Japanese Modernization During the Meiji Era
The Emperor and the Oligarchs
Reasons for Tokugawa Period’s End
Educational Reforms
Economic Reforms
- Emperor was restored to power
- His advisors held government influence
What was the Meiji Restoration?
Cultural Reforms
- Debt
- Foreign Pressure
- Internal support for the emperor
- National education system
- Introduced state universities
- Demand for foreign knowledge
- Students sent to Western countries to study modern subjects
The Emperor
- Duty to the emperor
- Shinto-ism became the national religion
- Adopted Western ideas
- fukoku kyôhei (rich country, strong military)
- Obedience to the state and the emperor
Some Members of the Advising Party
- Industrialization and Modernization
- 1868-1912
- Reform programs
- Positively affected Japan during the early 20th century
- Before the Meiji period, economy was based on agriculture
- Built railways, communication systems, shipyards, mines, and factories
- These were eventually privatized
- Established zaibatsu (huge industrial and financial conglomerates)
The Need for Reform
Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito)
- Weak militarily
- Little technological development.
- Emulate Western countries
Ministry of Education of Japan in 1890
Exported goods helped to stimulate the the economy
Imperialism and Military Strengthening
The Tokugawa Era’s effect on the Meiji Period
Political Reforms
Conclusion: Effects of the Meiji Restoration
Military Reforms
Japanese Soldiers During Second Sino-Japanese War
- Imperialism
- Boxer Rebellion
- First Sino-Japanese War
- Russo-Japanese war.
- A constitution was established
- A constitutional monarchy
- A parliament (the National Diet)
- Based off of Western models
- Almost unlimited power for the Emperor
- Helped with Japan’s industrial growth
- Daimyô travel spurred urban development
- Transition from subsistence farming to commercial crops
- Town industries developed
- Centralized government
- Became industrialized
- Capitalist, technology-based economy
- Educated population
- Powerful military
- National army
- Conscription was undertaken
- Modern weaponry
- Modern naval ships
Other Political Reforms
- First Sino-Japanese War - control of Korea.
- Japan acquired Taiwan and the Liaodong peninsula
- Helped defeat the Boxer Rebellion in China
- Russo-Japanese War - territorial disputes in Korea and southern Manchuria
- Japan established itself as a colonial power in East Asia
- New criminal and civil code
- Revisal of unequal treaties
The First Sino-Japanese War
Bibliography
“Excerpts from the Meiji Constitution of 1889.” Asia for Educators. Columbia University. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"Meiji Restoration." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
“The Meiji Restoration and Modernization.” Asia for Educators. Columbia University. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
al-Khaizaran, Huda Yoshida. "The Emergence Of Private Universities And New Social Formations In Meiji Japan, 1868-1912." History Of Education 40.2 (2011): 157-178. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Gordon, Bill. “Tokugawa Period's Influence on Meiji Restoration.” Bill Gordon. Wesleyan University, 2000. Web 26 Feb. 2014.
Gordon, Bill. “Explanations of Japan’s Imperialistic Expansion, 1894-1910.” Bill Gordon. Wesleyan University, 2003. Web 26 Feb. 2014.
Okuma, Count. “The Industrial Revolution in Japan.” The North American Review Vol. 171. (1900): 677-691. JSTOR. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Image Sources:
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_02/
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/meiji.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toshimichi_Okubo_4.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ministry_of_Education_of_Japan.jpg