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.

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

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 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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

From Bakufu to the Meiji Emperor: Power Changes

Hands

In the afternmath of the bakufu’s defeat

and abolition, the southern daimyos of

Chōshū, Satsuma, and Tosa convinced the

emperor that there was need for complete

political reform. They agreed to establish a

Prussian-style parliament and to re-

instate 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

and some of the resistance he faced in the

first years of his rule.

The Five-Character Oath

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/description11.html MIT Visualizing Cultures—Images of Meiji http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/beato_places/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/beato_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/1899-1913/PortsmouthTreaty MIT Visualizing Cultures—Yokohama Boom Town: Foreigners in Treaty-Port Japan http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yokohama/index.html MIT Visualizing Asia Project—Throwing off Asia http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_01/index.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_03/toa_vis_01.html http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_02/index.html 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://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yellow_promise_yellow_peril/index.html MIT Visualizing Asia Project—The Hibiya Rice Riot of 1905 http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/social_protest_japan/index.html Russo-Japanese Research society http://www.russojapanesewar.com/ Resources for History Teachers—The Meiji Restoration https://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/WHII.14 Imperial Rescript on Education http://www.danzan.com/HTML/ESSAYS/meiji.html http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/136 Hosting from Princeton about the First Sino-Japanese War

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/First_Sino-Japanese_War.html Woodblock Prints from Meiji Japan http://www.artelino.com/articles/meiji_prints.asp Historical Events—the Meiji Emperor http://www.kyotodreamtrips.com/2012/02/historical-events-today-1867-prince-mutsuhito-14-becomes-emperor-meiji-of-japan-1867-1912/ Japanese Government site hosted about the Meiji Restoration http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2130.html Columbia University Asia for Educators—the Meiji Restoration http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_meiji.htm http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_meiji.htm http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/japan/charter_oath_1868.pdf http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1750_jp.htm#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/meijiconstitution.htm Japan Foundation series about the Meiji Restoration available on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BQr5nRn_Cw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN3ujvsM67U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnXcYRjYN8

Six part documentary about Japanese history from the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQlxcz9U2x0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3V5gVLPEvI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGyzGWW7j4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRrDg0uDJWQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPMZ4suRSjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHvmAVSyUI Encyclopedia Britannica—the Meiji Restoration http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/373305/Meiji-Restoration British Museum—Meiji Prints http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/j/japan_prints_and_paintings_of.aspx Princeton University Art Museum—Asian Art Collection: Prints and art from the Meiji Restoration http://etcweb.princeton.edu/asianart/timeperiod_japan.jsp?ctry=Japan&pd=Meiji

Suggestions for Further Reading

Akita, George. Foundations of Constitutional

Government in Modern Japan, 1868-1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967.

Beasley, W.G. The Meiji Restoration.

Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972.

Craig, Albert M. Choshu in the Meiji

Restoration. New York: Lexington Books, 2000.

Jansen, Marius, B., ed. Sakamoto Ryoma and

the Meiji restoration. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.

Kazuhiro Takii. The Meiji Constitution: The

Japanese Experience of the West and the Shaping of the Modern State. Tokyo: International House of Japan, 2007.

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.

Gluck, Carol. Japan’s Modern Myths:

Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.

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. Huffman, James L. Modern Japan: an

encyclopedia of history, culture, and nationalism. New York: Garland Publications, 1998.

Huffman, James. Modern Japan: a history in

documents. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

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, 1868-

1988. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.

Irokawa Daikichi. The Culture of the Meiji Period. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.

Lublin, Elizabeth Dorn. Reforming Japan:

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in the Meiji Period. York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.

Mohr, Michel. Buddhism, Unitarianism, and

the Meiji Competition for Universality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013.

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.