Review
Japan and the Meiji
Restoration
What was the Tokugawa era?
Power shifted to Edo (Tokyo), the
home of the Tokugawa family
Emperor stayed in Kyoto
Isolation from the West
Samurai the elite but becoming
administrators
Daimyo lords rule regions (han)
Japanese feudalism
Personal loyalty to emperor, daimyo,
family
Four class system – samurai,
farmers, craftsmen, merchants
1.9 million Samurai
bushido “way of the warrior” – a mix
of Confucian and Buddhist values
Strict rules for each class
How did the Tokugawa govern?
They were the dominant Shogun (supreme
General) family
Daimyo families stayed in Edo – under control of
Tokugawa-Tokugawa family
- Owned 20% of Japan
- Lived in Edo
- Power to reassign daimyo
Daimyo
- Autonomy over domains
- Alternate Attendance
IDs/Definitions
The bakufu = the Shogun system
The Bakuhan - the Tokugawa system of shogun
(bakufu) and domains (han)
Daimyo = Lord of a han or a distict. Controlled his
own personal army of samurai
Shogun – Supreme General or Warlord with
political control over the Daimyos and thusJapan
Alternate attendance: the system of compulsory
residence by Daimyo in Edo/Tokyo during
alternate years. Abandoned in 1862.
Hostage system – the families of the Dailmyo lived
in Edo. This was one way the Shogun could them.
The Great Peace – the 250 years of Tokugawa
rule until from 1603-1868
The Samurai, with too much time
on their hands
The gate at Edo, centre of
Tokugowa rule
The period is also call the Edo Period
Characteristics
Peace
Flourishing of arts- Simple but beautiful artifacts
Sophisticated cuisine
Literate populace with newssheets, novels,
woodblock prints
Entertainment - sports, public baths, tea houses,
Kabuki theatre
Economic and population growth
- urban culture
early stages industrialisation & spread of money
economy.
Threats to the system
- Foreigners
- Russia, Britain, France.
- Perry and commercial treaties.
- Financial strain of Samurai and
Daimyo
Rising power and wealth of
merchants
Commodore Mathew Perry
Arrived in Edo 1853 – told to go to Nagasaki
Refused – threatened Edo with bombardment
Tokugawa threatened by the “black ships”
Presented letter from US govt demanding trade
treaty
Returned 2 years later with double the fleet –
gunboat diplomacy
1853 – Commodore Matthew
Perry
“Opens Up” Japan to Western
Trade!
What Did the U. S. Want??
 Coaling stations.

More trading
partners.

A haven for
ship-wrecked
sailors.
Perry’s “Black
Ships”
Signed Convention of Kanagawa
1854 – diplomatic relations
Five years later – treaties with most
European nations
Some Japanese resentment at
“unequal” treaties forced on the nation
The Treaty of Kanagawa - 1854
Japan Learns a Lesson!
In 1862, just before the start of the
Meiji period, Tokugawa sent officials and
scholars to China to study the situation
there. A Japanese recorded in his diary
from Shanghai…
The Chinese have become servants to the
foreigners. Sovereignty may belong to
China but in fact it's no more than a
colony of Great Britain and France.
China’s “Unequal Treaties”

After the Opium War of 1839-1842,
Japan was convinced that it had to Open Up
to the West.
The Shi-shi (“Men of High Purpose”)
 Highly idealistic samurai who felt that the
arrival of Westerners was an attack on the
traditional values of Japan.
 They believed that:
 Japan was sacred ground.
 The emperor, now a figurehead in
Kyoto, was a God.
 Were furious at the Shogun for signing treaties
with the West without the Emperor’s consent.
 Their slogan  Revere the Emperor, Expel
the Barbarians!
The Satsuma and Chosu Clans
The Meiji Revolt - 1868
 A powerful group
of samurai
overthrow the
Shogun.
 Sakamoto Ryoma,
the hero.
 He helped Japan
emerge from
feudalism into a
unified modern
state.
The Shogunate Is Overthrown!
 The last
Shogun.
 Tokugawa
Yoshinobu.
The Emperor Is “Restored” to Power
MEIJI  “Enlightened Rule”
Review: Tokugawa to Meiji
Satsuma and Choshu clans united by
Ryoma to rebel against Tokugawa
“expel the barbarian, restore the emperor”
1867 the Emperor is “restored” to power
Emperor Meiji moves to Tokyo
Civil war between supporters of Tokugawa
and Sat-Cho forces
Sat-Cho clans win 1868 – ironically they
accelerate modernisation!
The Meiji emperor moving from
Kyoto to Tokyo.
Source:"Le Monde Illustre",
February 20th, 1869.
Emperor Meiji
Iwakura Mission 1871-73
The first Meiji investigation of
European and American institutions
The mission included a number of
Meiji government ministers
Sought info on technology, education,
the army
Were very impressed with Europe
and USA – increased pressure for
modernisation
What was the Meiji restoration?
By 1871 the daimyo domains had been
surrendered to the throne and turned into
prefectures with governors
Mass education based on German system
military conscription was introduced
Western experts were imported to create new
railways, armies, fleets, and industries
The Bank of Japan was established
An authoritarian constitution based on German
model 1889, establishing the Diet (parliament)
Real power exercised by an informal Choshu and
Satsuma oligarchy (elite)
Meiji Restoration
1868 -1912
Chronology
1573-1600, “Warring States” - Transitional Era
1635, Shogunate forbids Japanese to travel overseas
1639, Portugese ships forbidden; Japan closed to outside world
1641, Dutch Trading Mission is moved to Nagasaki
1600-1868, Tokugawa Period - Centralized Feudalism era
1853-54, Perry Mission to “open” Japan
1854, Japan concludes friendship treaties with U.S., Britain,
France & Netherlands; three ports open to foreign trade
1868, Meiji Restoration
1877, Satsuma Rebellion
1881, Sale of government industries to new zaibatsau
1889, Meiji Constitution
1894-5,Sino-Japanese War, Japan becomes imperialist power
1904-5, Russo-Japanese War
1910, colonization of Korea
1912, emperor Meji dies
MeijiEmperorReceivingOrderOf
TheGarter1906
bakufu
Review
Samurai replaced by modern conscript
army
Abolished hereditary rights 1871
rapid industrialisation
built a modern nation-state.
ended feudal divisions in society
Real power in the hand of Sat-Cho elders
– the genro
Oligarchy
Power was informally concentrated in
the hands of a few powerful families
They controlled politics and big
business
The Sat-Cho elite = oligarchs
The Emperor “reigned but did not
rule” despite the constitution
Satsuma Rebellion 1877 – the
revolt of the last samurai…
some samurai dissatisfied with increasing
Westernisation
abolition of their feudal privileges
Forbidden to wear swords,
No stipends (pensions)
Samurai from Satsuma domain rebelled
To protect bushido and Japanese values
Saigo Takamori
He led the last
samurai revolt
Defeated by the
new Japanese
Imperial Army at
battle of
Shiroyama
Saigo committed
seppuku
Saigo now a Japanese hero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX
6xsIrZfdo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F
_1wgjBUvY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U
ND_K_f6l0&feature=related
Zaibatsu
Family businesses with close links
with the government and military
Mitsubishi
Diversified conglomerates
Eventually the big 4 dominated over
50% of stock exchange
Japan did not rely on foreign
investment
Imperialism – war with China
1894-05 dispute over Korea
"Enrich the country, strengthen the
military"
Easy Japanese victories
Demonstrated success of Japanese
modernisation
Korea became Japanese protectorate
China lost Taiwan
Russo-Japanese War 1904-05
Also dispute over Korea and
Manchuria
First victory of Asian nation over
western nation
Japan became a great power
Korea eventually annexed