2015-09-06
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SET OF TOPICS
• Tokugawa period and Edo.
– Centralized Feudalism
– Rigid Social Structure rigid
– Belief system: Syncretism
• The powerful Daymios in South Japan
– Choshu, Satsuma, others.
...• 1853 and Matthew Perry’s Mission to China.
• The “Japanese” reaction
• The Kanawaga Treaty in 1854.
• Fall of Tokugawa regime and rising of Meiji Period: “Enrich the State, empower the Army”
... The Emergence of the Emperor: Mutsuhito
• Iwakura Mission 1871.
• Major changes during Meiji Period:
– Social: from feudal to modern society.
– Economic: Zaibatzu’s.
– Politics and government: The Diet and political parties.
– Military system: the end of the Samurai system.
• The last samurai:
– The Satsuma Rebellion 1877
• The regional consequences of Japanese’ Modernization
... Samurai – lived by Bushido, the “way of the warrior”
Ronin – those samurai without masters
Ninja – a warrior trained to use unorthodox fighting methods
Shogun
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasants, Merchants, etc.
....... Japanese Culture and Economy
Religion
Mixture of native Shintoism (living spirits in all things) and Chinese Confucianism (based on the teachings of Confucius)
Economy
Growing internal trade during the Edo period
Merchants began to surpass the samurai in wealth
Rigid social stratification
But these limits were being tested by the end of the Tokugawa shogunate
... The Tokugawa Shogunate
• Tokugawa family ruled Japan from 1603 until 1868 – also known as the Edo period.
• 1635 – foreign trade limited to China, Korea, and Netherlands at Nagasaki a few times per year.
• Emperor (mikado) ruled in name only
– Actual power held by the shogun
.......... End of Japanese Isolation
• U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858)
– 1853 – gunboat diplomacy
– 1854 – trade treaty with the United States
– Great Britain, Holland (Netherlands), and Russia soon gained similar trading rights
• Townsend Harris (1804-1878)
– United States Consul General to Japan
– 1858 – commercial treaty between U.S. and Japan
– European powers soon gained similar rights in Japan
.... Japanese Reaction
Pros Cons
“Dutch Learning” (Western knowledge) became very popular among many doctors, scholars, and scientists Western knowledge went against many traditional Japanese beliefs Japanese intrepreneurs, merchants, and budding industrialists stood to profit from increased trade Traditional holders of prestige and power (daimyos and samurai) did not tend to profit from increased trade
Meiji Restoration 1868
• Declare Restoration of the Emperor to his rightful place
– Liberate the Emperor from Tokugawa’s rule
– Emperor to rule directly
• Emperor issues decree ending the rule of the Tokugawa Shoguns
... Meiji Restoration
• Tokugawa Shogunate counter attacks
• Satsuma/Choshu alliance wins
• Meiji Emperor assumes leadership with Satsuma and Choshu based committee of advisors
– New Government made up of young Samurai with a smattering of nobles
... Meiji Restoration
Why Satsuma and Choshu?
• Two richest Daimyos.
• Choshu: 100 + years of illegal, secret investment in commercial enterprises
– They were secretly running a merchant trade
• Satsuma: Profitable sugar monopoly
• Both: Secretly and illegally traded with Western nations for technology and military equipment
... Meiji Restoration
• Shogun forced to relinquish power
• Power officially in hands of Emperor Mutsuhito
– His reign was called the “Meiji”
• Japan westernized
– Quickly went to work crafting a constitution
... Emergence of the Emperor
The Shogunate was defeated and a new emperor named _ Mutsuhito was proclaimed.
Emperor Mutsuhito, Meiji.
This period is known as the Meiji Restoration
Meiji meaning enlightened rule.
Over the next generation the whole society and its institutions were transformed to serve the needs of the modernization
... Meiji Leadership
• Collective leadership with the Emperor
• 20-30 young leaders
– Mostly samurai
– Mostly from Satsuma or Choshu
– Includes some reformers among the royal court
• Known as the Meiji Oligarchy
... Imperial Role??
• Note: Emperor Meiji is still the heir to the Yamato clan dynasty heir
– His ancestors had reigned from 300 AD.
– Since the beginning of the Kamakura period, Shoguns ruled while the emperor reigned
• Meiji Restoration: Still the Yamato heir is relevant.
– Does he rule or reign?
... Meiji Oligarchy:
Ruling Platform
To survive Japan must modernize…
Become a Rich nation with a Strong Army:
