Japan: Transformation without Revolution

p. 625

Introduction

First half of the 19 th century the shogunate continued to combine beurocracy with feudal contsraints Government was running into financial problems Japanese intellectual life and culture developed Japan became more secular Schools expanded

Terakoya – taught reading, writing, and Confucianism to ordinary people By 1859, literacy was 40% of men and 15% of women – far higher than anywhere else Confucianism remained the major ideology There were rivals – nationalists – who insisted on only Japanese style education and the Dutch Studies – who kept alive the knowledge of the Dutch and studied western books

In the 19 th century commerce expanded By 1850 growth came to a halt Technological constraints Rural riots aimed at the wealthy peasants, merchants, and landlord controls

Isolationism

Japan feared outside influence In 1853, Matthew Perry, and American arrived at a port in Edo askeing to open trade He threatened bombardment – very similar to the British in China In 1854, Perry returned and won two ports The shogunate saw no alternative than to open their ports…

Crisis Follows

Samurai began attacking foreigners Civil War broke out in 1866 The Samurai defeated the Shogunate The crisis ended in 1868 when a reform group proclaimed a new emperor named Mutsuhito – but commonly called “Meiji” or Enlightened One