Meiji Restoration
By Dennis RM Campbell
The arrival of American warships in 1853 destabilized Japan’s
political system and launched a transformation that made Japan
into a major world power in less than 25 years.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
Japan before the Meiji Restoration
In 1839 and 1856 Asian nations were shocked by
Britain's crushing victories over China in the two Opium
Wars. Industrialization—it was now pretty clear—gave
massive advantages to European nations, including
more money and better weapons. In Asia, China had
been the dominant power and richest economy. But the
British navy, using new artillery and gunboats, easily
defeated China's much larger military.
These wars demonstrated that European technology
had far outpaced China's. Across the East China Sea,
the Japanese were determined not to fall behind the
Europeans the way China had. The result was the 1868
political transformation known as the Meiji Restoration.
Drawing from both Western models and Japanese
traditions, the Meiji Restoration allowed Japan to
develop into a modern industrial nation-state that rivaled
European nations in both military and economic power.
By the nineteenth century, an emperor had reigned in
Japan for around 1,500 years. But from 1185 to 1868,
the actual emperor held very little power. It was the
shogunate (government run by a shogun) that dominated
Japanese politics. The shogun was a military leader
who held power as a hereditary dictator. While the
emperor reigned as a "god on Earth", he was really
just a figurehead with some religious authority. Japan
was divided into several different regions controlled by Monochrome photograph of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last shogun
daimyo. Daimyo were feudal lords who controlled their of Japan. Public domain.
lands with the aid of samurai. The samurai were an
educated military class who were granted land in return
for military service to a daimyo.
The Tokugawa family took control of the shogunate around 1600, bringing some welcome stability after a period of
unrest. The Tokugawa shogunate established strong control over local daimyo, and enforced traditional, Confucian
policies. This prohibited peasants (around 80% of the population) from working any job other than farming. The
Tokugawa were also extremely suspicious of European influence. In 1636, the shogun announced the Act of
Seclusion, which made it illegal for Westerners to trade in Japan. (Well, the Dutch were granted a single trading
outpost in Nagasaki, but they were treated with suspicion.) Though Japanese merchants could still trade in China
and Korea, the Act of Seclusion effectively cut the Japanese off from Europeans.
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Dennis RM Campbell
The fall of the shogunate
Japan's isolationist policies worked for over 200 years,
but the Tokugawa shoguns couldn't block foreign
interference forever. On July 8, 1853, four American
naval ships under the command of Commodore Perry
anchored in Tokyo harbor as a kind of "shall we trade or
shall we fight?" message. Since the Japanese didn't
have a navy, they knew they couldn't fight Perry's small
squadron. Instead, they opened up negotiations with the
Americans. Through Perry, US President Fillmore
forced Japan to open its harbors to US trade, breaking
the centuries-long prohibition against foreign trade.
This opened up Japan to European ideas, but the
introduction of foreign money into Japanese markets
happened too quickly. It destabilized the economy.
Japan had just witnessed the Opium Wars in China—an
apparent outcome of doing business with the West—and
were now on high alert to avoid a similar conflict.
Photograph of one of Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” that
The shogun's domestic polices made matters worse and opened up Japanese markets to US trade. Originally published in
tensions arose as people blamed the shogun for their the book Bakumatsu Meiji Taishō kaiko hachijūnenshi by Yonezō
problems. The shogun appointed many lower-ranking Ōsawa and Tōyō Bunka Kyōkai (Tokyo: 1933-4). Public domain.
samurai to official government positions. Normally this
was a great promotion, but Japanese society had a rigid
hierarchy that prevented these men from actually having
samurai-level power. Many of these lower-ranking
samurai became disillusioned. They already felt like the upper class was abusing them, and now they believed that
the Tokugawa shogun was endangering Japanese sovereignty by letting in foreign influence. So they used their
loyalty as a weapon. The lower-ranked samurai undermined the shogun by glorifying the emperor. Their slogan was
sonnō jōi—"Revere the emperor, Expel the barbarian." These rebellious factions attacked foreigners at Japanese
ports, and caused local uprisings against the shogun. The attacks alone could not end the shogunate, but they
greatly weakened the shogun's position among the elites.
Japanese print from 1854 showing a paddlewheel steamer belonging to Commodore Perry’s squadron. Public domain.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
The Meiji Restoration
Samurai leaders from southern regions began to advise the new
emperor, Meiji. The emperor was only 14 at the time, and the
samurai used their influence over him to politically restructure
Japan. They increased pressure on Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last
shogun, stressing the shogunate's failure to protect Japanese
interests. Yoshinobu stepped down, then soon rebelled against
those who had replaced him, only to be even more firmly defeated.
The emperor's position as the sovereign leader of Japan had been
reasserted… in theory. In reality, the Japanese government was
now controlled by the emperor's new samurai advisors.
Japan becomes a nation-state
On April 17, 1868, the emperor announced something called the
Charter Oath that all would swear to him. This oath presented
the emperor's commitment to transforming Japan into a modern
nation-state. The five points of the oath were modelled on the
ideals of European nation-states. They included the creation
of assemblies, public discussion, and allowing people of all
social classes participation in government. The oath also said
people could pursue jobs that they wanted, rather than being
limited to class-specific traditional occupations. Finally, the new
government pledged to openly seek out knowledge all over the
An 1861 image expressing the “jōi” or “Expel the
world to improve and empower Japan.
Barbarians” part of slogan sonnō jōi. Public domain.
The emperor appointed many samurai to roles in government and
education. But that meant these samurai now worked for the
state, not for individual daimyo. Slowly, over the next two decades,
the emperor and his government stripped the samurai class of
many traditional privileges, like stipends (bonus payment) and the
right to carry swords. Though some resisted, the samurai went
from the military and political backbone of a divided country to
just another privileged and wealthy class in the centralized
Japanese nation-state.
Military reforms
So it was the Meiji Restoration that made Japan a nation-state.
During the era of the shogunate, each region had its own military,
controlled by samurai loyal to their daimyo. Under the Meiji
emperor, these regional armies were replaced by a national army, Samurai from the Choshu clan, who supported the
and all male citizens were required to serve in the military. The emperor. Public domain.
new government embraced new ideas and technologies brought
to Japan by Western merchants and diplomats. By adopting
industrialism—specifically factories—the Japanese military could
now rival European armies.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
Woodblock print from 1894 showing Japanese soldiers in European-style uniforms (right) chasing retreating
Chinese troops (left) during the Sino-Japanese War. Public domain.
Within two decades, Japanese victories illustrated the success of these military reforms. They set their eyes on
expanding into Korea, which was under Chinese control. Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895)
forced China out of Korea.
However, Japanese control over the Korean peninsula was quickly challenged by European powers, like Russia.
Anti-Asian biases in Europe made the Russians believe that they had nothing to fear from Japan, so Russia invaded
Korea. But the Japanese military had grown since the Meiji Restoration so the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
ended in victory for Japan. This sent shockwaves through Europe and told the world that European militaries were
not invincible. Over the next 15 years, Japan dominated Korea's economy as it exerted military control over the
peninsula. After the Russo-Japanese war, Korea officially became part of the Japanese empire. Becoming part of
the Japanese empire would benefit Korea in many ways, as Japan focused on modernizing the region, but many
Koreans also suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
What did the Meiji Restoration accomplish?
Unlike many of the revolutions in Europe and the
Americas during the long nineteenth century, the Meiji
restoration was not a liberal, democratic event. The
uprising was not led by oppressed masses fighting for
more rights. Instead, it was the elites (okay, lower-
ranking elites, but still much higher status than most of
the population) who forced a change in the existing
political organization of Japan. Though the new
government adopted Western technologies and
instituted reforms based on Western models, Japan
didn't become a European-style state.
Rather, the reformers used Western ideas to reconfigure
and reorganize the government while still holding on to
some Japanese traditions. In many ways, Japan became
a model for colonized people around the world. They
had learned from their enemies' strategies and beaten
them at their own game.
The Meiji Restoration transformed Japan. The
government became centralized around the figure of the
emperor, and the political system now allowed people
to pursue new opportunities. Japan also underwent
rapid industrialization. That meant the Japanese people
experienced social changes, including better education
and increased rights and opportunities. At the same
time, it created new tensions as focus (and money) was
concentrated on urban industrialization at the expense
of rural farmers. Japan was so committed to keeping
pace with Western developments, it quickly became
recognized as a world power.
Political cartoon about the Russo-Japanese War. A confident
Japanese man is shown beating a Russian opponent at the game
of dai shogi. Public domain.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
Photograph by Uchida Kuichi of the Emperor Meiji (1872) in his Photograph by Uchida Kuichi of the Emperor Meiji (1873) in his
formal court outfit. Public domain. military outfit. Public domain.
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Meiji Restoration
Dennis RM Campbell
Dennis RM Campbell
Dennis RM Campbell is an associate professor of History at San Francisco State University. He primarily conducts research on
esoteric topics in ancient history and writes about ancient language, religions, and societies.
Image credits
Cover: Illustration depicting Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) meeting the royal commissioner at Yokahama, 1853.
Undated painting. © Bettmann/Getty Images
Monochrome photograph of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last shogun of Japan. Public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Tokugawa_Yoshinobu#/media/File:TOKUGAWA_Yoshinobu.jpg
Photograph of one of Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” that opened up Japanese markets to US trade. Originally published in
the book Bakumatsu Meiji Taishō kaiko hachijūnenshi by Yonezō Ōsawa and Tōyō Bunka Kyōkai (Tokyo: 1933-4). Public domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kurofune.jpg
Japanese print from 1854 showing a paddlewheel steamer belonging to Commodore Perry’s squadron. Public domain. https://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_1854_print_Commodore_Perry.jpg
An 1861 image expressing the “jōi” or “Expel the Barbarians” part of slogan sonnō jōi. Public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Foreigner_and_Wrestler_at_Yokohama_1861.jpg
Samurai from the Choshu clan, who supported the emperor. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Satsuma-
samurai-during-boshin-war-period.jpg
Woodblock print from 1894 showing Japanese soldiers in European-style uniforms (right) chasing retreating Chinese troops
(left) during the Sino-Japanese War. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Episode_of_the_First_Sino-
Japanese_War._Image_from_book_of_1902.jpg
Political cartoon about the Russo-Japanese War. A confident Japanese man is shown beating a Russian opponent at the game
of dai shogi. Public domain. https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/kobayashi-kiyochikas-cartoons-of-the-russo-japanese-
war-1904-5/
Photograph by Uchida Kuichi of the Emperor Meiji (1872) in his formal court outfit. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.
org/wiki/File:Meiji_tenno3.jpg
Photograph by Uchida Kuichi of the Emperor Meiji (1873) in his military outfit. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Meiji_Emperor.jpg
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