The Rise of Modern Japan

The Rise of Modern Japan
Friday, December 13

​The following slides are a summary of Topic 7-7: The Rise of Modern Japan. They are meant to accompany your reading of pp. 291-294.

​New technologies from Western Europe spread across the world at a rapid pace. The Japanese followed the example of Western nations and used the new knowledge and technology to emerge as a modern imperialist power by the end of the nineteenth century. However, they also worked diligently to preserve Japanese values.

​The Opening of Japan

A 200-year isolationist policy in Japan ended as a result of military pressure from the United States to open up trade ports to Western nations.

Commodore Matthew Perry and his warships convinced Japan to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened up more trading ports, and Japan eventually signed similar treaties with European nations.

Resistance to foreign involvement in Japan was strong among samurai warriors in two southern territories. The Sat-Cho alliance overthrew the shogunate and began the Meiji Restoration.

​The Meiji Restoration

Although the Sat-Cho leaders distrusted the West, they recognized that Japan had to evolve to survive and implemented a number of political and economic reforms.

Meiji reformers created a modern political system that gave most authority to the executive branch and had a constitution based on that of Imperial Germany.

Most power remained in the hands of a ruling oligarchy, or a small group of people, that consisted of a prime minister, a cabinet chosen by Meiji leaders, royal appointees, and some elected nobles and officials.

Meiji reformers gave land to peasants and charged an annual tax, which eventually led to about 40 percent of farmers being tenant farmers, or farmers who paid rent to owners of the land.

Taxes allowed the government to focus on industrialization, and a unique relationship between the government and private businesses developed, called zaibatsus, which were large family-owned monopolies.

​Social and Cultural Shifts

Meiji reformers also changed social and cultural aspects of Japan.

Meiji reformers made military service required of all men for three years and created universal education.

The special privileges of the aristocracy were abolished, and women could seek an education for the first time.

Many Japanese people adopted Western ways of dressing, eating, and acting in society. In coal mines and textile mills,workers experienced harsh conditions, just as in the early years of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

Many Japanese novels were patterned on the French tradition of realism, Japanese architects copied Western styles and were trained by Western experts, and traditional Japanese arts, such as woodblock printing, became fashionable in Europe and the United States.

​Japanese Expansion

To compete with Western nations, Japan adopted a policy of colonization to provide raw materials, labor, and markets for manufactured products, and it became a great power.

  Japan’s imperialist expansion began with the Ryukyu Islands in 1874.

 

In 1894, Japan fought a war with China over Korea, resulting in Korea’s independence.

 

The Treaty of Portsmouth resulted in favorable terms for Japan following its victory over Russia during war, thanks in part to the efforts of Japan’s new navy.

Use what you learned from the slides and pages 291-294 in the World History textbook to answer the following questions.

Multiple Choice

Compared to traditional forms of Japanese literature, authors under the Meiji emphasized

• romantic heroism.

• family values.

• historical accuracy.

• objective realism.

Multiple Choice

The conclusion that Meiji Japan was influenced by the West is supported by the fact that it

• adopted the American style of universal education.

• exported the game of baseball to Holland and Germany.

• ignored the demands of wage earners in factories.

• resisted the extension of voting rights to women.

Multiple Choice

The Meiji government promoted industrialization by

• providing subsidies.

• eliminating zaibatsus.

• redistributing the land.

• limiting free enterprise.

Multiple Choice

Although the Meiji constitution gave most authority to the executive branch, in practice who had the most power?

• The emperor

• The prime minister

• The shogun

• The legislature

Multiple Choice

One goal of Commodore Matthew Perry was to

• return shipwrecked Japanese soldiers.

• open trade between the U.S. and Japan.

• increase the size of the Japanese fleet.

• disrupt Dutch and Chinese exports to Japan.

Multiple Choice

Why was the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War significant?

• It signaled that Japan had become an international power.

• It restored Russian influence on the Korean Peninsula.

• It increased Japanese migration to the United States.

• It encouraged Russia to seek trade opportunities in China.

Multiple Choice

What ultimately convinced Japan to enter into the treaty of Kanagawa?

• The Tokugawa shogunate ended its isolationist policy thanks to Dutch traders.

• The United States used the presence of warships to intimidate Japan into a treaty.

• A letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore convinced the shogun to open trade.

• Shipwrecked sailors negotiated a trade deal in exchange for passage home.

Multiple Choice

Under the Meiji constitution, which official theoretically had most of the executive power, but in practice was only a figurehead?

• The daimyo

• The emperor

• The prefectural governor

• The shogun

Multiple Choice

How did Meiji economic reforms affect the distribution of wealth in Japan?

• 
  The daimyo were able to acquire a greater amount of land and wealth.

• Non-interference on the part of the government led to industrial monopolies.

• Family-owned banks benefitted from reforms at the expense of other industries.

• 
  Greater wealth was concentrated in the hands of fewer landowners.

Multiple Choice

The ideas behind most of the Meiji reforms originated from

• the emperor Mutsuhito.

• Western sources.

• the Tokugawa shogunate.

• Chinese influences.