1. JAPAN: The Meiji Restoration, Japanese Imperialism, and the Build-Up to World War II IN ASIA

2. Key Questions
How significant was the impact of nationalism and militarism on Japan’s foreign policy ?
What impact did Japan’s domestic issues have on foreign policy ?
How significant was China’s political instability?

3. 1871 – New Imperial Army created, 10,000 Samurai
1873 – Mass Conscription Introduced, men 20+ for 3 years
1876 – Treaty of Kanghwa – Unfair treaty imposed on Korea
1882 – Imperial Rescript to Soldiers & Sailors, Indoctrination
– Sino-Japanese War – Japan wins, gains Taiwan
1890s – Ending of the Unfair Treaties on Japan
1902 – Anglo-Japanese Alliance
– Russo-Japanese War – Japan wins!
1910 – Japan annexes Korea

4. Background
Real power in Japan before 1867 rested with the largest of Japan’s feudal landowning clans.
Before 1600, various clans had come to dominate, only to be replaced by another clan.
Tokugawa Clan replaced them all and became the strongest feudal, samurai clan.
The head of the clan acted as a shogun, the commanding general of Japan’s armies.
Important : The Tokugawa clan used their domination to create a NATIONAL UNITY
Main belief was Japanese Superiority
Read “ Tokugawa period “ and underline the main features of the period

5. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the last shogun ( Keiki)
His attempts to modernize and strengthen Japan’s government and his failure to keep foreign states from increasing their contacts with Japan led to the rise of opposition from amongst Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa samurai clans.
They feared that he will transfer emperor’s power to himself along with the power and the government.
They raised forces to overthrow him under the slogan ( sonno joi ( revere the emperor, expel the barbarian)
Although Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned and returned all power to the emperor, a brief internal( civil war )- the Boshin War broke out in 1867 as the clans warred between themselves ( Tosa samurai vs Satsuma and Choshu )

6. The Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa family( clan) ruled Japan from 1603 until – also known as the Edo period
1635 – foreign trade limited to China, Korea, and Netherlands at Nagasaki a few times per year
Emperor (Mikado) ruled in name only ( nominative )
Actual power held by the shogun( military dictators )

7. To Clarify
A shogun (将軍 shōgun, [ɕoːɡɯɴ] was the military dictator of Japan during the period from 1185 to (with exceptions). 
The shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country, although nominally they were appointed by the Emperor as a ceremonial formality.
A hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan. Because of the military power concentrated in his hands and the consequent weakness of the nominal head of state (the mikado or emperor), the shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until feudalism was abolished in 1867.

8. Daimyo( vassal of shogun) Peasants, Artisans, Farmers, Merchants, etc.
Japanese Feudalism
Samurai – lived by Bushido, the “way of the warrior” (chivalric code) Eight virtues of Samurai ( bushido-code-the-eight-virtues-of-the-samurai/)
Emperor de facto
Ronin – those samurai without masters
Shogun
Ninja – a warrior trained to use unorthodox fighting methods (assassination, espionage, martial arts)
Daimyo( vassal of shogun)
Samurai
Peasants, Artisans, Farmers, Merchants, etc.

9. YOU MUST KNOW ALL THE DEFINITIONS : Write out the definitions at home
ultranationalist state- Meiji Restoration- Meiji Constitution- Meiji Emperor- feudalism- Privy Council- samurai- Diet- suffrage- House of Peers/House of Representatives- compulsory education- militarists- radical nationalism/fascism- shogun- Korean tributary state- coup d’etat- First Sino Japanese War- Japan Korea Treaty- Treaty of Shimonoseki- Tripartite Intervention- Liaodong Peninsula- Gashin Shotan- Anglo Japanese Alliance- Russo-Japanese War- Boxer Rebellion- Battle of Tsushima Straits- Treaty of Portsmouth- Great Powers- First World War- Shantung Peninsula- The Twenty One Demands- Paris Peace Conference- League of Nations- mandates- annexed- conscription- Shidehara Diplomacy- Washington Naval Conference- London Naval Conference- Five Power Treaty- Four Power Treaty- Nine Power Treaty- Great Depression- trade barriers- zaibatsu- industrialisation- military production- strikes- communism- Showa Restoration- Showa Emperor- military factions- socialists- Sakurakai- Kodoha- Tosieha- warlord era- Manchuria- Kwantung Army- Kuomintang- CCP- Chiang Kai Shek- Northern Expedition- Zhang Zoulin 

10. Encore
Before 1867, Japan was a strictly segregated feudal society , with a structure very similar to that which predominated in most European countries during the Middle Ages.
In Japan, feudalism lasted longer due to their ISOLATIONISM.

11. Japanese Culture and Economy
Religion
Mixture of native Shintoism (living spirits in all things) and Chinese Confucianism (based on the teachings of Confucius)
Economy
Growing internal trade during the Edo period
Merchants began to surpass the samurai in wealth
Rigid social stratification
But these limits were being tested by the end of the Tokugawa shogunate

12. End of Japanese Isolation
U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry ( )
1853 – gunboat diplomacy( this was something much practiced by Britain in Asia- and especially in relation to China. 2 Opium wars were fought against China in order to force the Chinese government to accept Britain’s right to sell opium in China. It was these western acts that forced Japanese nationalistic policy of seclusion and xenophobia.
1854 – trade treaty with the United States
Great Britain, Holland (Netherlands), and Russia soon gained similar trading rights
Townsend Harris ( )
United States Consul General to Japan
1858 – commercial treaty between U.S. and Japan
European powers soon gained similar rights in Japan
Read the article and answer the questions

13. Japanese Reaction Pros Cons
“Dutch Learning” (Western knowledge) became very popular among many doctors, scholars, and scientists
Western knowledge went against many traditional Japanese beliefs
Japanese entrepreneurs, merchants, and budding industrialists stood to profit from increased trade
Traditional holders of prestige and power (daimyos and samurai) did not tend to profit from increased trade
Resentment
Extraterritorial rights of Americans and Europeans
Anti-foreign uprisings ( )
Japanese ports in turn bombarded by foreign ships
Solution
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”
Japanese could benefit from knowledge of what happened to China
Japanese felt that they would be in a better position to renegotiate the trade treaties, and be less likely to be imposed upon, if they adopted Western ways (democracy, imperialism, industrialization, militarization, and modernization) – westernization

14. Meiji Restoration Shogun forced to relinquish power
Power officially in hands of Emperor Mutsuhito
His reign was called the “Meiji”
Japan westernized
Quickly went to work crafting a constitution

15. Brief Overview of Meiji
In 1868 the Meiji Revolution (named after the Meiji emperor):
1. restored belief in the divinity of the Emperors;
2. brought a group of far-sighted samurai statesmen to power;
3. revived the ancient local Shinto* religion;
4. created a modem centralized state;
5. restored the power of the Samurai warrior caste;
6. began the transformation of Japan into a modern industrialised state;
7. began the development of an army modelled on the Prussian Army and a navy on the British Navy.

16. Governmental Reforms
Diet – Japan’s bicameral legislature( define the chambers of Diet )
A. an elected House of Representatives and appointed House of Peers)
First convened – 1889
Meiji (Imperial) Constitution
Adopted – 1890
Followed until the end of World War II

17. Meiji Structure of the Government

18. Economic Reforms Abolition of feudalism Currency (yen) adopted, 1872
Encouragement of foreign trade
Expansion and encouragement of industrialization
Growth of factories
First large factories manufactured textiles
First textile factory workers were girls and women
Land reform
Zaibatsu (large conglomerates) built and expanded

19. Military Reforms
Before the Meiji era: Armies were run by local daimyo and thus not subservient to a central government
Meiji era: Modern army and navy established which were loyal to the Japanese government
Used Prussia (Germany) as primary model
Firm belief that if Japan was to be taken seriously by Western powers, and was to avoid China’s fate, Japan would have to compete militarily
Conscription (1873) – all men had to serve for three years after turning twenty-one

20. Social Reforms Universal compulsory elementary education
Universities established
Westernization of many laws
Tokyo University

21. Social Changes
Adoption of Western architecture, fashions, music, and literary styles (magazines and novels)
Diversity of intellectual and political thought
Growing independence and empowerment of women
Movement of peasants from countryside to factories

22. Imperialization of Japan
Why?
Lack of fertile land for agriculture
Markets for finished products
Need for the raw materials of industry
Population growth
Response to Western imperialism

23. Meiji Japan at War First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)
Gained:
Formosa (Taiwan)
Liaotung Peninsula (Manchuria) – soon forced to relinquish it
Sphere of influence in Korea
Russo-Japanese War ( )
Destruction of Russian fleet
Finally respected as a world power
Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt won Noble Peace Prize
Japan was granted the southern part of Sakhalin Island and a large sphere of influence in Manchuria
Annexation of Korea (1910)
World War I
Joined Allies
Received Germany’s mandates over Asian islands and its leases in the Shantung Peninsula

24. American and European Opposition
Washington Conference (1922)
Size limits on navies
5:5:3 ratio for Great Britain, United States, and Japan
Japanese resented these limitations
Nine Power Treaty
China’s independence and territory guaranteed
Open Door Policy reaffirmed
Four Power Pact
France, Great Britain, Japan, United States
One another’s colonial possessions would be respected
U.S. Japanese Exclusion Act (1924)
Imperial Flag of the Japanese Navy

25. Review Questions
How did the government of Japan change during the Meiji restoration?
Describe Japan’s rationale for its westernization.
Describe Japan’s imperialism and militarization.
Explain how Japan took control of Manchuria.
Imagine that you are a Japanese person watching events unfold in the 1850s and 1860s. How might you react? Do you see alternatives to the opening of your country to foreign trade? Do you agree that in order to compete with the Western powers, your nation must begin to behave like the Western powers? Explain.