Meiji Japan: Textbook Questions Part 1
History II
Directions: Read (at home text page 657 “A Rich Country…” to the top of page 661) (in
class text pages 615 to the top of page 619) and answer the following questions on a
separate piece of paper.
1. With whom in the outside world did the Tokugawa maintain relationships?
2.
To better understand the content, define, in your own words the following terms:
Renaissance and bakufu
3. Identify and briefly explain the problems that accelerated the “coming apart” of
the Tokugawa system?
4. What conclusions do you come to from the
Japanese representation of the “black ships”
on the woodblock print? (in class page 616 or
represented at right)
5. a. Why did the Americans want Japan to end its isolation and open up to the West?
b. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Kanagawa (1853)?
6. Summarize the key events leading to the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate system
including the part played by the “Sat-Cho” alliance?
7. From where to where was the capital moved? Why? Explain.
8. How did the Meiji modernizers attempt to transform Japan? Describe the key social
and political changes.
9. Who were the “genro?” Define the term “Kokutai.”
10. a. The Meiji Constitution was taken largely from which country? (HINT: the book says
that “it was based on the Bismarckian model”. Look up who Bismarck was and what
nation-state or empire he helped establish). b. How much power did the emperor
have in the new government? Explain. Who retained most of the power?
11. Look at the Charter Oath (1868) on (in class text page 619 / at home text page 660)
and answer the following questions:
a. What aspects seem democratic? Why?
b. Which provision seems to you to be the most surprising or ironic or strange?
Explain.
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