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The Meiji restoration & the Tokugawa shogunate

yukio_michael

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8 Mar 2005
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I'm having a little bit of difficulty following the timeline of events following the end of the (only later referred to as) Sakoku period (鎖国), or, isolated period of Japan brought on by the Tokugawa shogunate to maintain control over the country of Japan & keep the Shogunate in power... There was possibly a real fear that Western influence would weaken the Shogunate's power, causing it to lose its control of Japan.

After the opening of Japan by Admiral Perry, there was a faction of Japanese loyalists who were against the shogunate for, among other things, failing to protect Japan from the "foreign barbarians" as it were.

There were some uprisings and then a coup which followed a particular loss by the Tokugawa shogunate to Choushuu loyalists...

This led to the Meiji restoration , led by younger & enlightened members of the samurai classes. Initially, there was much talk about returning to a time of antiquity. Still, the men leading the restoration quietly dropped the idea of "expelling the barbarians" and adopted a modernisation policy through the cultural exchange to strengthen the country.

My question is, were the loyalists not involved in the planning of the Meiji restoration? How could there be a coup against the Tokugawa shogunate for failing to guard against the foreign influence that led directly to the opening of more foreign influence and trade? Were the loyalists and the samurai classes two different groups?

It seems like the outcome of the Meiji restoration was precisely the reason why there was a coup against the Tokugawa shogunate in the first place.

If anyone could enlighten me, I would appreciate it greatly!
 
Hi yukio_michael!

I think this is a part of Japanese history that is complex that it cannot be explained so easily. Since I don't have time to write a book (j/k), I'll just write what comes up to mind!

The issue of foreign influence is not a single idea here. What the Japanese feared initially with arrival of Westerners was something like colonialization that was going on in China and other parts of Asia and loss of political power over the country. The acceptance of Western influence in the Meiji Period is founded on the understanding that political control of the country is not undermined by foreign presence and on nationalism, embracing "high technology" at that time to make Japan a sovereign and viable, if not strong, presence in the world.

Also, the clash was essentially between the "tozama" and "fudai" daimyos, between those at the periphery of power and those close to the political center, respectively, combined with the imbalance in economic prowess, since the tozama Satsuma and Choshu enjoyed economic prosperity while lacking a strong voice in government.

The Edo Period had provided Japan time to grow and evolve as a sophisticated culture and economy. By the time of the end of the shogunate, the samurai class no longer had real economic power, and the country already had a strong commercial economy run by a rich merchant class, and the old class system functioned in appearance only. Japanese society was already ripe for change, and I think the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry was only the "final push" for collapse of the shogunate.

For further info, please see:
Edo period - Wikipedia
http://www.thecorner.org/hist/japan/meiji1.htm
Bakumatsu - Wikipedia
 
Thank's for your input epigene, though I can't say I'm not a little more confused overall at the participants of the events. I'll have to amble back to the library and get an expanded history book.

It's possible then that the so called loyalists used the situation of the opening of Japan to trade as an excuse to oust the already weakend shogunate?

Thank you for the links, I'll have to read the first two---- the last I've read already. I was rumaging arond on wiki last night & I think that it may have left out some of the details that confused me in the first place, and going back to reference a cultural/history book I have, I started to ask myself questions about the events.

Thanks again for your input!
 
yukio_michael said:
It's possible then that the so called loyalists used the situation of the opening of Japan to trade as an excuse to oust the already weakend shogunate?
From what I studied in the past, it seems it was a combination of the two--the loyalists wanted to open Japan (to open doors to Western science, technology and cultural aspects that they believed beneficial for Japan) and also to oust the shogunate which they believed treated them unfairly.

As for the participants, it does take time to understand the key figures in this period. Japanese learn them from the period dramas they watch on TV, film and theater, in addition to history classes at school. 😊
Maybe get some of those period dramas on DVD? (Though interpretation of historic incidents vary by time of production and view of the filmmakers) 😌
 
Yukio - here a great book to start with: Amazon product ASIN 0231101732
It's about Sakamoto Ryoma and his role in the Meijo Restoration but it gives a very broad view of the political climate at that time.

It's really a very complicated time period. But I think you have the gist of it. Basically, everyone was pissed that the shogunate let foreigners into the country. They wanted to kick the foreigners out. When it became apparent that the Shogun couldn't kick the foreigners out, they tried to do it themselves. When it became apparent that this wouldn't work either, they realized they had to modernize their country. Only through modernization could they protect themselves from the West. The shogunate was a decaying institution and stood in the way of modernization, so it had to be destroyed.

Other great books are: The Revolutionary Origins of Modern Japan
The Last Shogun
Choshu in the Meiji Restoration
 
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