make sense, and that is why Champion believes that Japan needs to take a stand and project its own desires and

Both Japan and China lie in the East of Asia. ‪To a certain extent，Japan and China own similar culture background, in the Confucian Cultural Circle. But when we look back into the modern history development, Japan and China made quite different decisions when facing the western countries’ aggression. China suffered the invasion in 1840 after the first Sino-British War. Japan was in a similar situation in the black boat incident in 1853, the Opium War made the West began to pay attention to East Asia. From then on, Japan began to face the western culture. ‬The reactions, as well as the result of Japan and China were quite disparate. This article wants to discuss what lead to the difference. ‬‬

In 1868, provincial rebels overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the new leaders called the regime the “Meiji Restoration.” This was just the beginning for soon-to-be modernized Japan. A stronger military, new ideas, technology, and laws would be all used to transform Japan into a modern industrial nation. Because of these, modernization had a great effects on Japan’s society and the nation as a whole from 1850 to 1950. One effect modernization had was strengthening international presence and relations for Japan as a whole. This helped to keep them active on global terms and impacted them in a positive manner. Another effect modernization resulted in was the transformation of the internal society of Japan. The changes in the society all provided great benefits for Japan.

I find that the juxtaposition of East and West is firmly demonstrated in the written and participative aspects of the military throughout this period. The combination of both ideologies highlights the fractured nature of Japan, connected in part to its Eastern ancestral roots, yet also determined to become a Western empire. However by 1885 this sentiment has changed, evidenced by the work of Fukuzawa Yukichi who argues in favour of adopting Western practices and bluntly saying ‘goodbye’ to

When Japan was in the turning point of its economics and forming of new government, author Nakaw Chomin wrote a book called A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government in 1877. This book presents use with a work of debate literature with specific characters with their beliefs about Japan’s future. One of the two main characters in the book,

During the Meiji period, Japan was trying to figure out how to modernize itself after the Meiji government overthrew the Shogunate. One argument is that the Japanese should follow the Western style of idealism, where the Japanese should use peaceful tactics in order to avoid conflict with other nations. The other argument is realism, in which the Japanese would use aggressive tactics on. What Nakae Chomin is trying to say in the book, A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government, is that is very difficult to figure out what Japan’s future is going to be, and that they shouldn’t simply have purely idealistic or realistic views, but to find a middle ground where they can succeed. While it might be a good idea to not show aggression toward

Nakae Chomin’s Discourse was published in 1887, a period that demarcated a crucial turning point in Japan’s politics and economy. The book itself suggested the great debate that the people of Japan were having in deciding the future of the nation, and draws on Chomin’s studies on Western politics in France and his journalistic and political involvements in Japan.

     Over the past fifty years Japan has seen significant changes in all aspects of its society and the way it interacts with the outside world. For example, despite suffering a defeat in World War II, Japan soon became one of Asia’s greatest economic powers. In Japan in Transformation, 1952 - 2000, Jeffrey Kingston focuses on various aspects of change in Japanese society and politics in the period after World War II. These include the effect of the US occupation, analysis of postwar politics, the economic boom, changes in demographics, the treatment of women, and foreign policy and security issues.