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Meiji Government


             Tokugawa .
             Shogun was at least symbolically below the Emperor in status and he claimed to rule so he could carry out .
             the Imperial .
             rule.Footnote3 .
             Within this historical context the Meiji leaders realized that they needed to harness the .
             concept of the Imperial Will in .
             order to govern effectively. In the years leading up to 1868 members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans were .
             part of the .
             imperialist opposition. This opposition claimed that the only way that Japan could survive the .
             encroachment of the .
             foreigners was to rally around the Emperor.Footnote4 The Imperialists, claimed that the Tokugawa .
             Shogunate had lost its .
             imperial mandate to carry out the Imperial Will because it had capitulated to Western powers by allowing .
             them to open up .
             Japan to trade. During this time the ideas of the imperialists gained increasing support among Japanese .
             citizens and .
             intellectuals who taught at newly established schools and wrote revisionist history books that claimed .
             that historically the .
             Emperor had been the ruler of Japan.Footnote5 The fact that the Tokugawa's policy of opening up Japan to .
             the western .
             world ran counter to the beliefs of the Emperor and was unpopular with the public made the Tokugawa .
             vulnerable to attack .
             from the imperialists. The imperialists pressed their attack both militarily and from within the Court of .
             Kyoto. The great .
             military regime of Edo which until recently had been all powerful was floundering not because of military .
             weakness, or .
             because the machinery of government had broken but instead because the Japanese public and the Shoguns .
             supporters felt .
             they had lost the Imperial Will.Footnote6 .
             The end of the Tokugawa regime shows the power of the symbolism and myths surrounding the .
             imperial institution. .
             The head of the Tokugawa clan died in 1867 and was replaced by the son of a lord who was a champion of .
             Japanese .
             historical studies and who agreed with the imperialists claims about restoring the Emperor.


Essays Related to Meiji Government

1. Role of The Emperor in Meiji Japan

The Meiji leaders used the symbolism of the Emperor to add legitimacy to their government, by claiming that they were ruling under the "Imperial Will." ... These advisers such as Prince Saionji, Prince Konroe, and members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans who had been members of the imperialist movement eventually wound up involving into the Meiji Bureaucracy and Genro of the Meiji Era.Footnote9 Once in control of the government the Meiji Leaders and advisors to the Emperor reversed their policy of hostility to Foreigners.Footnote10 They did this because after Emperor Komeo (who ...

  • Word Count: 3764
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Meiji Restoration

The emperor Mutsuhito took the name of Meiji ("enlightened rule") as his reign name, this event was known as the Meiji Restoration. ... The new government soon had control of the entire country. ... The Samurai lost their class privileges, when the government declared a1l classes to be equal. ... This gave the government money to spend to build up the strength of the nation. ... The Meiji Restora...

  • Word Count: 1593
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Meiji Revolution

By doing this the Japanese managed to strengthen the economy, strengthen the government, and make social reforms. Meiji leaders made the economy a major priority. ... Another goal of the Meiji was to strengthen the government and make it a strong central power, equal to those of the western powers. In 1889 they adapted the German for of government. ... During Meiji Rule Japan modernized with great speed, this meant that the Meiji Restoration was a huge success. ...

  • Word Count: 441
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Role Of Emperor In Meiji Restoration

The Meiji rule was intended to lead Japan into a new and completely modernized age influenced by the ways of the west. ... Under the Meiji constitution, the emperor was declared "sacred and inviolable. -, but he was still only a figurehead. ... "Although the emperor in time became an influential force in the government, he functioned mainly as a symbol of national unity, leaving the actual business of governing to his ministers. - His presence was essential to the new government as a source of legitimacy and as a sanction for its transformation of Japan. ... However, when the people finally...

  • Word Count: 828
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography

5. Causes of the Meiji Restoratio

Thus, the joi faction lost what power it had in government and Sanjo Sanetomi, the leader of this faction, was placed in seclusion within his home. ... This is perhaps the most important event leading up to the Meiji Restoration. ... When Tokugawa Iemochi died in 1866, a perfect opportunity was presented to Komei to bring power of the government back under the control of the court. ... The second most important man to the Meiji restoration was probably Iwakura Tomomi. ... The combination of all these trends and the actions of important people eventually lead to the Meiji restoration in 1...

  • Word Count: 1630
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Revolution or "Restoration" is one of the single most important events in modern Japanese history. ... The government needed a centrally controlled army, which was loyal to the emperor. ... Some of the Meiji leaders believed that the Western constitutional government was a source of western strength. ... Because the Meiji leaders wish for power to remain in their hands, they copied the authoritarian German system of government. ... By the early twentieth century, through establishing a strong military force, an efficient government, an educated society and a rapidly expanding industr...

  • Word Count: 1033
  • Approx Pages: 4

7. The Winners and Losers of Meiji Japan

Fukuzawa Yukichi and Kayano Shigeru were both men who were directly affected by the Meiji Restoration. ... He disliked the feudal government and as a student of first Dutch and later English, was instrumental in inciting many of the changes that occurred during the Meiji Period. ... Fukuzawa's experience in Meiji Japan, however, is sharply contrasted by the life story of Kayano Shigeru. ... He could then view his life and the Meiji Period as a great success. ... The Meiji restoration like all events in history had a mixture of affects on the people influenced by it. ...

  • Word Count: 1669
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Late 19th Sentury Japan

The process of this modernization came during the Meiji period, thus the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration completely altered the face of Japan, affecting societal, economic and political conditions. ... This situation created much tension between the samurai and the government which eventually flowered into a rebellion, which the government was able to put down in less than a year. With the end of the feudal system and the dissolving of the Hans the central government once again placed itself in the center. ... In "Rough Living", we see the effects of the Meiji Restoration, both g...

  • Word Count: 725
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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