The Closing of Japan
• Tokugawa “closed”
Japan beginning in
1649
• Allowed limited contact
with the Dutch,
Chinese, Koreans
• Trade significantly
limited and controlled
Japan’s Economy
After the Closing
• Although isolated,
Japan experienced
economic success
and advances
• Regional trade
flourished
• The Japanese
economy grew
• Money replaced barter
• Agricultural production
lagged
Decline of the Samurai
• Less need for
warriors
• The samurai
slowly lost
power, status
• The warrior
ethic seemed
to lose its
relevance
Growing Weakness in the
Tokugawa Shogunate
• Not everyone honored
the imposed isolation
• The feudal system
changed and new
groups gained power
• The shoguns grew
weaker
• Some came to question
the wisdom of Japan’s
isolation
Commodore Matthew
• In 1853, Perry was sent on a mission by
C. Perry
U. S. President Millard Fillmore to
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establish trade with Japan – a country
that had practiced isolationism as well.
• After initially being turned away, Perry
landed for peace and trade talks on
March 8, 1854, and began to negotiate
with the Japanese to establish a trade
agreement.
• On March 31, 1854, Perry signed the
Treaty of Kanagawa on behalf of the
United States, which established
"permanent" friendship between the two
countries. The treaty guaranteed that
the Japanese would save shipwrecked
Americans and provide fuel for
American ships, but also opened the
opportunity for trade between Japan and
the United States.
• The signing of this treaty signaled the
end of Japanese isolation.
The Collapse of the Shoguns
• The opening of Japan
eventually led to the fall of the
Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868
• Civil war broke out
• Japanese feudalism collapsed
with the “restoration” of the
emperor
The Meiji Restoration
Program of modernization and
industrialization implemented
New industrial base expanded
rapidly between 1868 and 1912
Military buildup. Meiji Japan was
determined to close the gap to
the Western powers
economically and militarily.
Meiji Reforms
• The new government aimed to make Japan a democratic state
with equality among all its people.
• The establishment of human rights, such as religious freedom
in 1873.
• The education system. Among those reforms was the
introduction of mandatory education.
• Modernizing the military was a high priority. Universal
conscription (everyone had to serve in the military for a period
of time) was introduced.
• The transportation and communication networks were
improved. The government also directly supported businesses
and industries.
• A revival of conservative and nationalistic feelings: principles of
Confucianism and Shintoism, including the worship of the
emperor, were increasingly emphasized and taught at
educational institutions.
1894: Sino-Japanese War
• War fought between China and Japan from 1894 to
1895.
• It demonstrated how successful modernization had
been in Japan since the Meiji Restoration as
compared with that in China.
• The Japanese army defeated the Chinese in a series of
battles
• Though still recognized as an independent nation,
Korea effectively became a Japanese protectorate/
colony
• The war also encouraged further Japanese invasions
on Chinese territory.
1904: Russo-Japanese War
• This war was because both Russia and Japan wanted
Manchuria and Korea.
• Russia underestimated the strength of Japan’s new
modern army.
• Japan attacked Port Arthur. A series of quick
Japanese victories, which surprised the world, ended
in the fall of Port Arthur (Jan., 1905).
• Japan gained the position of a world power,
becoming the first non-European and nonAmerican imperialistic modern nation.
• These two wars led to the belief that Japan was
more militarily powerful than the other East Asian
countries, and sparked an agreement with Hitler to
conquer and divide the world.
Shogun Japan: Legacy
• Industrialization
• Militarism
• World War II
Pearl Harbor
Island Hopping
Kamikaze Pilots
Atomic Bombs
Japan Surrenders
A Japanese kamikaze bomber during World War II
1950: The Korean War (the Forgotten War)
• The Korean War, from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953,
was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. It
was also a Cold War between the United States and its
United Nations allies and the communist powers of the
People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union (also a
UN member nation).
• The origins of the Korean War have long been a matter
of debate. At the time, the American government
believed that the communist bloc was unified, and that
North Korea acted within this organization as a pawn of
the Soviet Union.
• In the 1960s and 1970s, the view that the war was just
as much caused by western nations and South Korea
became popular. With the opening of Soviet archives,
the war is most often blamed on Kim Il-Sung who
convinced a reluctant Joseph Stalin to support the war.
1960s & early 1970s: The Vietnam War
• With a goal of stopping the spread of communism in
Southeast Asia, America replaced France in South
Vietnam.
• With Ho Chi Minh determined to reunite Vietnam,
Lyndon Baines Johnson determined to prevent it, and
South Vietnam on the verge of collapse, the stage was
set for massive escalation of the Vietnam War.
• Despite technically being neutral, both of Vietnam's
smaller neighbors were drawn into the war, suffered
massive bombings, and, in the case of Cambodia,
endured a post-war holocaust of nightmarish
proportions.
• South Vietnamese leaders believed that America
would never let them go down to defeat - a belief that
died as North Vietnamese tanks smashed into Saigon
on April 30, 1975, and the long war ended with South
Vietnam's surrender.