Early Meiji Japan
1868-1912
13a
Meiji Restoration: Lead-up
• Choshu incident 1863
– Choshu tries to sink
Western ships
– Choshu marches against
Kyoto to capture Emperor
but fails
• Tokugawa fails to punish
Choshu
Meiji Restoration: Lead-up
Review:
• 1864: Ships from England,
France, Holland and the US all
attack the Choshu
– Choshu leaders recognize futility
of resistance – for now
– Map out new response including
modernization/Westernization
Young Choshu leaders visit
London 1860s
Meiji Restoration
1868
Choshu and Satsuma
draw up alliance
Plot revolution
Satsuma/Choshu Plotters
• Young Samurai decide to reform Japan
• March on Kyoto and seize new young Emperor Meiji
• Declare Restoration of the Emperor to his rightful place
– Liberate the Emperor from Tokugawa’s rule
– Emperor to rule directly
Meiji Restoration
1868
• Declare Restoration of the
Emperor to his rightful place
– Liberate the Emperor from
Tokugawa’s rule
– Emperor to rule directly
Young Emperor Meiji
• 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 Han
Choshu 
 Satsuma
• 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 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
– His ancestors had reigned from
@ 300 CE
– 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:
Fukoku Kyohei
• Japan must learn from the West
• Japan must Adapt to a Western-dominated world
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By learning and adapting, Japan can become modern
By becoming modern they can become rich
By becoming rich they can build a strong army
With a strong army they can become truly independent
Fukoku Kyohei!
Meiji Oligarchy
Ruling Platform
Iwakura Mission
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Japan sends diplomatic mission to Western nations
San Francisco  across the US
London  Continental Europe
Goals:
Build relationships: earn Western respect
Gain knowledge: patterns of business, science, and
government
Meiji Restoration:
Rapid Westernization / modernization
Japan launches wholesale Westernization
drive
Wholesale rejection
of all things
Japanese
Even Japanese art takes 
on a strictly modern tone
Meiji Restoration:
Rapid Westernization / modernization
Abolish Caste Structure
• Strip Daimyo of Han and special privilege
• Compensate Daimyo for lost land with cash
Abolish Samurai class and privileges
• Adopt conscript army of commoners
• Forbid wearing of swords
• Assign many former samurai as government
officials
Meiji Art
takes a
modern turn
Satsuma Rebellion – 1877:
Reaction to too much modernization
Saigō Takamori: a Meiji Oligarch
• Saw too much change
• Feared Japan was losing its soul
• Angered by Korea’s refusal (1873) to recognize Emperor
(they called him a king)
• Wanted war with Korea
– (got unequal treaty with Korea, 1874)
• Oligarchy saw war with Korea as a distraction – would not
attack
• Saigo stormed out
Satsuma Rebellion: 1877
• Saigo leads failed attack against the too-modern Meiji
government
• Tries to reinstitute special role of Samurai
• Failed last throe of traditional Japan
Basis for
“The Last Samurai”
movie with Tom
Cruise
Iwakura Mission departs
from Japan, 1871
Meiji Program
• Following the
Iwakura Mission
– Japanese Business largely
borrows American and
British models
– Japanese Government patterns itself after Germany
• Sovereign monarch (Germany’s Kaiser)
• Weak legislative branch (Germany’s Diet)
• Constitution as a gift from the Emperor
• Powerful, professional, prestigious bureaucracy
Meiji’s Economic Plan
Government supported rapid development
• Market-based economy
• Former Daimyo stripped of land but paid
compensation
– Daimyo fortunes become source of CAPITAL for new
manufacturing firms
– Merchant fortunes also fund new manufacturing
• Government plays strong role in directing
investment
Political/economic theory:
Alexander Gerschenkron:
“Late Development State”
Late developing nations need strong government
• Private business cannot compete with advanced
foreign competitors
• Strong Government must coordinate and lead
development
• Strong, development state necessary to succeed
A government strong enough to succeed in late
development, generally is too strong for participatory
democracy
Meiji Oligarchy:
Successful Late Developing State
• Dramatic Economic take-off
• Motivated by feelings of insecurity
• Driven by need to achieve equality with
West
• Spurred by desire to become powerful and
thus independent
Fukoku Kyohei!!
Meiji
Constitution
Prince Ito Hirobumi
– Iwakura Mission
Meiji Constitution
– a gift from the Emperor
• Imperial Sovereignty
• Transcendental cabinet
– doesn’t answer to parliament
(Diet)
• Independent military
– Answers only to the Emperor
– Strong position in Cabinet
• Elite Bureaucracy
– Well educated
– Powerful, professional,
prestigious
– Insulated from electoral pressure
Bureaucracy in Japan
• Difficult Civil Service Exam
• Political appointments minimal
• Elite educational requirements
– Tokyo National University, Dept. of Law
• Extraordinary policy-making authority
– Patterned after Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany
– Similar to France – elite education
Legislature in Meiji Constitution
• Diet
– Two Houses
– Commoners and Lords
– Commons elected (but only 5% male suffrage)
– Little power except BUDGET
• On budget, if impasse occurs, last year’s budget
automatically rolls over
• This power surprisingly became the source of an
expanded legislative role
Cabinet in Meiji Constitution
• Transcendental
– Doesn’t answer to Diet
– Only to Emperor
• Special Military Ministers
– In later periods military ministers had to be active duty
officers
– Cabinet was incomplete without military ministers
– Gave military extraordinary power to drive government