Meiji Restoration

Hey people,

I'm a beginner fan of Japanese history and am researching info about the origins of the Tokugawa Shogunate collapse and the Meiji Restoration. Where I'm getting confused is which side wanted to modernise. I read a source that said the anti-shogunate rebellion by the Choshu and Satsuma who restored the Emperor Meiji were anti- Western and disagreed with the Shogun's pro- Western stance. Then I find that later the emperor was pro-Western and killed off the samurai. So did the Emperor have a change of heart at some point? Or have I got this all wrong? Many thanks

The period between 1853 and 1868 (bakumatsu) is quite complex. With the appearance of the Black Ships, both sides realised the need to modernise the country, especially its defence capabilities, if only to fend off future incursions by Western powers. Most domains were staunchly opposed to opening up the country, with the Mito domain, ruled by a collateral branch of the Tokugawa, on the forefront of the sonnō jōi movement. Ironically, the last Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu (aka Hitotsubashi Keiki), would come from the Mito clan. While everyone agreed that the foreigners had to be repelled, there was substantial disagreement about how and under whose leadership this would be best accomplished. Satsuma and Chōshū were rivals until 1866 or 1867. Satsuma and Aizu had stationed troops in Kyoto to protect the capital and the interests of the shogunate, while Chōshū sent insurgents to destabilise the bakufu. Both sides aimed to safeguard the emperor and bring him onto their side.

Two events sounded the death knell for the shogunate: their defeat in the military expedition into Chōshū, and the alliance between Satsuma and Chōshū, forged by Sakamoto Ryoma. Acknowledging the hopelessness of his situation, Yoshinobu resigned in 1867. Tokugawa forces would be fighting the Satchō alliance in eastern Honshū and Hokkaidō until 1869.

As mentioned above, all players were aware of the need to modernise the country. In the early 1860s, domains like Satsuma and Chōshū as well as the shogunate started trading with Western powers, mainly to modernise their military forces. They sent samurai, students, and emissaries to Western countries and established trade relations. As for the emperor: while Emperor Kōmei (who died in 1867) supported the anti-Western forces in the country (first the shogunate, then the Satchō alliance), the young Meiji Emperor was influenced by a clique of Satsuma and Chōshū leaders who'd reached the conclusion that it would be best to open the country and to "learn from the West."

The above is by no means complete and just a crude overview. We have a lot of related articles (some of which, I admit, need updates and more depth). Feel free to take a look or just ask in this thread.

Also, I don't think it would be accurate to say the Emperor was pro-western and so he killed off the samurai. There was an old samurai in the Emperor's inner circle, a guy named Yamagata Aritomo. He was one of the anti-western guys from Chōshū. Once this Satsuma-Chōshū alliance toppled the Shogunate, got rid of the Shogun, and then put themselves in power, they were in charge of modernizing the military strength of Japan. Yamagata realized you couldn't fight off the western powers with swords and bows and arrows, so he was in charge of getting Japan's military strength up to the same level of the westerners. Ironically, this also involved going to Europe and the US and learning military tactics and strategy and weaponry from the west. And it involved getting rid of a heirarchical system where just a tiny percentage of the population could serve in the military. (Not to mention, the whole class system of Japan was terrible for the Japanese economy).

So yes, its super confusing: these rabid anti-western guys ended up making friends with the western powers so they could learn as much as possible. Its as if, after yelling "Kick Out The Foreigners" at the top of their lungs for a decade or so, once they got into power they quietly put away those slogans and banners, and embraced the west (to some extent). Its a 180 degree turnaround that makes the casual observer want to say, "weren't you just arguing for the exact opposite thing a few days ago?".