The development of a modern agriculture trade through the increase in cash crops (e.g. cotton, tea, sugarcane, tobacco), extensive road networks, tradehouses, and transport infrastructure, redistributed wealth as peasants made the transition from subsistence farming to cultivation of commercial crops for sale in markets. This economic boom and rapid urbanisation resulted in proto-capitalism and the preliminary accumulation of economic resources required for investment or long-term growth. Foreign trade in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries promoted greater circulation of coins, since the main export from Japan in the vessels of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and English was gold and silver. This naturally encouraged the development of mining and private enterprise that eroded the old feudal relationships.
Pax Tokugawa enabled samurai scholars to be devoted to historical studies, which led to the rise of National Learning. The official encouragement led to the appearance of experts that questioned shogunate as an institution and formed the intellectual basis for its eventual overthrow. Dai Nihon Shi of the Mito School revealed that the tenno (Emperor) was the highest legitimate ruler of Japan, whereas the Shogun had usurped his power illegally. Studies of ancient Japanese history led to the revival of Shintoism and it too placed the emperor above the Shogun. The Dutch scholars of this school perceived the superiority of western civilisation and so among the educated classes a mental climate prepared for a return to imperial rule.
Commissioned by President Fillmore to force open relations with Japan, Commodore Perry a naval officer arrived in Edo bay in 1854 and presented an ultimatum to the Shogunate. Fillmore intended to ensure proper treatment for shipwrecked American sailors, ensure supplies for visiting vessels (especially whaling ships) and open ports to trade. However, if these ‘very reasonable and pacific overtures’ were not accepted immediately he would return next year ‘with a much larger force’. Progress in steam navigation, the need to secure supplies, including coal, for American ships sailing to and from Canton, growth of the American whaling industry in the Pacific, the prospect of competition form Britain, and America’s acquisition of California from Mexico (a substantial seaboard on the pacific) were important determining factors. Already financially weak, the shogunate autocracy could not survive a military confrontation against technologically advanced Western counties, particularly when Perry defied the shogun and sailed directly into the bay. Forced to sign the Convention of Kanagawa (31st March, 1854), commercial privileges, extraterritorial jurisdiction for foreign nationals, the presence of diplomatic representatives and the restrictions on Jap export of opium were main concessions won by the US, Great Britain, France, Russia and the Netherlands. “Gunboat diplomacy” ensured oriental governments respected Western interests.
The fixed tariffs (10%) induced an influx of cheap foreign goods and since Japanese currency was not sufficiently backed by gold reserves foreigners disrupted currency structures by manipulating the exchange rates resulting in hyperinflation. The price of rice, for example, increased fourfold between 1853 and 1869. Compounded with a blow to national prestige, western aggression allowed tozama daimyo in western Japan to stage the Sonno-Joi Movement (revere the emperor, expel the barbarian) and use latent dissatisfaction. The need for modern weapons was emphasised to Satsuma and Choshu, when both lost in battles with the British. Anti-foreign agitation was dropped in order to learn from the West the secrets of its strength by opening in 1857 the ‘Institute for Investigation of Barbarian Books’. The opening of the ports in 1859 increased Japan’s access to information about the West by providing opportunity for travel. In the 1860s, individual clans sent missions to seek knowledge of western military science and other techniques to replace the Tokugawa by effective centralised government. An alliance of four Western clans (Satsuma, Choshu, Toza and Hizen), armed and trained by European powers and supported by rich merchants, took Emperor Mutsuhite (1852-1912)-otherwise known as Meiji or “Enlightened rule”-to Edo and announced the Meiji (Imperial) Restoration. Following the 1867-1868 Boshin War and extreme financial strain the Tokugawa Shogunate was forced to resign. The resumption of imperial prerogatives in 1868 ended the 265-year Tokugawa rule. Western aggression, exemplified by the Perry expedition, merely provided the final impetus towards an inevitable collapse for it sped up changes that were already occurring. According to Fernand Braudel, it was the “spark lit the powder”.
The renewal of Western encroachment on China through the Opium Wars, where Western nations carved out commercial empires, threatened Japan’s interests and made greater military expenditure necessary. Awareness of the importance of a firm military-industrial complex brought a fresh slogan into prominence: Fukoku-kyohei (‘enrich the country, strengthen its army’ or Wealth and Strength). The need for a military establishment based on western organization and technology, paid from the resources that commerce and industry made available, was necessary to withstand the forces of colonisation that already infected Asia. The Meiji oligarchy, predominantly young junior rank samurai from Satsuma and Choshu, realised progress must be based on imitation so the can “catch up and overtake”. The Iwakura Mission in December 1871 (led by Iwakura Tomomi) gathered knowledge from America and Europe to facilitate nationalism, which in turn fed the fires of imperialism. Western ideas ultimately bred insecurity about themselves and although the Restoration was a return to the patterns of antiquity, international competition required the acquisition of modern tools.
In 1869, daimyo voluntarily surrendered their lands to the emperor “so that a uniform rule may prevail throughout the empire allowing Japan to rank equally with other nations of the world”. The daimyo received compensation and were relieved from supporting their samurai. Disbanded in 1876, samurai were pensioned off, their traditional feudal privilege discontinued and their right to wear distinctive dress and carry two swords was abolished. Their stipends were replaced with government bonds leading to poverty and humiliation at their loss of status though some learnt administration skills and entered the bureaucracy. The liberation of people from feudal restrictions increased geographic mobility. Another blow to samurai pride was the introduction of conscription (1871) implying that any Japanese could acquire the martial virtues regarded for centuries as the attribute of a minority privileged class. A national army raised by universal conscription, in which the peasants provided submissive and disciplined soldiers, indoctrinated the idea of service to the state and reverence for the Emperor. Training and organisation were western style where officers from France and Germany supervised the nucleus of a modern army while the British provided naval instructions.
Saigo Takamori of the Satsuma clan proposed that Japan advance her national prestige and provide military employment through a foreign war, particularly against Korea, as means of "giving vent to samurai frustration and energy" (Pyle 1996). The new imperial government rejected this demand leaving many in a keen sense of betrayal because their clans initiated the movement for the Meiji Restoration. Samurai dissatisfaction expressed itself in several revolts culminating in a rebellion (Satsuma Rebellion) led by Saigo in 1877. However, a modern conscript force trained in European infantry techniques and armed with modern Western guns swiftly crushed the revolt.
In response to the Western challenge and in an attempt to suppress Christianity, Meiji leaders created a civic ideology centred on the emperor through the reemphasis on Shinto (Japan’s native religion). Since Buddhism was syncretically lined to Shinto they propagated taikyo, an amalgam of Shinto, Confucian and Buddhist thought by which Japanese revered the emperor and observed traditional moral code. As a direct descendent of Amaterasu (Sun Goddess) his advisers saw the emperor as a logical focal point for achieving national unity and social cohesion by exploiting his imperial divine descent. The emperor would all-powerful, but they intended that real power would reside in them as advisers to the throne. Christianity suppression continued early in the reformation however in 1873 religious freedom was granted
To win the recognition of the Western powers and convince them to change the “unequal treaties” Japan changed its entire legal system, adopting a new criminal and civil code modelled after those of France and Germany. Local and regional courts, presided over by an appointed judge, were created in 1871 to replace the judicial arrangements of the Bakufu. A Supreme Court was added in 1875 and from 1890, judges were appointed for life. To this extent, the judiciary was made independent of politics. Recruitment and promotion were subject to competitive examination in elements of ‘western’ learning such as law, politics and economics, not Confucian philosophy. A departure from the earlier system of inherited positions released the talents and energies of the general population. The adoption of western institutions in brought Japan a measure of international respectability, which proved a useful adjunct to diplomacy in efforts to revise the unequal treaties.
Officials encouraged agricultural production to increase taxation so they could finance industry and precipitate modernisation. A modernised agriculture is the foundation of and pre-condition for successful industrialization. New plants strains were imported while irrigation and fertilisers expanded agricultural production exponentially. Students were sent abroad to learn advanced agricultural techniques that cultivated existing fields more extensively. Experimental agricultural stations and agricultural colleges, which employed foreign experts, were founded throughout the country to test new methods of planting and advise farmers on new techniques. As a result of increased productivity, total rice production, for example, grew over 30% between 1880 and 1894.
In 1871 a Ministry of Education was established and in 1872 compulsory education required children be taught reverence for, and unquestioning loyalty to, Emperor Meiji and his imperial government. Designed for conditioning students to blind loyalty and supporting military aggression, the regimented curriculum followed the authoritarian Prussian education model. In 1890, the Educational Rescript insisted that students observed the Confucian obligations and ‘moral qualities’ of filial piety, submission to superiors, respect for the law, and “courageously offering themselves to the State” should emergency arise. The rescript reflected the influence of former samurai in the Ministry of Education. It intended to establish an intellectual foundation through ‘Japanese spirit, Western learning’, which would reduce Western necessity and promote indigenous innovations. Coupled with the use of symbols, eg, the Japanese flag, and patriotic songs the oligarchy effectively inculcated national identity and virtue. By 1870 half of the male population were literate "enjoying one of the highest literacy rates of any non-industrial society" (W.G.Beasley). This instrument of ultranationalism and authoritarianism successfully achieved a high degree of homogeneity of thought.
As a means of subverting Satsuma and Choshu’s hold of the Meiji oligarchy, Tosa and Hizen (who were increasingly isolated) caused disruption and harnessed political tension by invoking the ideas of John Stuart Mill and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Under pressure, the government then sent Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909) to Europe in 1882 to study constitutional reforms and develop a constitution appropriate for an authoritarian society. Based on the Prussian-influenced German model, the Emperor promulgated a written constitution in 1889 that established a bicameral parliament and executive responsible, not to the legislative assembly, but to the Sovereign Ruler of the country. Thus, the emperor had supreme command of the armed force and the ability to veto any proposed changes. It produced an appearance that Emperor Meiji was the supreme ruler but it permitted individual advisers or factions within the power elite to rule Japan through the emperor. The denial of genuine democracy and lack of ministerial responsibility preserved authoritarian rule.
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901), a leading educationalist and “moderniser” played a vital role in the expression of political hope by making westernisation possible and preaching the necessity of individual responsibility for “heaven creates no man above and none below”. Yukichi established the Tokyo Imperial University (Todai) in 1877, published books that popularised western ideas and reinforced the new motto of bunmeikaika ("Civilization and Enlightenment") which embraced all that is modern. The desire to impress foreigners and fascination with exotic attire led many to experiment with Westerns style clothing and by 1900, suits became standard for businessman and officials. Japanese diet also changed where meat eating and alcohol were promoted among the masses. Modernity became a cult, a complex of behaviour and ideas that Japanese associated with the contemporary West, brought home by Japanese travellers, or exemplified by foreign residents in Japan
In the field of transportation, the extension of the archaic road system, the invention of the rickshaw (1869) and horse drawn trolleys and the railway immediately created a modern communications infrastructure. New medical practices were imported, western hairstyles came into vogue and in 1873 the Gregorian calendar became official. The entire apparatus of Western material civilization emerged including telegraphs, lighthouses, dockyards, electricity, printing presses and newspapers, post offices, and cigars. Japan saw the emergence of a "mass society" similar to the "Roaring 20s" in the United States. In 1882, the first Japanese central bank was set up, i.e, the Bank of Japan, through which the government regulated industrial growth and utilised savings for economic development.
Rather than risk economic imperialist control, the government did not rely on foreign capital to finance their industrial projects and so resigned itself to squeezing a resentful peasantry. The “unequal treaties” aggravated this situation for they handicapped Japanese development by preventing the government from increasing tariffs to protect new industries against foreign competition. Japan’s modern defence forces required heavy industry that supplied cannons, ships, and other military equipment and since agricultural exports paid for much of the industrial machinery, agricultural taxes created capital to be invested. A national land tax system also allowed the government to stabilize the national budget and partially solve the unfavourable balance of trade. It established state run shipbuilding yards, gunpowder and munition factories, and artillery works designed to act as models and stimulate private enterprise. However in the 1880s it sold these industries, because it faced a financial crisis and could not afford to spend a substantial proportion of its money on industrial development. The private companies that bought these industries became monopolistic corporate conglomerates known as the zaibatsu (financial combines). Thus, the entrepreneurial samurai families of Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Yasuda became the military- industrial complex and powered Japan’s industrialisation. From 1880 to 1913, industrial output increased five fold and national income doubled.
Western nations finally agreed to revise the ‘unequal treaties’ in 1894, acknowledging Japan as an equal in principle, followed by the end of extraterritorial jurisdiction in 1899. Then in 1902 through an Anglo-Japanese alliance came the clearest acknowledgment of Japan’s acceptance as an equal by the West. It gave assurance that they could strike at enemies with success. In 1894 Japan engaged in war with China over their mutual interests in Korea, which was won by Japan the following year. The acquisition of Korea was vital as ‘dumping ground’ for their excess population and resource exploitation. The Sino-Japanese War reinforced their ‘might is right’ view of international relations and established itself as a colonial power in East Asia. Russian possession of Port Arthur, completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, development of Vladivostock, and Russian commercial activity in the Korean peninsula resulted a conflict of interests and inevitably the Russ-Japanese War (1904/05). The war in Manchuria was a humiliating defeat for the Russians and the end of Tsarist pretensions in Korea and South Manchuria. The Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 gave Japan the railway, Liatung and recognised her “paramount interests” in Korea (which it subsequently annexed in 1910). It demonstrated that the policy of modernisation was producing impressive results because for the first time in modern history a non-European nation defeated a European power in a full-scale war. It restored Japan’s self-confidence when they turned European skills and ideas against her, elevating Japan to the “peers of western peoples” (Richard Storry).
The supply of entrepreneurs, liquidation of feudal restraints, infrastructure of modern state, an indigenous arms industry, a high credit rating and large amounts of capital saved during Edo period gave the Meiji government a superb foundation after taking over these pre-1868 industrial undertakings. However compounded with financial instability, Western belligerence displayed in the Opium Wars initiated rapid changes and forced the Japanese government to emulate their imperialist stance against other nations in the Pacific region. Hence the arrival of the West accelerated predestined technological progress and provided the final impetus towards total modernisation. According to Beasley, “a nationalism rooted in conservative view of society already dissolved much of the tradition it developed to defend.
Bibliography
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Marius B. Jansen, 2002, The Making of Modern Japan, Harvard University Press, London.
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W.G. Beasley, 1999, The Japanese Experience: A short history of Japan, Phoenix Press, London
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Richard Storry, 1990, A History of Modern Japan, Penguin Books, London
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Curtis Andressen, 2002, A Short History of Japan from Samurai to Sony, Allen & Unwin, Sydney