Meiji Restoration Essay

With the change of government in Japan, economic change soon followed. Banks were founded to invest in capital, railways and steam boats were developed, restrictions on trade such as tariffs and guilds were removed, and land was re-distributed. These reforms helped spur the Industrial

Japan is home to a lot of ancient cultural artifacts and yet serves as an example of the developed world samurais, high-speed trains, home to some of the world’s largest tech companies, and may evision Tokyo as a bustling fast paced city. Japan’s population is declining, this isn’t unusual in a time where developed countries are relying on less children.What is overlooked when describing the now 3rd largest economy on Earth is how it went from surrendering during WWII to becoming an industrial superpower. There have been many changes but one have remained constant, which is the collective drive to work and excel. It has heavily influenced the Japan we know today.

The government than also led in the way of building railways and shipping lines, telegraphs and telephone systems, three shipyards, ten mines, fifty-three consumer industries. The Meiji Government opened their borders, allowing japan to improve their basic infrastructure, improving communication and to be able to travel from city to city easier. The markets were often based on main roads/path ways, rivers and special temples so that the local sellers are able to easily bring their items to the markets, according to (The Program for Teaching East Asia 2008). In doing this Japan was able to become more richer and Emperor Meiji was able to turn Japan into a modern world power as we see it

After centuries of living in seclusion to the outside world, the government knew that they needed the technological advancements that the West offered. The Industrial Revolution and growing urbanisation in Japan had intended to and succeeded in mimicking Western growth. Moreover, the Japanese were well-known for their diligence, discipline, perseverance, and hard work – this resulted in substantial economic development including increased shipping of commodities and a significant expansion of trade and handicraft industries. However, the political elite pocketed most of the profits through influence and corruption. Workers and farmers found it unfair that their patriotic and back-breaking labour only received a little wage in comparison, but with a state-controlled media and education system, they couldn’t make their voices heard. So overall, this collective and nationalistic open-mindedness for communal prosperity was beneficial for Japan as a whole, but the common people were disadvantaged with no access to basic human rights and a fair

The Meiji Restoration played a significant role in the modernisation of Japan. The Meiji period was a time of political and social revolution. It brought momentous social, political and economic changes to Japan, and these changes became the foundation of the Japan we know today. Prior to the 1868 Restoration, Japan was a militarily weak country with a feudal agricultural society, and was controlled by feudal lords. When the Meiji period ended with the Emperor's death in 1912, Japan was a well-developed nation with a constitutional monarchy, an elected government, a strong economy, a powerful military and a well educated population.

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

The resulting Tokugawa period “saw Japan move from a country divided by civil war to a unified, stable, and mature state” (Earns, Lane). This was accomplished through Ieyasu’s establishment of a central authority through a new shogunate in Edo, or present-day Tokyo. A more organized government, the Tokugawa shogunate introduced regional authority by daimyo, brought social classes to working order, and resulted in a more flourishing economy through urbanization (Earns, Lane). This was the first step towards a more modernized Japan as it decreased conflict and created an increased orderly

In 1850-1935, Japan has become an industrial power and replaced its traditional, feudal government with a regime in which ministers appointed by the emperor combined with parliament. The interwar years were not a time of crisis for Japan, however. During the 1920s, new cultural developments, an expanding economy and a brief commitment to liberal democracy produced important currents as well. In the 1930s, Japan turned to a more adventurous foreign policy in response to economic challenge and political change. Japan participated in the global economy by changing its government to benefit the economy, the emergence of open trade and still continuing to depend heavily on imports of raw materials.

During the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which began during the 1600s, many members of the low-class (samurais, farmers, merchants) began having grievances with the various shoguns/daimyos. These feudal lords would increase taxes heavily and take possession over various farms, which would lead to anger and revolts. No change will happen until the rise of Emperor Meiji, which resulted in the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. As emperor, Meiji changed Japan’s feudalism and pushed towards a more modern industrial state. During Japan’s period of recreation, Emperor Meiji created the Meiji Restoration which established a new political and social structure, pushing Japan towards a more first world country status (meaning more modern lifestyle).

The Japanese economy had changed immensely as it became a place of free trade and importations from being a place where there was little to no foreign interactions a century ago. The japanese had implemented this closed door policy due to the unruliness of the Europeans in the 17th century and felt complacent in their situation. Although the Japanese government implemented a closed-door policy from 1639 to 1854, their rapid economic development after this period was due to their similar geographical conditions to England. Their location allowed them to reap the benefits of being imperialized because they were able to westernize and set up the foundation of a good economy. They had been able to live peacefully while absorbing technology and culture from the Eurasian countries, this help them develop their ‘foreign acceptance’ as they were used to taking technology from other countries.

Its actions have helped initiate new industries, cushion the effects of economic depression, create a sound economic infrastructure, and protect the living standards of the citizenry. Indeed, so pervasive has government influence in the economy seemed that many foreign observers have popularized the term "Japan Inc." to describe its alliance of business and government interests. Whether Japan in the mid-1990s fit this picture seems questionable, but there is little doubt that government agencies continue to influence the economy through a variety of policies. Not only did the American press use the same terms as the federal government, but in doing so it also helped lay the framework of the Japanese- American internment in a completely inaccurate way (Lau, 2014).

Japan is not only a major economic power, it is one of the most economically developed countries in the world. Japan’s economic development begun between the 12th and 17th century, in a period of time that the Japanese refer to as the Edo period. Although specific economic structures didn’t exist at the time, the conditions, both socially and politically, set the Japanese up for a later successful industrialization and modernization. During the Edo period, the ruling government was known as the bakufu. The bakufu had absolute political power over smaller, local governments, however, they lacked a consistent economic stance. Therefore, the local governments, known as the han, were allowed to decide how their people would be taxed, and how administration would work, along with education, industrialization, and issuing paper currency as long as it was not directly prohibited by the bakufu.

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

Japan emerged from the Tokugawa-Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized nation. Domestic commercial activities and limited foreign trade had met the demands for material culture in the Tokugawa period, but the modernized Meiji era had radically different requirements. From the beginning, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. The private sector — in a nation blessed with an abundance of aggressive entrepreneurs — welcomed such change.

In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.