Grade 8 Social Studies Test – Japan: Edo & Meiji Periods

What was a major reason Japan chose isolation during the Edo Period?

• To promote global trade

• To avoid foreign influence

• To learn Western science

• To expand its navy

Which of the following best describes the Tokugawa social hierarchy?

• Equal class opportunities

• Samurai at the bottom

• Rigid and hereditary

• Based on wealth

What triggered the end of Japan’s isolation in the 1850s?

• War with China

• The arrival of Commodore Perry

• A civil war

• An earthquake

What was the main goal of the Meiji Restoration?

• Re-establish shogunate rule

• Reduce modernization

• Strengthen Japan through modernization

• Promote isolation

Which Western country did Japan model its navy after during the Meiji period?

• France

• United States

• Britain

• Russia

Which document officially established a constitutional monarchy in Meiji Japan?

• Edo Charter

• Iwakura Mission

• Treaty of Kanagawa

• Meiji Constitution

Why did Meiji leaders introduce a national education system?

• To reduce taxes

• To prepare citizens for industrial society

• To return to traditional learning

• To remove foreign teachers

The Iwakura Mission was important because it...

• Reinstated the Tokugawa shogunate

• Sent Japanese officials to study Western nations

• Banned Christianity

• Closed ports to trade

What economic change occurred during the Meiji Period?

• Return to feudal farming

• Establishment of the zaibatsu

• Isolation from global markets

• Elimination of taxes

What was a key feature of the new Meiji military system?

• Only samurai could serve

• Based on Chinese models

• National conscription for all men

• Used traditional swords only