How Did The Meiji Restoration Affect The Economy Of Japan?

Japan first started out as an isolated nation, but soon it would become one of the most powerful countries during WWII. But before Japan was a powerful Nation, it needed to modernize. According to document 1, Japan was isolated from 1635-1853.1853 to 1854.This was when US Commodore Perry visited Japan and forced them to open their ports(document 1, N.d, timeline. As a result of this, the Japanese create the Meiji Restoration. According to document 5, the emperor is given the power to command the Army and the Navy end to rule over Japan, but the citizens too have a house of representatives( Alfred Stead,1904, Doc 5).

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

Political, social, and economic aspects influenced the rise of the Empire of Japan, and their effects created the ways in which Japan interacted with its people and the world around it. Politically, the Meiji Restoration of the mid-1800s to the early 1900s set the stage for the growth that took place to make Japan an Empire, including the transformation of the views on the emperor. These views on the emperor helped to create a social change: the anger of the Japanese government and people about the lack of representation for Japan in world treaties and in the League of Nations. This caused extreme patriotism. Japan was economically changed by the advancements into China after Japan’s Great Depression. This military advancement opened the door for much more and was based on the Japanese’s intense nationalistic views.

After the world war I allied countries had signed the treaty of Versailles. Japan had felt left out because it wanted to include a part about racial equality. They felt that they weren't being treated equally. So Japan had started to take control and conquer land in southeast Asian countries. They wanted to spread their rule and race. The U.S. didn’t agree with Japan’s action and over the years tension has developed between the two countries. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mindset, America’s embargo of oil, and the fear of being attacked by the United States because of its growth.

The Meiji Restoration, refers to the events that led to the “restoration” of power to Emperor Meiji Tenno. The previous political and military leader of Japan had been the Tokugawa shogunate, but due to the intrusion of the western powers, particularly the Americans, under the command of Commodore Perry, the Shogun was forced to return power to the Emperor. This restoration of power led to many changes in Japanese society such as the social structure, the education system and the Japanese economy that has contributed to Japan becoming a modern world power.

Japan was a very nationalistic country in which the purpose of the civilians was to fight until death for their emperor. This was evident in the fact that they had practiced an extremely nationalistic concept of Bushido. This concept made surrender unacceptable for all Japanese people and they lived to die for the emperor. There nationalism was fueled by the fact that they won 2 large battles (Sino Japanese War and Russo Japanese war) against larger countries. Along with this, the Japanese also had Kamikaze pilots who suicide by deliberately crashing planes into American warship as a tactic of fighting. This extreme nationalism shows that they could not be fought with regular weapons and so posed a threat for the whole world.

Japan wanted to remain isolated from Great Britain and British colonies, including America. They did this because

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

By industrializing, Russia was able to extend its influence in eastern Asia and seizing new territories in northern China. Japan reformed after seeing China’s foreign power so they kicked out all foreigners and built its own military. In Japan, an American commodore, Matthew Perry threatened to bomb Japan in 1853, unless Japan allowed access to trade for the Americans which created military superiority of the West. Therefore, Perry won the right to have the Americans to trade which allowed two ports to open with other European countries of Britain, Holland and Russia. In Japan, they had many signs of improvement with the Western influence of new banks to fund trade and private investment capital, railways and steam vessels improved national communication and helped with trade since Japan lacked many resources.

If their people got in their way or tried to slow down their progress, civil war was the first option to get them back in line. Industrialization and militarization were two advances in their country that were quickly grasped. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was famous for saying “Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army”. As the empire began to conquer other lands surrounding them, this quote was law and what they lived everyday by. Enriching their country and making a stronger army is one of the key things that made the Japanese Empire excellent. By increasing the stregnth of their army many other European countries fell to Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack. From the time when Japan attacked the United States, the United States were brought into World War II. Soon they began to ask Japan to surrender, but the Japanese would not give in. “In 1947, the Empire of Japan fell due to the United Sates dropping atomic bombs on them” . Since the Japanese would not give in, the United States decided to bomb them with an atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki collapsed the empire and the Japanese Empire failed to bounce back.

During this time there was a lot going on. A few years before, between the time 1937 and 1941 Japan owned most of the land of East and Southeast Asia. When the attack of the United States in December of 1941 at Pearl Harbor, this caused the United States to enter the war. Japan did not have enough resources to fight against the United States and Britain causing them to be pushed out of the land of East and Southeast Asia (Basic Information of the Bomb). The then president at the time FDR died in February 1945, which leads to Truman becoming the new president soon after.

Before the war with America, the Japanese economy was going in the opposite of the American. This meaning that during this time the Japanese economy was becoming so powerful that it needed to expand onto the mainland of Asia just to meet

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

     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.

The Meiji Restoration created many changes in the modern Japan. As Allen points out (2011 p.27). It is also worth noting that for economic growth and development to take place, good reforms must be undertaken. Additionally, it is important for governments to ensure that there is a complete re-orientation in all spheres of life if meaningful change is to be achieved. This paper looks critically at the contributions of the Meiji Restoration to the economic development of Japan and also appreciates the role of government in promoting economic growth and development.