Changes In Japanese Society

The concentration of power into the emperor’s hands led to many changes in the government of Japan. The samurai class was quickly abolished, a national army was formed, political parties formed, an upper House of Peers and lower House of Diet were formed, and a constitution was drafted.

From the dawn of time, education has been the past's greatest utility in survival. Through learning, skills that have been passed down from the errors of others, communities were able to learn and grow with each other. Simple public education systems began to pop up to educate the youth and the curious, and ever since the first school systems began there has been room for improvement. The largest reforms of the educational system began at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

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

It is clear that Japan’s ‘three unifiers’ were beneficial to the development of Japan in three fundamental areas: social, economic and political. Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu are known for unifying Japan after the sengoku period (c. 1467 – c. 1603), a time of internal conflict. While each unifier had a different approach to developing Japan, the corroboration of each new policy resulted in an improved Japan which set foundations for lasting central rule.

There was also the idea that Education should be the responsibility of the government, and schools should be fully

The dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima resulted in one of the greatest destructions in history, but it is argued that the bombing was crucial to ending WWII. During the 1920s, Japan started to westernize and become more democratic with a two party system. Unions started to form and workers started to gain more rights. However, all of this started to change when the Great Depression hit Japan hard in the 1930s. The economy completely crashed and it caused people to start to doubt capitalism and democracy, especially among the wealthy class.

The people of Japan knew that the time for change had come, and in 1868 a group of samurai overthrew the Shogunate. This eventually led to the rise of the Meiji Restoration in 1889. The western countries were much more advanced compared to Japan during the industrial revolution and if they were to become a global power, Japan would need to advance as well. The Meiji Restoration was brought up upon western ideology, which led to new advanced technology along with rapid social and economic growth and the formation of a national military. The Meiji restoration had occurred in the 19th century because Japan needed a change in order to advance during the industrial revolution. The restoration was the change, that eventually led Japan to become an international force. For decades the high tariffs of the unequal treaties affected my pay and my life. Though this new restoration has brought more jobs and better pay for us

Many people viewed the Harris treaty as unfair, they referred to it as an unequal treaty. After other countries heard that japan opened its borders to the United States they to wanted to have agreements with Japan. Soon Japan was pressured into signing treaties with Russia, Britain, France, and the Netherlands. These treaties were also viewed as unequal treaties. The japanese started thinking that the shogun was not in control anymore. During the unrest in the mid 1800s, bad weather was making crops die, and the farmers, and peasants were starving. The japanese started questioning lots of things, for example, taxes, and whether or not the Unrest was the government's fault. Citizens were questioning all of the decisions the government was making. The Japanese wanted to create a new government, they felt this was the best way to solve Japan's

(3) This was an enormous change as it not only made a national army but also made commoner and samurai serve besides each other equally. The abolishment of the feudal domain system also allowed Japan to

The Tokugawa Shogunate was the last feudal regime of Japan which was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, following the battle of Sekigahara, and lasting for nearly 300 years until the Meiji restoration in 1867. During this period there were many achievements, such as the unification of the country under the Tokugawa family’s rule, the solidification of the social class system in japan’s society in order to preserve stability and the establishment of a closed door policy. This essay will focus to establish how these achievements affected Japanese society and ultimately how successful this period was for Japan. The first major achievement which shall be discussed, is the unification of the country under the Tokugawa family’s rule, Through the re-unification of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu completed a process of unification, the beginnings of

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.

This idea was heavily advertized. Their new motto was “Civilization and Enlightenment,” and “Be a Success.”. These ideas were new because individualism and freedom were always frowned upon in the past. People began to work in harmony with others. However there were problems. There were groups of people writing about how Japan had lost their identity, saying their values were gone and needed to be

We explained to them about the electric telegraph and soon after we even connected them with California's telegraphs.10 Many Japanese women started to wear western dresses or even sweaters and slacks.11 Japan changed politically as well. Japan became divided up into 47 profectures, which are similar to American states. Japan has carried over America's democratic ideas of social freedom, economic independence, and democratic liberties and privileges Japan's government soon began the executive, legislative, and judicial branches seen in America seen after the war.13 These changes all became possible soon after the war with great financial aid from the Us.14 Japan's progress in America's modernization program was so fast, we had to begin recognizing Japan as a world power.15 After Japan's modernization program, Japanese life began to change less dramatically, but never stopped.

Between 1968 and 1912, Japan was going through a reformation called Meiji Restoration in order make the country strong as western countries. It had caused changes in many parts of Japan such as society, government, military, etc. Some of these changes still can be seen in the Japanese society today such as emperors are honored by Japanese citizens and seen as a special figure. Since this reformation had a great impact on development of Japan, it can be consider as a very important part of Japanese history.This study will seek to answer the question: To what extent did the Meiji Restoration succeeded to reform and strengthen Japan? In order to answer the question, the investigation will analyze military reform and economic reform caused by

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way