Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate/ Meiji Restoration

Question 1

How did Japan take to all the new treaties with foreign powers?

Answer 1

• They were humiliated and resentful (especially the daimyos who believed it was the shogun’s job to ‘dispel the foreign barbarians’).
• Daimyos felt that modernisation was key in stopping foreign influence.
• Supporters and opponents to the shogun clashed.
• In 1867, the last Tokugawa shogun resigned, claiming restoring the Imperial court was the way to survive.
• Daimyo’s believed the shogun could no longer protect Japan and instead gave its power over to foreign countries.

Question 2

What were the first things the new emperor did to assert himself? (3 things)

Answer 2

1. Moved into the shogun’s palace at Edo.
2. Renamed Edo to Tokyo.
3. Reinstated Shinto as the primary religion (because under Shinto he was viewed as a living god!).

Question 3

What were some bits of evidence of modernisation/Westernisation?

Answer 3

1. Western fashions.
2. Western architecture.
3. Industrialisation (new railways, communications, steam ships).
4. Bigger military modelling from Germany. Westernised Navy.
5. Universities with Western teachers.

Question 4

What did the Tokugawa Shogunate contribute to the modernisation of Japan?

Answer 4

• By unifying Japan, they gave it a sense of national identity and unity.
• It encouraged more education.
• The new role of government officials for samurai put them at an advantage for modernisation.

Question 5

Why did the shogun lose power? (5 things)

Answer 5

1. We was perceived as weak by asking the daimyo for advice regarding Commodore Perry.
2. The hostage system ended in 1862.
3. The feudal system fell apart due to increased trade (merchants becoming rich).
4. Many natural disasters.
5. Treaty of Kanagawa showed the shogun’s weakness and questioned his relevance.
6. Western influence and America’s gunboat diplomacy.