Japan during the Long 19 th century Industrialization & the Rise of Japan
Japan during the Long 19th century
Industrialization & the Rise of Japan
-Story of Two Cultures
on Opposite Paths-
1800 1840 1868 1900
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China
Japan
Tokugawa Era
1600-mid 1800s-Period of peace
• Emphasis on order & conformity rigid class structure, discipline,
loyalty, isolation from outsiders
• Weak emperor strong shogun
Tokugawa Era
Isolation – not stagnation
Economic growth & peace• Dutch Studies• Daimyo's “Alternate Attendance
System”
Samurai lose importance/wealth in comparison to merchants
Late Tokugawa Era
Increased pressure… West sought to trade w/ Japan
• Finally U.S. naval officer, Matthew Perry succeeded in 1853
Flood of Western pressure & influence generally led to factionalism & tension
• Re-establish isolation? turn to tradition? doubts about Tokugawa handling? modernize?
“Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians”Russian meeting 1779British frigate in 1808U.S. Morrison 1837U.S. Commodore Perry 1853
Familiar Conditions?
1. Crumbling social structure2. Foreign pressure
? “Revolutions are about economics.” ?
• In comparison to China, what can Japan do differently to be more successful?
Late Tokugawa Era
Spark… Earthquakes Recession
Political maneuvering & brief civil war in 1868
Result?
1868: “Meiji Restoration”• Shogun overthrown• Emperor restored to power
Meiji Restoration
1. Selective borrowing from West2. Effort at modernization & reform
• Industrialization• Constitutional monarchy• Compulsory education & medical
advances
Meiji Foreign Policy
World Power?
Imperialism1. Sino-Japanese War -2. Russo-Japanese War –
Japan acquired Korea, Taiwan, & other islands
Timeline
1600-1868 = Tokugawa Shogunate• Shogun rule, era of peace & relative
isolation• 1800-1850: growth of “Dutch Studies” &
Western efforts to open trade• 1853: Commodore Perry opens Japan
1868-1912 = Meiji Era• Imperial rule, reform, industrialization• 1905: Russo-Japanese War
Compare and contrast Japan and Russia during the process of industrialization.
RUSSIA Tsar in total control part of wider process of
change• Emancipation of serfs• urban working class grows
state initiated industrialization• no middle class or capital
factories huge but not technically advanced• railroads – 1870s• export of grain to West• high tariffs to protect industry• expansion of iron & coal industry• By 1900, 4th in world steel
production
Western investors build factories• ½ of industry foreign owned
JAPAN Emperor gains power part of broader Meiji reforms
state initiated industrialization• send samurai overseas to learn
technology & science• government banks fund trade &
provide capital• state built railroads, mines,
metallurgical industries• guilds abolished
depended on imports of raw materials• very dependent on world economic
situation• Zaibatsu-government cooperation
limited foreign intervention