Transformation of Japan Essay -- History Historical Japanese Essays

Transformation of lacquer During the season period between the 1850s and 1950s, Japan underwent massive changes politically, economically, and socially. Acknowlight-emitting diodeging the failure of isolation, Japan imitated the West in an attempt to modernize, however, still retaining its own identity. A reorganized and more centralized government allowed Japan to industrialize in half the time it took the nations of horse opera Europe. Industrialization provided Japan with the tools needed to transform itself from a half complaisantized and backwards society during isolation, to a dominating superpower during WWII. In 1853 during the Tokugawa shogunate, Matthew Perry, an American commodore, arrived with an army at Edo Bay to coerce the Japanese government to allow the Americans to trade. In 1856, Japan signed a treaty opening devil ports to the United States trade. Soon, other nations such as Britain, Russia, and Holland won similar rights. The opening of Japan to the West cre ated opposition among its people and in the 1860s political crisis came into the open. In 1866, civil war broke out. The samurai armed with the surplus of weapons from the American Civil War defeated the shogunate force. The civil war ended, when the victorious reform group announced Mutsuhito, often called the Meiji meaning enlightened one, emperor.The new Meiji government promptly went about making reforms to the political structure. Feudalism was abolished and replaced with a system, similar to that of the French, of nationally appointing prefects, or territorial dominion administrators. In the 1870s, the samurai class was abolished and a draft was created to produce a new army.Meiji leaders traveled abroad to study economic organization, political institutions, and technological advances. The bureaucracy was reorganized and opened to men of talent through the civil service exams. In 1889, a new constitution was issued based on German prototype. It recognize the supremacy of t he emperor, further limited the powers for the lower house of Diet. Under the constitution, the emperor commanded the military and chose his own ministers. The Diet had power to pass law and budget if two sides agreed. Voting rights were determined by the amount of property owned leaving the majority of the population the inability to vote. Japans government was centralized and authoritarian, but incorporated busines... ...shment of the samurai and their fixed salaries that were replaced by worthless government bonds, many became poor. However, during industrialization individual samurai, as well as, several peasants were able to find opportunities and thus could kick upstairs social mobility. Many Japanese copied Western clothing and hairstyles as an attempt to modernize. Japan adopted the Western calendar and metric system. Education incorporated Western teaching in science and mathematics. Several Japanese converted to Christianity. Despite adopting Western trends, the Japane se managed to preserve their traditional values. In conclusion, Japan became a area giant equal to their Western counterparts. Isolation ended with forced entry by the West. The Japanese government effectively centralized and laid the foundations for industrialization. Industrialization led to economic growth. Economic growth led to a shift in foreign policy to imperialism. In the stages of imperialism, the military took control of government, thus their entry into WWII. later on WWII, Japan was slightly devastated but still was able to recover and situate themselves as a dominant superpower for years to follow.