1. ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS The Meiji Restoration

2. The Iwakura Mission In 1873, delegates from Japan visited the United Kingdom in order to gain information on Western technology and systems. It was organised in three sections:  One was to examine laws and political institutions, including courts, parliaments and government departments.  Another was to collect information about Western economies and economic organisation, covering the fields of trade, industry, communications, banking, currency and taxation.  The third was to concern itself with education: its finance, administration and curricula; 'schools for officials and the populace', schools of commerce, schools of technology. The information collected was vital to the economic expansion of Japan

3. Slogans used by the government “Rich country, strong army” “Use the barbarian to control the barbarian”

4. Industrial changes Industrial modernisation took two forms – the reorganisation of traditional industries, and the transplantation of new industries from the West. Japan was an important exporter of raw silk; this industry, like other traditional industries, was transformed from being labour intensive to being capital intensive. Large investments of capital were absolutely necessary, as with Japan's strategic heavy industries like iron and steel, armaments, and ship- building, the initial investment was made by the government. Capital goods such as railway and factory equipment and mining were imported even though heavy industry was encouraged. Imports of raw material for service and the establishment of new factories grew rapidly. Lighter industry such as textile manufacturing was established. The world market viewed products made by Japan suspiciously thus, Japan's export trade was slow initially.

5. Banking In 1873 the First National Bank in Japan was established. Initially, the Bank's progress was slow however, by 1879 it gained its pace and had 151 operating branches. In 1882 Japan's first central bank, “Bank of Japan” was established. Bank of Japan controlled the nation's banking system as a whole. Under the influence of Bank of Japan, specialist banks were set up. Finance to overseas trade and encouragement for agriculture were the examples. National currency introduced, Yen (a decimal currency)

6. Zaibatsu (conglomerate businesses) The government controlled many of the new industries because the private companies sufficient capital to support themselves and the government believed that the establishment of these industries was important for national interest. During the 1880, the government changed its policy and no longer controlled the industries, and sold them at extremely low prices to couple of private companies. These companies were the able to establish themselves further and developed into large companies which were known as Zaibatsu (business empires). Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Yasuda were the known Zaibatsus because of the financial favors they received from the government. During the 1880s, rickshaws were also made. Factories began making rickshaws first in 1869. Within two years there were 25000 machines operating in Tokyo and thousands were exported to China, Hong Kong, and Singapore thus it was a profitable export industry.

7. Shipping Harbours were dredged and lighthouses built to improve shipping. This improved foreign trade Initially exports were carried in British ships but, in 1885 Mitsubishi controlled the Japan Mail Line. The Japan Mail Line broke the former foreign monopoly. The new shipping services were doing extremely well in terms of its rapidly increasing tonnage and in the majority of officers that were Japanese. By 1895, Japanese merchant ships were sailing globally.

8. Railways There was rapid expansion in communications. In 1872, the first railway line was established between Tokyo and Yokohama and within a short time, the railway was carrying approximately two million passengers per year. In 1876, another railway was established which linked Osaka and Kyoto. By 1911, there were approximately 9000 kilometers of track and rail was established as an essential method of communication.

9. Postal system In 1868, a modern postal service was established and this meant that foreign postal systems could be shut down. In 1871, the government established a telegraph system and within years the telegraph system was extended to communicate with foreign countries. Opened a postal system similar to the British system (this meant they would gain money from each letter/parcel sent)

10. Tax reform National tax was introduced in 1873, that was similar to the sum of the “bakufu” and “domain” tax. Under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, the peasants paid the rent of their land in rice. With the end to the feudal system, the peasants had to pay taxes to the government instead of rice for their land. As tax had to be paid in cash, the peasants were forced to sell their rice as soon as it was harvested and because, everyone tried to sell at the same time, the prices were relatively low. Land reform: In the 1870s all land was matched to an owner and they were issued with deeds. This marked the end of Feudalism, since ownership was taken away from the Daimyo. The central government had to pay pensions to the Daimyo and samurai when it replaced the domains, and offer them governor positions if they were loyal Tax was set at 3% of assessed value of land. Once the value of the land was assessed, annual revenue could be predicted. This meant the government was in a direct economic relationship with the household owners. Portions of the tax revenue was used for public works and institution-building projects, others for military industries

11. Foreign aid Meiji were convinced that foreign investment was dangerous, and so most of the new developments were funded from within Japan, especially the treasury. Despite this they were keen to bring in foreigners as consultants and for managerial positions. (yatoi gaijin= hired foreigners). They only brought technical expertise, contributed very little else. Highly paid However, the first generation of managers and engineers were trained, and this provided a base for Japanese enterprises. The building of railways, installing telegraphs and lighthouses, and training the new navy was done by Englishmen. Americans were employed in forming a postal service, agricultural development, and in planning colonisation and an educational system Financial experts from overseas were invited in order to advise the government.

12. Evaluation Workers were not used to handling foreign machines and so it was good that they built their own infrastructure instead of relying on foreigners as this allowed the workers to be able to operate the machines. For Japan the actual consequences of the treaties were not particularly damaging. No great market for opium was developed, and the opening of Japanese industry to competition from the West forced the pace of economic 'change instead of allowing inefficient industries to shelter behind protective tariffs. This led to its success. During the Tokugawa Dynasty, research and regional studies built effective infrastructure that could handle the demands of Westernisation. Agricultural production was already high and there was a system of commerce in place. The only exception was in outlying regions like Hokkaido, which had subsistence activities instead of commercial activities. This made the Japanese transition into modernity a success Most of the model factories lost money. Only built 20 or so factories, a few mines, a telegraph system and a bit of railroad. Invested far more in the military than enterprise. Wealth generated from the modernisation of Japan was barely seen by the commoners.