Read complete books and articles on: Meiji Japan (1868 - 1912)

Meiji Restoration - The term refers to both the events of 1868 that led to the "restoration" of power to the emperor and the entire period of revolutionary changes that coincided with the Meiji emperor's reign (1868–1912). The power of the Tokugawa shogunate, weakened by debt and internal division, had declined, and much opposition had built up in the early 19th cent. The intrusion of Western powers, particularly the Americans under Admiral Matthew C. Perry, precipitated further discontent. Under pressure, the Tokugawa shogunate submitted (1854) to foreign demands and signed treaties that ended Japan's isolation. The powerful Choshu and Satsuma domains of W Japan tried to resist the foreigners on their own and were defeated (1863). These domains, excluded from the Tokugawa governing councils because of their status as tozama, or outside daimyo, then demanded creation of a new government loyal to the emperor to expel the foreigners. In Jan., 1868, samurai from these domains, with the support of anti-Tokugawa court nobles, succeeded in a palace coup that abolished the shogunate and "returned" power to the emperor. The court was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, where a centralized administration was created. The new Meiji government moved quickly to discard the feudal system and launch a series of reforms that profoundly changed Japanese society. These reform programs—administrative, economic, social, legal, educational, and military—were carried out under the slogan "fukoku Kyohei" (enrich the country and strengthen the military). The government adopted many policies designed to create a modern economy and society. Students were sent to Europe and the United States to study modern science and technology, while foreign experts were hired to help establish factories and educational institutions. In 1889 the Meiji Constitution was adopted. In the late Meiji years, Japan won the Sino–Japanese war in 1895, defeated Russia in 1905, abolished the treaties with the West, and became a world power.

See K. B. Pyle, The New Generation in Meiji Japan (1969); W. G. Beasley, The Meiji Restoration (1972); C. Gluck, Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (1985); M. Umegaki, After the Restoration: The Beginning of Japan's Modern State (1988).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Meiji Japan (1868 - 1912)

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Modern Japan: A Social and Political History » Read Now
by Elise K. Tipton. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This textbook provides a concise and fascinating introduction to the social, cultural and political history of modern Japan. It incudes coverage from the Tokugawa period to the present day and a detailed analysis of the social aspects of Japanese history.
2.

Japan's Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900-1930 » Read Now
by Sharon A. Minichiello. 408 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

Modern Japan: A Historical Survey » Read Now
by Mikiso Hane. 474 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...1. JAPAN BEFORE THE...LATE TOKUGAWA PERIOD 42...5. THE MEIJI RESTORATION...to modern Japan is basically...persisted into the Meiji period and after...until the Meiji...
4.

A Political History of Japan during the Meiji Era, 1867-1912 (1916) » Read Now
by Walter Wallace McLaren. 384 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD 178...XIII. JAPAN ON THE CONTINENT...END OF THE MEIJI ERA 324...RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD -14- A Political History of Japan During the Meiji...
5.

Japan's Emergence as a Modern State: Political and Economic Problems of the Meiji Period (1940) » Read Now
by E. Herbert Norman. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...since the Meiji period can be summarized...first, Japan has been...centralization of Japan by the Tokugawa...transitional period from the Bakufu to the Meiji Government...4...
6.

Civilization and Monsters: Spirits of Modernity in Meiji Japan » Read Now
by Gerald A. Figal. 292 pgs.

Collections: History, Literature, Entire Library

Monsters, ghosts, the supernatural, the fantastic, the mysterious. These are not usually considered the "stuff" of modernism. More often they are regarded as inconsequential to the study of the modern, or, at best, seen as representative of traditional beliefs that are overcome and left behind in...
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Monsters, ghosts, the supernatural, the fantastic, the mysterious. These are not usually considered the "stuff" of modernism. More often they are regarded as inconsequential to the study of the modern, or, at best, seen as representative of traditional beliefs that are overcome and left behind in the transformation toward modernity. In Civilization and Monsters Gerald Figal asserts that discourse on the fantastic was at the heart of the historical configuration of Japanese modernity -- that the representation of the magical and mysterious played an integral part in the production of modernity beginning in Meiji Japan (1868-1912).
After discussing the role of the fantastic in everyday Japan at the eve of the Meiji period, Figal draws new connections between folklorists, writers, educators, state ideologues, and policymakers, all of whom crossed paths in a contest over supernatural terrain. He shows the ways in which a determined Meiji state was engaged in a battle to suppress, denigrate, manipulate, or reincorporate folk belief as part of an effort toward the consolidation of a modern national culture. Modern medicine and education, functioning as a means for the state to exercise its power, redefined folk practices as a source of evil. Diverse local spirits were supplanted by a new Japanese Spirit, embodied by the newly constituted emperor, the supernatural source of the nation's strength. The monsters of folklore were identified, catalogued, and characterized according to a new regime of modern reason. But whether engaged to support state power and forge a national citizenry or to critique the arbitrary nature of that power, the fantastic, as Figal maintains, is the constantcondition of Japanese modernity in all its contradictions. Furthermore, he argues, modernity in general is born of fantasy in ways that have scarcely been recognized.
Bringing unexplored and provocative new ideas to the Japan spec
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7.

Japan Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History » Read Now
by Harry Wray, Hilary Conroy. 411 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...assessment of the period from 1868...with the Meiji Restoration...for Modern Japan James...Tokugawa Japan a good starting...to a later period. That period...decade of the...
8.

Japan-American Diplomatic Relations in the Meiji-Taisho Era » Read Now
by Hikomatsu Kamikawa. 462 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...the second period after Japan came to be...COUNTRY TO THE MEIJI RESTORATION...HALF OF THE MEIJI ERA: THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE...Chapter II. Japan and the American...the early...
9.

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present (Part 2 "Modern Revolution: 1868-1905") » Read Now
by Andrew Gordon. 384 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this sweeping narrative, Andrew Gordon paints a richly nuanced and strikingly original portrait of the last two centuries of Japanese history. Gordon takes us from the days of the shogunate--the feudal overlordship of the Tokugawa family--through the modernizing revolution launched by midlevel...
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In this sweeping narrative, Andrew Gordon paints a richly nuanced and strikingly original portrait of the last two centuries of Japanese history. Gordon takes us from the days of the shogunate--the feudal overlordship of the Tokugawa family--through the modernizing revolution launched by midlevel samurai in the late nineteenth century, the adoption of Western hairstyles, clothing, and military organization, and the nation's first experiments with mass democracy after World War I. Gordon offers the finest synthesis to date of Japan's passage through militarism, World War II, the American occupation, and the subsequent economic rollercoaster. But the true originality and value of his approach lies in his close attention to the non-elite layers of society. Here we see the influence of outside ideas, products, and culture on home life, labor unions, political parties, gender relations, and popular entertainment. Gordon shows the struggles to define the meaning of Japan's modernization, from villages and urban neighborhoods, to factory floors and middle managers' offices, to the imperial court. Most important, he illuminates the interconnectedness of Japanese developments with world history, demonstrating how Japan's historical passage represents a variation of a process experienced by many nations. Japan forms one part of the interwoven fabric of modern history. As head of the prestigious Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, Gordon is one of the foremost American authorities on Japanese society. In this striking book, he brings all his knowledge and deep personal experience to bear, providing the most comprehensive portrait to date of Japan and its place in the wider world.
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10.

Creating a Public: People and Press in Meiji Japan » Read Now
by James L. Huffman. 576 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Japan -- History -- 19th century. 3. Journalism -- Social aspects -- Japan -- History -- 19th century. 4. Japan -- History -- Meiji period, 1868-1912. 1. Title. PN5404.H78...
11.

Japan 1868-1945: Art, Architecture, and National Identity, in Art Journal » Read Now
by Christine M.E. Guth. 5 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
12.

The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization » Read Now
by Julia Meech-Pekarik. 263 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Printed in Japan. Library...world of the Meiji print. / Bibliography...Japanese--Meiji period, 1868-1912. / 2. Japan--History--Meiji period, 1868-1912...interesting...
13.

Proliferating Talent: Essays on Politics, Thought, and Education in the Meiji Era » Read Now
by Motoyama Yukihiko, J. S. A. Elisonas, Richard Rubinger. 475 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library
14.

The Japanese Seizure of Korea, 1868-1910: A Study of Realism and Idealism in International Relations » Read Now
by Hilary Conroy. 536 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...strong headway in Japan. Saigo Takamori...Shimbun Shusei Meiji Hennenshi Newspaper Collection, Meiji Period Tokyo: Zaisei...foundation document of Meiji Japan. It is dated...
15.

The Empress' New Clothes and Japanese Women, 1868-1912, in The Historian » Read Now
by Sally A. Hastings. 16 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...transformation of Japan into a strong and...her husband, the Meiji emperor, whom she...samurai of the Tokugawa period and the courtier...in the Late Meiji Period...
16.

A Short Economic History of Modern Japan, 1867-1937 (1946) » Read Now
by G. C. Allen. 204 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library