Before the Meiji Restoration Japan was run by a very traditional, isolationist government in a system that was called the Bakuhan. This system balanced power between the Bakufu (a central military government) and its leader was the Shogun. The regional areas that were called Han were run by local feaudal lords called Daimyo. The emperor was the spiritual heart of the nation, his authority was mainly ceeremonial, it was the Shugun that had the real power in Japan.
The last of these regimes was the Tokugawa regime, , it was named after the family that started it. The Tokugawa’s were very traditional, implementing polices thst reflected conc´servative, traditional Confucian values and practices.
The last of these regimes was the Tokugawa Shogunate (named after the family that established it), which implemented conservative policies reflecting traditional Confucian values. The Tokugawas also enforced an isolationist policy (the Sakoku) , it was illegal for all Europeans (aside from the Dutch who were allowed to trade with the outpost in Nagasaki)
The Tokugawa shogunate survived for over 200 years and when it collapsed in 1868 it led to the beginning of the Meiji era that applied big transformative policies that set Japan up for its dramatic reforms in politics and society, maybe the biggest change in Japanese history.
What were the causes of the Meiji Restoration?
A: Internal Weakness of the Tokugawa Shogunate
For many centuries, Japan was governed through the Baku-Han system, which balanced power between a central military government (Bakufu) led by the Shogun, and the regional, largely autonomous domains (Han) ruled by the daimyo (feudal lords) and their Samurai warriors. Although the Emperor was regarded as the spiritual heart of the nation, his authority was largely ceremonial; real power lay with the shogun. The last of these regimes was the Tokugawa Shogunate (named after the family that established it), which implemented conservative policies reflecting traditional Confucian values. The Shogunate also enforced an isolationist policy known as Sakoku, making it unlawful for Europeans to trade in Japan, except for the Dutch at one small outpost in Nagasaki. This highly centralized yet semi-feudal order endured for over two centuries, but its eventual collapse in 1868 ushered in the transformative energies of the Meiji era, setting the stage for one of the most dramatic political and social overhauls in Japanese history.
B: Foreign Influence
In the summer of 1853, the people of Japan watched in shock as a squadron of unfamiliar, smoke-belching “Black Ships” anchored off their shores – American warships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry. For more than two centuries, Japan had lived in purposeful isolation, restricting nearly all foreign contact. Perry’s sudden arrival threatened that carefully guarded seclusion, calling upon Japan to open its ports to American trade and diplomacy. This moment, and the debate about how to respond to it, created great tensions, controversy and divisions in Japanese society that paved the way for the Meiji Revolution of 1868.
Impact of the Americans
Commodore Perry stayed for fewer than ten days in 1853, but after he returned in March 1854 with a much larger and more intimidating fleet, the Tokugawa Shogunate – realizing that resisting with force was impossible – decided it had no alternative but to sign the Kanagawa Treaty. The Shogunate capitulated to all the American demands. This treaty stipulated that Japan opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to foreign ships for the purpose of obtaining supplies and repairs. This treaty, and the Harris Treaty which followed in 1858, were considered “unequal” granting foreigners privileges such as control over Japanese tariff levels, which weakened Japan’s sovereignty. The resentment and humiliation of these treaties fatally undermined the credibility of the Tokugawa Shogunate and set the stage for the Meiji Revolution of 1868.
Impact of the Europeans
After reluctantly accepting the Kanagawa and Harris Treaties, Japan quickly signed the Ansei Treaties with Russia, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands). The resentment caused in Japan by these “Unequal Treaties” was compounded by further humiliation at the hands of foreign powers, particularly Great Britain. For example, in 1862 a British merchant named Charles Richardson was brutally murdered by a group of armed Satsuma samurai near Kanagawa. The British government demanded the payment of £100,000 in reparations from the Shogun, plus £10,000 for the victim’s families, and a separate £25,000 payment from the province of Satsuma. When Satsuma refused to pay, the British fleet bombarded and completely destroyed the city of Kagoshima.
How was the Meiji Restoration achieved?
A: Charter Oath and the Meiji Constitution
In 1866, the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance united two powerful domains against the Tokugawa. The shogunate then launched the Second Choshu Expedition, intending to crush the alliance; instead, the modernized Choshu forces won a decisive victory, exposing the shogunate’s military weakness. Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi then died, and this provoked the Alliance to seize the political initiative: the January 1868 coup in Kyoto formally abolished the shogunate and ushered in the Meiji Restoration.
B: Land Reform, INdustrialisation and Trade
The Meiji Oligarchs recognized that achieving the national goal of ukoku kyohei (“enrich the country – strengthen the military”) required fundamentally transforming Japan from a weak, agricultural, and feudal society into an industrial power. Together, these reforms strengthened the economy, helped finance government projects, and laid the foundation for Japan’s emergence as an industrial and military power. These economic changes were also central to gaining diplomatic respect and achieving equality with Western powers.
What challenges did society face after the transition?
A: Foreign Relations, Sovereignty and Imperialism
Japan’s imperialistic expansion into Asia after the Meiji Restoration was presented domestically as a sign of national strength and modernization. However, these conquests had severe drawbacks:
- Morally, they created deep moral contradictions: in seeking to avoid colonization by Western powers, Japan adopted many of the same imperialist behaviours it had once condemned.
- Socio-Economically, the military-industrial complex swallowed up vast sums of wealth that could have been used for domestic reforms.
- Politically, public life grew increasingly dominated by military values such as obedience, sacrifice, and aggression. This shift eroded democratic development, and politicians who expressed concern were condemned as being ‘unpatriotic’.
- Diplomatically, Japan’s growing aggression created long-term tensions with major powers – particularly Russia, Britain, and later the United States. Rather than securing stability, Japan’s aggressive policies therefore contributed to a cycle of confrontation that would eventually lead to wars in the 1930s and 1940s.
B: Peasant Unrest and Economic Hardhips
The Meiji government’s drastic economic reforms, such as the 1873 Land Tax Reform, stabilized state revenue but placed severe burdens on the rural population, leading to widespread debt and rural dissent. Moreover, the Meiji transition saw the abolition of feudal status and the elimination of hereditary stipends, stripping the samurai class of their traditional privileges and income. This led to a series of rebellions by former samurai against the government they had helped to create.