Meiji Restoration
The Meiji Restoration, referred to at the time as the Honorable Restoration, also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ruling emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored practical power to, and consolidated the political system under, the Emperor of Japan. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure and spanned both the late Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji era, during which time Japan rapidly industrialised and adopted Western ideas, production methods and technology.
The origins of the Restoration lay in economic and political difficulties faced by the Tokugawa shogunate. These problems were compounded by the encroachment of foreign powers in the region which challenged the Tokugawa policy of, specifically the arrival of the Perry Expedition under orders from United States president Millard Fillmore. Under subsequent unequal treaties, Japan was forced to open to the West, questioning the 's political authority over maintaining Japanese sovereignty. The Emperor's rebuke of shogunal actions led to the emergence of an ideological divide within the class concerned with their feudal obligations to both the and the Emperor. Many lower and middle-ranking became who were committed to the Emperor's proclamations to expel the barbarians. Factional disputes within the domains led some domains to conflict with the Tokugawa. After some initial setbacks, the domains organised into an anti-Tokugawa alliance, and, led by Satsuma and Chōshū, they overthrew the shogunal system.
On 3 January 1868, Emperor Meiji declared political power to be restored to the Imperial House. The goals of the restored government were expressed by the new emperor in the Charter Oath. Subsequent Tokugawa resistance to the new government materialised in the Boshin War and the short-lived Republic of Ezo, but by the 1870s, the Emperor's authority was practically unquestioned. The new government reorganised whole strata of society, abolishing the old currency, the domain system, and eventually the class position of the.
The abolition of the shogunate and industrialisation of society in emulation of foreign imperial powers led to backlash with the Saga Rebellion and the Satsuma Rebellion, but ultimately ended feudalism in Japanese society. The Meiji Restoration was the political process that laid the foundation for the institutions of the Empire of Japan, and would have far-reaching consequences in East Asia as Japan pursued colonial interests against its neighbours. The Meiji Constitution of 1889 would remain in place until the Allied occupation of Japan after the end of World War II.
Background
Political and social structure
In the Edo period, Japan was governed by a strict and rigid social order with inherited position. This hierarchy in descending order had the Emperor and their Court at the top. The, with the and below him inhabited the upper strata of society. Below them were various subdivisions of, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Historian Marius B. Jansen refers to the political organisation of the system as being one of "feudal autonomy". This was a structure of government where the was granted extensive control to the various over their own domains to control their own jurisdiction while paying homage to him through irregular taxation, the seeking of permission for marriage and movement, and systems such as that of alternate attendance. The total population of families in the 19th century numbered around 5–6% of 30 million people, among these families, roughly 1 in 50 was an "upper " while the rest were divided mostly evenly between "middle" and "lower", with each division containing more subdivisions.The influence exerted by the Tokugawa shogunate in contemporary Japan was built on the distribution and management of land. Split into domains, each domain was measured by, or the amount of rice a given area of land could produce per annum. By 1650, the directly controlled land producing roughly 4.2 million of rice, with his direct retainers, other members of the Tokugawa family, and his vassals controlling a combined total of land producing 12.9 million out of a national 26 million. The remaining 9.8 million was parceled out between about 100 rival, the descendants of those who had fought against the Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara. Many of the strongest domains were located in western Japan away from centres of power, with the often controlling government offices, but with smaller provinces to incentivize them to preserve the system.
According to the Neo-Confucian tenets of authority, the system of hierarchy developed in encouraged a series of descending subordinations, but unlike in China, its adoption by the came to inform an ethic that was distinct from the structural organisation of the Tokugawa state; this allowed it to coexist with Western scientific methods. Historian William G. Beasley argues that there was a tension between this official state ideology that encouraged enlightened meritocratic rule and the rigid class structure that prevented the lower and middle ranking bureaucrats from advancing their position. When exacerbated by foreign and domestic crises, and in spite of official attempts to begin promoting to offices beyond their inherited position, the social bonds between these systems weakened, leading to reformist and revolutionary attitudes among the. Merchant classes, that had been flourishing economically in developing mass culture and communication, were forbidden to translate their influence into political power.
Ideological currents
Beginning especially in the last quarter of the 18th century, a kind of Shintō revival was occurring alongside a growing interest in Dutch studies. Both schools occurred as part of a turn away from China as the centre of intellectual thought. But adherents to both movements were careful not to assert that their learning was in any way meant to upset the established political order. The work of the Mito School working primarily from the, was especially important in the development of nativist concepts connected to .There were limits. When Hirata Atsutane went too far for the in reviving the political claims the Emperor held, he was silenced. Still, the development of national learning continued in the Mito School, with the use of the term to describe the solution to domestic and foreign threats applied by the scholar Fujita Yūkoku. Fujita's son, Fujita Tōko, writing in the wake of news of British victory in the First Opium War insisted that a desirable position for Japan to take would be to be followed with, an opening of the country on equal footing. When faced with the immediate danger the foreign threat possessed, the work of scholars led to an evaluation of what was national, which focused attention on the Emperor and Shintō.
Sakuma Shōzan was a midranking samurai under the Sanada Yukinori of Matsushiro Domain, he held a conservative attitude to the social development of Japanese society, but was practical in his approach to the adoption of Western technology. He supplemented his view of Neo-Confucian ethics with that of the adoption of foreign scientific methods, coining the phrase "Eastern ethics, Western science". In addition to writing about the need for coastal defense, he took charge over cannon founding, built his own camera, and wrote a Japanese-English dictionary designed to contribute to the defense of Japan. He opened a school in Edo, teaching over 5,000 students from all over the country. His efforts to promote men of talent, and reorganise the Japanese military were incredibly influential among his disciples, not least Katsu Kaishū and Yoshida Shōin. However, they would serve as the foundation for proposals that would change the social order he was attempting to preserve.
Economic development
The Tenpō Reforms were a series of readjustments to government policy designed to reform issues in political and economic organisation, the result of which was to reveal a deep divide between the shogunate and the. During the 1830s and 1840s famine and popular unrest was widespread, means to resolve these issues and their symptoms had mixed effects. Initial efforts by senior Mizuno Tadakuni involved introducing sumptuary laws on the promotion of austerity and limiting consumption. Lowering or confiscating the stipends of retainers alienated them from serving their lords, or even from the social class altogether with some choosing to pursue personal liberty and mercantile freedom not afforded to them due to their expectations as members of the class. cancelled debt owed to their own merchants and renegotiated favourable terms for debt owed to merchants under jurisdiction—due to resulting higher interest rates imposed on the to borrow more money, across Japan efforts were made to increase domain income.Fixed rice stipends made the vulnerable to fluctuations in the market, periodic coinage debasement, and the need to transfer this stipend into the new monetary system. For instance, merchants who acted as agents to sell their stipends often pocketed the profit made on these sales. Meanwhile, as part of the development of urban life, artisans and farmers diversified the production of goods and crops which, due to increasing demand, often drained the 's resources while other crops became more lucrative to sell than rice. Many were often constantly in debt, with the living under a system of enforced expenditure by the to carry out the alternate exchange system and public works projects.
The started to show a small annual gold deficit by 1800, which had grown to over half a million by 1837. To recoup some of these losses, the initiated a system of forced loans on the and conferred special privileges to merchants. The resultant diversification of merchant and artisanal industries also brought about a high degree of commercial specialisation and profound changes to rural life. Merchants collectively set up guilds and organised monopolies over goods and services, obtaining official status as contractors and suppliers. By the time of the Tenpō Reforms some of these guilds were broken up as they were believed to be increasing prices, but much of the cause was due to production not keeping up with demand.
The changing economic history of the Edo period drastically altered the traditionally rigid social hierarchy of Tokugawa Japan, with new land becoming available for cultivation and new outlets for commercial trade and manufacturing. Beyond changing the nature of value in local economies, these changes brought with them an erosion of the official class system, with some domains offering the sale of status, and many rich commoners educating their children and bribing their way into adoption by poor families. While the taxation and control over monopolies partially resolved the issue of government finance, it didn't resolve the issue of poverty. Among farmers, the ability to increase land cultivation and cope with price fluctuations exacerbated wealth disparities, the difference in the tax burden between different crops meant that many fell into debt and tenancy to their wealthier neighbours. Satō Nobuhiro claimed that by 1827, at least 30% of farmers had lost land this way.