Japan’s economy was primarily agricultural with only 20 percent of its land suitable for cultivation and with tea and silk as major exports. The government invested in agriculture, with agricultural colleges, experimental farming, and providing farmers with technical advice. Imperialism in Japan had an overall positive effect on Japan’s society, the growth of the agricultural sector of the economy helped make possible the growth of Japan’s manufacturing.
Farmers paid taxes that created revenues that the government used for investing in industrial development. Japan was divided into feudal fiefs, ruled by lords or daimyo. To prevent rebellion, the Shogun insisted that the daimyo spend part of every year in the capital, Tokyo (Beasley, 1). Japanese society was divided into separate classes; these were the Daimyo, Samurai, Soldier, Farmers, Artisans/Merchant, and slaves.
“Japan had another ingredient useful for imperial expansion-arrogance- a view of their country as the land favored by the gods, the land that others should recognize as superior” (Hane, 2).
Emperor Meiji Fukuzawa was one of Japan’s most powerful emperors during the imperialism era in the 1800s. Meiji was born on November 3, 1852 inKyōto, Japan; He was the emperor of Japan from 1867-1912, his death. “Japan benefited only from its rapid industrialization but also, from being an island nation. And by having a neighboring military rival a great, but crippled power, China” (Beasley, 1).
Meiji Ishin also known as Meiji Restoration really is renewal, another word in Japanese used to suggest the great cultural changes that went on at that time is yonaoshi. This literally means a change in the world, a change by reconstructing and correcting the world around you. “Empero...
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...national wealth and strength: first, by restoring health to agriculture, so as to enrich the country; second, by reviving samurai discipline and morale, in order to increase military potential”( Beasley, 1).
Imperialism on Japan had benefited Japan, there was a huge growth in agriculture, and the economy strengthened. The government attached great importance to transport development, for it recognized its infrastructural value to the economy and general strength of the nation. From a poor agricultural country, Japan has become the richest industrial state in Asia. Japan has famous the world over for precision goods, cars, and huge tankers. Japan’s factory workers are no longer grossly exploited; employers provide welfare schemes, recreational and educational facilities and housing, nowhere is change more clearly seen than in the structure of Japanese society.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Chinese and Japanese faced much internal conflict, but while China faced a combination of economic setbacks and political weakness, the Japanese were riddled with wars along their countryside. First, the Chinese emperor was too weak in comparison to his bureaucracy, which ended up making most of the decisions for the last Ming dynasty emperor. This was due to the emperor’s realization that having a title as Son of Heaven did not mean he had all the power of the empire. Instead he lived a laid back life where the bureaucrats vied for power and wealth amongst themselves and he merely managed them. Like the Chinese, the Japanese also saw elites battling it out for power, but this time on the battlefield with armies of samurai. These battles put Japan in a period much like the Warring States period in early Chinese history, where families fought and fought for power almost endlessly. The political weakness in China contributed to its economic failure as well. With no force to manage to seas, pirates were free to raid trade ships and villages along the coast line, weakening the Chinese economy that relied on a transport system to supply the country. These two major forces led to China’s fragmentation and eventual takeover by the Manchu. In contrast, the battles happening in Japan were not harmful to the economy as much as they were in China. This is due to the fact that the Japanese daimyos were independent...
Japan from Prehistory to Modern times. New York: Delacorte, 1979. Print. The. Lockwood, William W. Japan's Response to the West: The Contrast with China. New Haven: n.p., 1956.
Within a short period of time, Japan had caught up with many Western technologies; having established universities, founded telegraph and railroad lines, as well as a national postal system being created. Shipping and textile industries were a huge success an exports rose.
If one strips the story to its generalities rather than specifics, it is easy to relate this to World War II through the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent actions. Japan had relatively recently entered onto the world stage and faced issues that plagued other youthful nations. Japan required expansion to feed its growing populace. The easies...
Shively, Donald H., and William H. McCullough, eds. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.
Two Empires In Japan by John M.L. Young and The Christian Confrontation with Shinto Nationalism by Kun Sam Lee were the two books I used for this topic. The former, an intimate 100 year chronicle of the persecution by the Asian government with their demands that all people bow in Kyujo-yohai, ( worshipping the Imperial House from afar); and the struggle of the Japanese Christians in times of compromise and triumph under such totalitarian pressure. The latter a more detailed historical account of old Shinto and the earliest Christian missionaries. The following essay will focus on the conflicting ideologies within Japan between the Shinto militarists and the Protestant mission effort from it¹s germination in 1859 until 1957.
The author reviews different credible sources and comes up with the idea that the blame is not on the Japanese alone. Looking back in history, Japan chose to be an isolated country until the westerners invaded and forced trade
WriteWork contributors. "The impact of World War 1 on Japanese development in the early 20th century" WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 05 January, 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Around 1600, Japan had been caught up in a civil war for the last hundred years. However, Tokugawa, one of Japan’s greatest warlords, came into power and reunited the country. After his victory, he followed tradition and decided to leave the emperor in charge, but deemed himself shogun. During this period, the emperor was merely a façade for the people, and the shoguns were the ones who held all the power. Tokugawa created his own dynasty in which Edo was the
When Meiji was restored as head of Japan in 1868, the nation was militarily weak, had little technological development, and power imbalances with many feudal lords that were ruling. The United States and Europe had also played a hand in forcing Japan to humiliating tasks, after Commodore M. Perry forced Japan to open up trade. After the Meiji period and the restorations that they brought, Japan had advanced through one of the most amazing transformations, that the world still can not believe.
Japan, an island country is a series of Eastern Asia island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. It is slightly smaller than the state of California. With a population estimated at 127 (July 2004), Japan is three times more densely populated than Europe as a whole and twelve times more densely populated than the United States. 2 While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats...
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.
Vogel, S. K. (2006). Japan remodeled :How government and industry are reforming japanese capitalism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
O'Bryan, Scott. 2009. Growth Idea : Purpose and Prosperity in Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed December 4, 2011).