The Meiji Restoration (1868) Teacher Resource Guide East Asia National Resource Center By Kelly Hammond
The Meiji Restoration: What Does It Mean To Be Modern? The Meiji Restoration in 1868 “restored” imperial rule in Japan after the Tokugawa bakufu had ruled for hundreds of years. The end years of the Tokugawa were marked by civil unrest in Japan and increasing threats to Japanese sovereignty from Western powers. In many ways, the Meiji Restoration marked the beginning of a new era in Japan, during which Japanese national identity was cultivated and people came to think of themselves as citizens of the Japanese empire. Before we talk more about the events and the meaning of the Meiji Restoration, it is critical that we think about what it means to be a citizen of a modern nation-state as well as the definition of modernity. Being “modern” can mean different things at different times to different people. This idea can be confusing, so rather than thinking of modernity as a force that emanated from the West and imposed ion Japan, it might be best to think about the ways that people in Japan interacted and engaged with the new tools of the modern world such as technology and industry. Thinking about modernity in this way allows us to understand that it is not as something that “happened” to people, but rather something that people experience in their own individual ways. Modernity is a process of interaction, not a stage that people and states must move through in
order to be recognized as “modern.” For example, when people today conjure up an image of Japan in their heads, they often think of high-speed railways and punctual trains. Railways and schedules are a sign of modernity and they definitely changed the way people in Japan interacted with both time and space, compressing them in ways that were not possible until this marvel of the industrial revolution was brought to Japan. Instead of thinking solely about the import of a Western technology (the railroad) into Japan, it is better to think about the ways that this technology transformed the lives of the people in Japan and how they responded to these changes.
The young Meiji Emperor. Source: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Another important part of understanding modernity is seeing how the past and traditions have changed and have been incorporated to mean new things in the
present. Japan had an abrupt encounter with many products of modern world, such as steamships, international diplomacy, and modern armies, but it also drew on symbols from its own past, such as the emperor, to create its vision of what it means to be a Japanese citizen in the nineteenth century.
brought to Japanese society helps us to come to terms with the ways that Japanese society grappled with the question of what it meant to be modern throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While the Japanese were absorbing and adapting things that we consider modern elements, such as medicine and science, they were also attempting to define and preserve the distinct features that made them Japanese.
What Precipitated the Meiji Restoration?
The Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, in 1867. Source: Geocities
The arrival of Commodore Perry and his Black Ships was shocking to the Japanese, but the ways that they adapted and interacted with the new world order and its new industrial accouterments is a testament to the adaptability and flexibility of the Japanese people. In less than sixty years, the Japanese defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War fully utilizing its modernized navy and army. Looking at the meaning of the Meiji Restoration and the enormous changes it
The Meiji Restoration was not a complete break with the past. There were numerous events and contingent factors that led to the events of 1868. Taking a close look at the events and factors that precipitated the restoration is key to understanding the Meiji Restoration itself. One of the reasons was surely the arrival of Commodore Perry off the Japanese coast. For the first fifty years of the nineteenth century, the bakufu was under the impression that it could continue to resist the Western influence. However, when the Europeans defeated the Qing government in China and imposed the unequal treaties on them, the bakufu began to realize that Japan is also vulnerable. It was within this context that Perry arrived in Japan with his demands. By 1858, the Japanese had also entered into “unequal treaties� with the West, but unlike in China, without much sacrifice.
To the Japanese, this meant that not only had they succumbed to the fate of the Qing without even a military battle, but that they were also not an equal member of the new world order as dictated by the unequal treaties.
constitutional state. Historians call the period from 1853-1868—essentially from Perry’s arrival to the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate—the bakumatsu—or the end of the bakufu.
The Meiji Revolution? Restoration? Renovation?
Japanese depiction of Perry and his black ships. Source: Japan CCH
These problems were compounded by the precarious balance of power that continued between the bakufu, the military leaders, and the imperial court in the Tokugawa Era. By the time Perry showed up, the Japanese economy was in crisis; there was economic stagnation and massive inflation, which meant that the ordinary people like farmers and low-level merchants, were under a lot of financial pressure. These tensions were exacerbated by the new social values that were slowly seeping into Japan and often associated with modernity, such as women going to work in factories, new forms of education, and more control over the local economies by the centralized state. When Perry arrived, Japan was already in flux. What Perry did was trigger a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the bakufu and the installation of the emperor as the sovereign of a modern
There are many different ways that scholars and historians understand the Meiji Era. Examining the words they use to define the period sheds light on their perspective of how important the Meiji Era was in fostering change in Japanese society. The most common term is the “Meiji Restoration,” which means that the emperor was “restored” to power after having relinquished it to the bakufu for the past few hundred years. Some scholars use the term “Meiji Revolution” or “Imperial Revolution.” The event was a bloody and dramatic event for the samurai involved, but the Japanese population was not immediately affected by the “revolution.” In many ways, however, the Meiji Era as a whole was revolutionary as it completely transformed Japanese society and the way that Japan interacted with the modern world. Others refer to this period as a “renovation.” Think of this like the renovation of a house; the foundation of Japanese society remained while some institutions and ways of thinking were
altered, replacing the existing system with more modern models. This term highlights the fact that although the Meiji Era did see massive and sweeping changes within society, some of the groundwork— or the foundations—had already been established in the Tokugawa period and before. In some ways, scholars who use the term “renovation” to describe the Meiji Era think of it as a make-over or a update that was overdue and welcomed, but not as something that was a complete break from the past where everything was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up.
from Japan. This placed the shogun in a precarious position: he knew the order could not be carried out and this led to some serious unrest in Japan between the southern factions that supported the emperor and the bakufu. It is not well known whether the future emperor was aware of the political turmoil during this time. He was receiving a quiet and traditional Confucian education and it was not until 1871 that he began learning “contemporary” international affairs.
After reading about the Meiji Era and the changes it brought to Japanese society, it is really up to an individual to decide which term is most appropriate to describe the period, but knowing that the different ways scholars have described the era helps to think critically about this period.
The Meiji Emperor Emperor Meiji was the 122nd emperor of Japan, reigning from February 1867 until his death in July 1912. He was born in 1852, just before Commodore Perry arrived in Japan with his infamous black ships and demands. During the crisis brought on by Perry’s arrival, his father, Emperor Kōmei, was consulted by the bakufu, which was an unprecedented move in the Tokugawa period. In 1863, under pressure from many of the samurai and his supporters in the south, Emperor Kōmei was persuaded to issue an edict ordering all the “barbarians” be expelled
The young Meiji Emperor in traditional Japanese gown. Source: Uchida Guichi
The Emperor Kōmei had always enjoyed excellent health and was only thirty-six years old when he died in January 1867. He fell seriously ill that month and though he appeared to make some recovery, his
physical condition suddenly worsened and the emperor died. Some historians argue that he was poisoned, but there is no substantial evidence to prove such claim. Following his sudden death, the young, inexperienced, and relatively aloof Meiji emperor ascend the throne on February 3, 1867, amid great turmoil in Japan. Although a parliament was formed in Japan, it had no practical power in the beginning, and neither did the emperor. Power had passed from the Tokugawa into the hands of the powerful daimyo and other samurai who had led the Restoration, like an oligarchy with the emperor as their figurehead. The Meiji Emperor became an enigmatic figure that resided over massive change in Japan, though historians debate the extent of his actual involvement in this change.
and with foreigners (especially Chinese and Koreans). They vied for power and supported the young Meiji emperor. Although a political solution was sought at first, it failed and soon Tokugawa troops launched a military campaign to seize the emperor’s court at Kyoto. However, the imperial faction from the south had spent quite a bit of money and energy modernizing their forces and although they were a much smaller force, the battles quickly turned in their favor. The defeat of the last Tokugawa holdout left the forces that supported the imperial army to be victorious, thus completing the military phase of the Meiji Restoration. In total around 120,000 samurai were mobilized and about 3,500 were killed, quite a small number for a “revolution” that overthrew a government and established a new one.
The Boshin War: Who Were the Main Actors in the Meiji Restoration? The Boshin War (1868-1869) was the civil war in Japan fought between the forces of the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the emperor. Many daimyo were disaffected with the shogunate’s handling of the foreigners after the signing of the unequal treaties, especially in the south of Japan. The areas of Chōshū, Satsuma, and Tosa were far from the seat of Tokugawa power and were accustomed to more autonomy in their dealings with their own domains
Satsuma samurai during the Boshin War. Source: Felice Beato
The Boshin War testifies to the advanced state of modernization already achieved by Japan barely fourteen years after its “opening” to the West, the already high involvement of Western nations in the
country's politics, and the rather turbulent installation of Imperial power.
and some of the resistance he faced in the first years of his rule.
From Bakufu to the Meiji Emperor: Power Changes Hands
The Five-Character Oath
In the afternmath of the bakufu’s defeat and abolition, the southern daimyos of ChĹ?shĹŤ, Satsuma, and Tosa convinced the emperor that there was need for complete political reform. They agreed to establish a Prussian-style parliament and to reinstate the emperor as the constitutional monarch. The emperor was a pawn, used and played by the southern daimyos who wanted to institute change and knew that they needed an authoritative figurehead as their leader in order to accomplish the complete overthrow of the Tokugawa. The years that followed the end of the bakufu were marked by an era of insecurity, during which Japan wished to free itself from the unequal treaties imposed by the West. The Japanese knew that in order to achieve this goal and gain the respect of the international community, they needed to create a political system as well as a functioning army and navy that were comparable to those of great western powers. However, this change in power from the bakufu to the emperor did not go very smoothly, and many smaller players vied for power in the years following the establishment of the Meiji government. Below are some of the changes instituted by the Meiji emperor
This oath was promulgated at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji on April 7, 1868. The oath acts as an outline for the main objectives that Meiji sought to achieve throughout his reign. The oath not only dismantled the old class system in Japan, allowing people more freedom and social mobility, but it is also considered to be the first constitution of modern Japan. The five clauses are: By this oath, we set up as our aim the establishment of the national wealth on a broad basis and the framing of a constitution and laws. 1.
Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all matters decided by open discussion.
2.
All classes, high and low, shall be united in vigorously carrying out the administration of affairs of the state.
3.
The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall all be allowed to pursue their own calling so that there may be no discontent.
4.
Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature.
5.
Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundation of imperial rule.
The Oath was read aloud at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in the presence of more than 400 officials. The daimyo, the emperor, and other nobles then signed the Oath, swearing to do their most to uphold it. The oath was a statement of policy to be followed by the new Meiji government and also a way of ensuring loyalty to the new Meiji emperor in the wake of the Boshin War.
The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 In the 1870s, the Meiji government did everything it could to systematically curb the power of the samurai by slowly revoking the special privileges that differentiated them from other members of society; their status and stipends were removed, they were no longer allowed to wear swords, and they were no longer entitled to an exclusive mode of dressing or hairstyle. In theory, by the time of the 1877 “Samurai rebellion,” samurai did not really exist at all. The Samurai rebellion, also known as the Satsuma Rebellion, was a revolt by disgruntled samurai against the new imperial government nine years into the Meiji Era. The domain of Satsuma became a refuge for many unemployed
samurai who were still struggling to find a place for themselves in the rapidly changing Japan after their status had been revoked and they found themselves at a loss for work.
Shiroyama Battle
The leader of the rebellion was a man named Saigō Takamori from Satsuma. The Satsuma domain was one of the key players in the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. Afterwards, Saigō was rewarded with a position as a senior leader in the Meiji government. He initially supported reforms that were instituted, but ended up resigning from government when numerous reforms he wanted to pass did not go through. He returned to Satsuma and brought with him many samurai who saw themselves as being disenfranchised by the new Meiji government. With the help of these men, Saigō mounted his own private army and trained them according the way of the samurai or bushido. The domain grew so strong that it seceded from the central government and the imperial forces were sent to put down the rebellion. Saigō’s rebellion was the last and most serious of a series of armed uprisings
against the new government in Japan. The rebellion ended when Saigō took his own life, committing seppuku, the ritual suicide associated with samurai culture. The rebellion caused great cost to the imperial government. It is also effectively considered the end of the era of the samurai, as the new Imperial Japanese Army was a conscript army without regards for social class. Overall, the Japanese people generally consider Saigō Takamori as a tragic hero. On February 22, 1889, the Meiji emperor pardoned him posthumously and allowed his soul to be interned at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
The Meiji Restoration and the Emergence of a Japanese National Consciousness Before the Meiji Restoration, it could be argued that there was nothing of a “national consciousness” in Japan. During the Tokugawa period, inroads were made into developing the economy and centralizing power, but Japan was still fragmented and most people identified with their local han or daimyo rather than with the idea of the Japanese nation-state. The Meiji Restoration changed all of this. As communications improved and literacy increased, so did the notion that Japan
was a strong and modern nation to be taken seriously on the world scene.
The Meiji Emperor and his court. Source: Toyohara Chikanobu
In the next module, we will follow the story of the Meiji Era and see how exactly the Japanese government worked to create a modern nation-state with citizens who thought of themselves as part of the ever-growing and ever-changing Japanese Empire.
Useful Websites Primary Documents about state development in the Meiji State http://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/e/cha2/index. html Documents about the Satsuma Rebellion http://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/e/cha1/descri ption11.html MIT Visualizing Cultures—Images of Meiji http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/bea to_places/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/bea to_people/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/gt_ japan_places/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/gt_ japan_people/index.html
The Treaty of Portsmouth from the US Department of State Office of the Historian http://history.state.gov/milestones/18991913/PortsmouthTreaty MIT Visualizing Cultures—Yokohama Boom Town: Foreigners in Treaty-Port Japan http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yok ohama/index.html MIT Visualizing Asia Project—Throwing off Asia http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/thr owing_off_asia_01/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/thr owing_off_asia_03/toa_vis_01.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/w iki100k/docs/First_Sino-Japanese_War.html Woodblock Prints from Meiji Japan http://www.artelino.com/articles/meiji_print s.asp Historical Events—the Meiji Emperor http://www.kyotodreamtrips.com/2012/02/h istorical-events-today-1867-princemutsuhito-14-becomes-emperor-meiji-ofjapan-1867-1912/ Japanese Government site hosted about the Meiji Restoration http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2130.html
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/thr owing_off_asia_02/index.html
Columbia University Asia for Educators—the Meiji Restoration http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_ 1750_meiji.htm
MIT Visualizing Asia Project—Asia Rising: Postcards from the Russo-Japanese War http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/asia _rising/index.html
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpc t/kp_meiji.htm
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yell ow_promise_yellow_peril/index.html MIT Visualizing Asia Project—The Hibiya Rice Riot of 1905 http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/soci al_protest_japan/index.html Russo-Japanese Research society http://www.russojapanesewar.com/ Resources for History Teachers—The Meiji Restoration https://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispace s.com/WHII.14
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/japan/chart er_oath_1868.pdf http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1750_jp.ht m#edo The Japan Society Teacher Resources about the Meiji Restoration http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/essays_1/ the_meiji_restoration_era_1868-1889 Columbia University East Asia Curriculum Project—the Meiji Constitution http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/G369_2002/me ijiconstitution.htm
Imperial Rescript on Education http://www.danzan.com/HTML/ESSAYS/me iji.html
Japan Foundation series about the Meiji Restoration available on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BQr5nR n_Cw
http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primarysources/136
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN3ujvs M67U
Hosting from Princeton about the First SinoJapanese War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnXcYR jYN8
Six part documentary about Japanese history from the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQlxcz9 U2x0
Jansen, Marius, B., ed. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji restoration. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3V5gVL PEvI
Kazuhiro Takii. The Meiji Constitution: The Japanese Experience of the West and the Shaping of the Modern State. Tokyo: International House of Japan, 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGyzG WW7j4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRrDg0u DJWQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPMZ4su RSjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHvmA VSyUI Encyclopedia Britannica—the Meiji Restoration http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic /373305/Meiji-Restoration British Museum—Meiji Prints http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/high lights/article_index/j/japan_prints_and_pai ntings_of.aspx Princeton University Art Museum—Asian Art Collection: Prints and art from the Meiji Restoration http://etcweb.princeton.edu/asianart/timepe riod_japan.jsp?ctry=Japan&pd=Meiji
Suggestions for Further Reading Akita, George. Foundations of Constitutional Government in Modern Japan, 18681900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967.
Ravina, Mark. The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. Swale, Alistair. The Meiji Restoration: monarchism, mass communication and conservative revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. General history of the Meiji Era Clement, Ernest Wilson. A Short History of Japan. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1915. Cortazzi, Hugh. Modern Japan: a concise survey. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993. Duke, Benjamin. The History of Modern Japanese Education: Constructing a National School System, 1872-1890. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2009. Duus, Peter. Modern Japan. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Ericson, Steven J. The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan. Cambrdige: Harvard University Asia Center, 1996. Fogel, Joshua A. Late Qing China and Meiji Japan: political and cultural aspects. Norwalk: EastBridge, 2004. Fujitanai, T. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Beasley, W.G. The Meiji Restoration. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972.
Gluck, Carol. Japan’s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.
Craig, Albert M. Choshu in the Meiji Restoration. New York: Lexington Books, 2000.
Goto-Jones, Christopher. Modern Japan: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Hane Mikiso. Modern Japan: a historical survey. Boulder: Westview Press, 2013.
Irokawa Daikichi. The Culture of the Meiji Period. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.
Huffman, James L. Modern Japan: an encyclopedia of history, culture, and nationalism. New York: Garland Publications, 1998.
Lublin, Elizabeth Dorn. Reforming Japan: The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in the Meiji Period. York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.
Huffman, James. Modern Japan: a history in documents. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Mohr, Michel. Buddhism, Unitarianism, and the Meiji Competition for Universality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013.
Jansen, Marius. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and his World, 1852-1912. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. Masselos, Jim. ed. The Great Empires of Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. McClain. James. Japan: A Modern History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002. Sims, Richard L. Japanese political history since the Meiji Renovation. London: Hurst, 2001. Thomas, J.E. Modern Japan: A social history since 1868. London, Longman, 1996. Tipton, Elise. Modern Japan: a social and political history. London: Routledge, 2008. Cultural and Social history of the Meiji Era Ashkenazi, Michael. Matsuri: Festivals of a Japanese Town. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993. Doak, Kevin Michael. A history of nationalism in modern Japan: placing the people. Leiden, Brill, 2007. Figal, Gerald. Civilization and Monsters: Spirits of Modernity in Meiji Japan. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. Hardcare, Helen. Shinto and the State, 18681988. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Nornes, Abe Mark. Japanese Documentary Film: The Meiji Era Through Hiroshima. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 2003. Patessio, Mara. Women and public life in early Meiji Japan: the development of the feminist movement. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan Press, 2011. Plutschow, Herbert. Matsuri: The Festivals of Japan. Shrewberry: Roundwood Books, 1996. Tseng, Alice Y. The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation. Portland: University of Washington Press, 2007. Wachutka, Michael. Kokugaku in Meiji-period Japan: the modern transformation of ‘national learning’ and the formation of scholarly societies. Leiden: Global Oriental, 2013. Foreigners and Meiji Japan Hoare, James. Japan’s treaty ports and foreign settlements: the uninvited guests, 1858-1899. Kent: Japan Library 1994. Militarism and technology in Meiji Japan Drea, Edward J. Japan’s Imperial Army: its rise and fall, 1853-1945. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2009. Low, Morris, eds. Building a modern Japan: science, technology, and medicine in the Meiji era and beyond. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2005. Shimazu, Naoko. Japanese Society at War: Death, Memory and the Russo-Japanese
War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Wittner, David G. Technology and the culture of progress in Meiji Japan. New York: Routledge, 2008.