Reinvention means to be completely undone and remade in a different way. Japan has been reinvented two times, for two different reasons. The cause for the first reinvention, also known as the Meiji restoration, was foreign influence let into the country by the shoguns. As a result, the shoguns lost credit, and the Meiji leaders came to power. They enforced a lot of new rules for government, education, society, military, and economy. One of the most influential was the newly constructed government. The Meiji leaders sent out scholars to observe western ways. These scholars looked at legislature, America’s voting system, policies about taxation and agriculture, and religious freedom. As a result, these observations led to big changes. In an …show more content…
Their government was redone, and everyday society norms were altered significantly. Not to mention, the military was changed as well to become a national army instead of a clan based army. The reforms made led to a modernized, stronger Japan. But the reforms made in the second reinvention were also very influential. This reinvention occurred after WWII, when Japan was trying to come together again after the catastrophic atomic bombings and loss during the war. The US aided greatly in this reinvention, loaning money, reforming social standards, writing a new constitution and more. For example, in an article by Sean Price from the New York Times, Sean spoke of the constitution, “It outlawed war, abolished secret police, liberalized education, and gave women the right to vote. Japan’s voters approved the constitution in 1947 and it is still in use today” (NYT 2). Not only did the US greatly influence the everyday lives of the Japanese, the Japanese worked with the US to agree on these terms, and they approved …show more content…
In both reinventions, the new changes resulted in a better, modernized Japan. Today in Japan, a reinvention is necessary. There are many struggles with the young generation, the old generation, and catastrophic events which should be addressed. Specifically, the Japanese economy has been experiencing deflation for the past twenty years. In an article, the results of the deflation were described. The authors said, “Because of fewer available jobs and lower
They changed the education system accordingly after observing Western systems, emphasizing on many Western concepts such as individualism, egalitarianism, capitalism etc. In reforming the education system, Meiji Japan got rid of conservative Confucian ideas and changed the Japanese’s thinking from the root.
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
Besides changes in political, economic, and social changes, Japan's relations with its neighbors mainly changed after the Meiji Restoration. It has also been mentioned that “a variety of changes in Japanese society, economy, and politics, including the introduction of Western values of civilization and enlightenment, industrialization, abolition of feudalism and establishment of a centralized, constitutional government” (Imperialism). Japan's expansion was, similar to other changes taking place, the result of emulation of and conflict with the Western countries. Japan has had both positive and negative impacts from imperialism politically, culturally, and also economically with women, the lower classes, the educated, and also the businessmen. These aspects were the most “affected” by imperialism and its bringings. Like political rights, money, schools/education, and businesses and imperialism impacted these in both good and bad ways.
Evidence of the cultural change that Japan experienced after WWII happened first in family dynamics. Children where no longer taught the ideas of a constitutional monarchy, but of democracy (O’ Donnell 3). From the state houses to school buildings, this form of government was implemented throughout the land and replaced the former concepts of the time. This change influenced the elderly the most. For years and years, these men and women were educated on the
a chain of occasions that did even indeed restore the functional supreme principle to Japan in 1868. Around then they were under the standard of Emperor Meiji. The objectives were to prompted positive changes in the political and social structure of Japan. The chain of occasions that japaned kept going until 1912 and japaned modernized themselves as a nation into the new time. Japan's sovereign at the time collaborated with different rulers and individuals of power to get Japan back on track. They rolled out improvements to how things were done social, monetarily, and politically. After the Meiji Restoration quickened the industrialization in Japan accelerated and gave military force in japan.
Once the constitution was implemented, Japan began to change, however many of these changes were because of a United States backing. One can see these changes if they look to the media of the time. Before the United States, cinema had many restrictions and mostly portrayed to the military state. After the US occupation, American movies were introduced which had more risqué topics. This new form of media had great favor in the eyes of the Japanese public. Although the release of this
The Allies broke up the Japanese army and forbid the officers from having political roles in the new government the United States was going to create. McArthur also, economically wanted to increase the power on farmers and reduce rich power, because they supported the idea of Japanese expansion. For the transformation of the Japanese economy McArthur wanted to shape the Japan’s economy into a free market capitalism structure. The United States wanted to restore Japan’s economy, because that way they will refuse to Soviet communism. Furthermore, Japan was given a new constitution, this constitution cased greater changes. Some of the changes that occurred with this new constitution is that Japan was to repudiate the idea to wage war, give woman suffrage, and most importantly is that there would be an emperor, but give more power to the
The Meiji Restoration brought enormous changes in Japan's structure. It eliminated the Tokugawa Shogunate, which allowed the emperor to regain full power, and transformed Japan from a feudal system to a modern state. The new era established the Meiji Constitution, which created a new structure for the government and laws, reformed the military and education system, experienced westernization and was the catalyst towards industrialization. However, it cannot be completely considered as a revolution. Although there were changes in the nature of Japan's economic and social system, and some aspects proved itself to be a complete transformation, a few were still practiced traditionally, mainly the political structure. Also, a revolution is
The growth advanced Japan to rank as the 2nd largest economy in the world rivaling the United States. However, this economic growth started slowing in the 1970s and in 1990 real estate and stock prices crashed and “the bubble burst” (Drogus and Orvis 240). Luckily, the government managed to get the economy back up and running in 2003 when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reduced regulation, privatized the postal service saving system, and lowered deficit spending.
These changes began in 1868 and consisted of industrialization, urbanization, modernization. There was also a shift in power within Japan’s government during the restoration. The power shifted from being in local figures control back to the emperor’s control. These changes improved the Japanese military and the economy. (J., D. B. 2013)
Japan’s goal of achieving fukoku kyohei, “rich country; strong military”, fuelled major political, economic and social changes during the Meiji Restoration. By the 20th century, Japan had a modern constitution and national parliament, though it was not truly democratic. The modernization of the nation also made Japan richer and more economically stable, with a structured education system. Japan, an impotent, closed feudal state, was transformed into a formidable nation focused on nationalism.
The Meiji period was a period of Westernization and modernization. Furthermore, the governmental reorganization had been largely accomplished by the year 1871 when the domains were replaced by a prefecture system that is still present till this day that has allowed millions of people to choose their own occupation and moved around without rules. Moreover, in 1871 a national army was formed, which was powered further two years late by a conscription law. Additionally, the government introduced policies to unite the financial and tax systems, with the agricultural tax reform in 1873. Another reform was put in place of universal education in the country which put prominence on western ideology.
In the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s, Japan took great leaps forward. This period was called the Meiji Restoration, which was named after a prominent Japanese leader form the time. Much of their growth was due to their pursuit of empire and the greater goal of a more modern country. Throughout this period, Japan used their extensive resources to expand and become more like their western neighbors. During World War I, Japan was among the world powers that fought on the side of the United States and Great Britain. This was a time of pride for the country which, however, changed in the blink of an eye after the war was over. Although other countries were advanced at the time, Japan believed that they were among the most advanced countries
From 1868 to 1912, Japan experienced a period of vigorous reform and modernization called the Meiji Restoration. When the Meiji period began Japan was a militarily weak, mostly agricultural country that could not compete against the industrialized western nations. At the end of the restoration, Japan had achieved a working, highly centralized government supported by the people, a constitution implementing an elected parliament, a western-like transport and communication system, a highly educated population, a rapidly growing industrial economy, and a powerful army and navy on par with many of the western nations’. Japan’s story is one of great success, unity, and pride, one that is virtually unrivaled throughout modern human history. The Meiji
The Meiji period, from 1868 to 1912, was the political revolution that brought about the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under the emperor Meiji. This began an era of major political, economic, and social change which ultimately led to the modernisation and westernisation of Japan. But was Japan successful in modernising? It was somewhat successful, Japan managed to rapidly modernise in approximately forty years whilst most Western countries took around a hundred and fifty years to modernise. But why did Japan modernise to begin with?