The Changes During The Meiji Restoration Of 1868

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.

The Japanese Americans sustained many injustices during the pre-World War Two era, including exclusion from traditional establishments and occupations. It was noted, “the [economic] argument and the discriminatory measures are plain contradictions” (Goto 105-106). Although the stated goal of Californians was to have a unified population, their actions belied their true motives. The colossal nature of the assimilatory feats performed by Japanese dictated that “even Californian agitators themselves, in their moments of private reflection, admit the wonderful power of adaptability of Japanese,” but, “in public they do everything to prevent the process of assimilation from running its natural course” (Goto 106). Often, the bigoted owners of white establishments barred people of Japanese

In 1892, the government required all new immigrants to undergo a physical examination. If they had a certain diseases, they were either faced quarantine, a time isolation to prevent spread of a disease or they were deported. The Chinese immigrants  tended to live in their own ethnic communities and this helped them avoid conflicts with non-Asian neighbors. Although, the union blamed Chinese immigrants for high unemployment and low wages in California. Others claimed that Chinese were not worthy of being Americans and some claimed that Asians were inferior to white Americans. These claims from the unions had Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country. In 1906, the Japanese government found out that Japanese kids were being segregated from white kids, in which they protested to the United State President Theodore Roosevelt. As a result, President Roosevelt and the Japanese government reached an agreement called the Gentlemen's Agreement. This compromise had San Francisco agreed to not segregate Japanese kids and Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers. In 1902, the Newlands National Reclamation Act was established to promote the irrigation of southwestern lands. New farmland meant new jobs in the Southwest.  In this case, Mexican Laborers were hired to work on farms, ranches, and mines. The new opportunities  were referred as a “pull”

The Japanese had fought a war against China and China lost. Crops were taken and given to the soldiers while Japanese were destroying the farmers’ hard work. When the Chinese arrived there were treated with even more prejudice than the Irish, that is, if they arrived at all. The Chinese exclusion act of 1882 limited Chinese immigration into the U.S. This act was supposed to last only ten years but ended up lasting over half a century.

Apart from racial prejudice, discriminatory measures were adopted by the Government to curb their economic advancement. Japanese immigrants were denied American citizenship. They could only purchase inferior land in the names of their citizen offspring. With their superior agricultural skill they turned such land into fertile agricultural fields and controlled almost fifty percent of California’s commercial truck crops. Economic prosperity was a major irritant among the organized interest groups that carried on anti-Japanese campaigns influenced the government to adopt anti Japanese measures. Policy of deliberate exclusion was also evident in Munson Report that confirmed unquestioned Japanese loyalty to the American nation but were not made public intentionally to perpetuate anti-Japanese sentiments.

Japanese first generation immigrants started to come to the United States when there was a high demand for immigrant workers around 1880.

After this, Japan continued to open up trade with the United States. Townsend Harris voyaged to Japan in 1856, creating another treaty between the Japanese and Americans, which continued to grow their relationship as trading partners (“Townsend Harris”). This exposure to the industrial outside world’s new innovations and technologies jumpstarted Japan’s industrial and economic growth, making them valuable and viable trading partner with United States and other European countries (Munson; Roosevelt). As the Progressive Era approached, Japan remained an important ally for the United States. By opening up trade with Japan, the United States also opened up trading relations with Asian countries such as China. Eventually during the Industrial Revolution, when the railroad companies were in extreme need of cheap labor, many Chinese workers immigrated to America, mainly on the West coast (“Commentary on 1865”). The Chinese immigrants who were already in America stayed for several years, while more continued to immigrate. However, as anti-Chinese feelings developed amongst the nation, The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was created, which prevented Chinese immigrants, “with exceptions for teachers, students, merchants, and travelers”, from coming to America. This was very important because it was “the first piece of immigration legislation in the United States that

Long before the start of WWII, American's felt that the Japanese posed a threat to their way of living. Whites in western states and territories viewed the Japanese immigrants as a source of economic competition. The immigration act of 1924 banned Japanese from entering the U.S. and created a hostile and discriminate

In any case, financial misery in the 1870s raised hostile to Chinese assumption as white workers and lawmakers censured Chinese work for California's monetary troubles. After expanded savagery and segregation by hostile to Chinese developments, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banning every single Chinese worker into the nation and extremely limiting vast scale Chinese migration. Just vendors, ambassadors, researchers and understudies, voyagers, and offspring of American residents were permitted. Incompletely because of China's interest with the Allied countries amid World War II, the U.S. canceled the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 permitting Chinese to wind up naturalized residents and allowed 105 Chinese to go into

I first came across an organization dedicated to preserving Japanese dignity throughout history and beyond: The Japanese American Legacy Project (JALP). Its website indicated that they "were frequent targets of prejudice and political attacks for 50 years before World War II" (Densho). This site represents the organization's interests in their entirety, and describes adequate background information, which I found to be helpful. Unemployment and low wages could be equivocated to Japanese infiltration, which soon became the basis for groups to rise up in opposition, thus associations such as the Japanese Exclusion League were born. However, problems really began when businesses actively recruited Asian immigrants for tedious duties. Labor unions fired back with rallies for local elected officials to "remove all individuals of Chinese heritage from California" (Densho). The government reacted to such forceful pressure almost immediately. In 1882, a series of congressional exclusionary acts eliminated, for a period of time, what was known to the west coast as "yellow peril" (Densho). These findings were strangely new to me, so I began to browse other sources for

During the World War Ⅱ, roughly 112,000 Japanese immigrants were living either in California, Arizona, or Washington. Japanese immigrants traveled to America hoping to find better jobs and a chance to start a new life for themselves and their families. After arriving to America, immigrants had jobs in mines, railroads, as farmers, or agricultural laborers. Japanese immigrants contributed to the economic development of the United States. After the attack was established on Peral Harbor by the Japanese, this was the beginning World War Ⅱ, Japanese Americans were dispirited by the stereotyped by cause of their ancestry. Many

Japanese Americans were forced to immediately leave their jobs, sell their homes and almost everything

For more than 200 years, people of Japanese Ancestry have made their home in America. They came to this country because of the poor political and economic conditions back home, as well as the possibility of finding employment as sugar planters in America. During the period of 1891 to 1900, approximately 26,000 Japanese immigrated to America (see Appendix I). During the period of 1901 to 1910, approximately 130,000 Japanese immigrated to America (see Appendix I). There was a fivefold increase in the number of Japanese immigrants in ten years. This proliferation of Japanese in America led to the birth of a movement known as the “Anti-Japanese Movement.” This movement was led by anti-Japanese organizations such as the Japanese Exclusion League, the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West, and the American Legion, as well as prominent political leaders. Influenced by these organizations, politicians passed a series of legislations limiting the rights of the Japanese and their possibility of immigration. In 1913, politicians passed the California’s Anti-Alien Land Act, which prevented Issei, first-generation Japanese Americans, from owning land. In 1907, the government passed the Gentlemen’s Agreement in which President Theodore Roosevelt severely restricted Japanese immigration to America. Immigration was cut off completely when Congress passed the National Origins Act of 1924, which prevented immigration by aliens who were deemed ineligible for citizenship. One Issei who wanted to become a U.S. citizen was Takao Ozawa. He arrived in the United States as a student in 1894, and attended schools in California, including the University of California, Berkeley. In 1914, he filed an application for U.S citizenship. His application for citizenship was denied because the court declared that Ozawa was “in every way eminently qualified under the

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.

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