Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
MEIJI ISHIN
明治維新
Meiji Restoration
In the mid-1800s, the Japanese government was rocked by an intense power struggle. For 250 years, the shogun had ruled in place of the Emperor. This arrangement had kept Japan peaceful—and isolated—throughout the Edo period.
Then the country was more or less forced open by a flotilla of U.S. warships in 1853. The shogun signed treaties which prohibited Japan from implementing protective tariffs. According to the same treaties, foreigners who committed crimes in Japan would not be subject to Japanese justice, but would be tried by their own courts.
These infringements on Japanese sovereignty were too much for many Japanese to bear. The government of the shogun could no longer be justified, and the last shogun resigned under pressure in 1867. Direct rule by the emperor was to be “restored.”
In 1868, a new emperor took the throne. Mutsuhito was only fifteen years old at the time. He called his reign “Meiji,” or “enlightened rule.” In June of 1868 he moved the imperial residency from its traditional home in Kyoto to Edo—the old seat of shogunate power. The city was renamed Tokyo / 東京 (“Eastern Capitol”).
The achievements of the Meiji Era generally receive high marks in Japanese history books. When Emperor Meiji was born, Japan was a pre-industrial, feudal country. Under his reign, Japan abolished the feudal system, adopted Western technology and culture, and modernized its military. By the time Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Japan commanded respect from the major powers of the West.
