W11L1 – Modernization and Nationalization Flashcards
Meiji Restoration
the Meiji restoration is named after Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) who ascended the throne in 1867
Meiji Restoration - context
External Encroachment
Unequal Treaties (beginning with the Harris Treaty)
Extraterritoriality
Treaty-ports
Internal Crisis, Social Protests; Loyalism on the rise
Yonaoshi / New Religions
Boshin War - context
Great domains shook off their subordination to bakufu leadership – negotiated private agreements
amongst themselves
Meiji restoration impossible without the crippling effects of “Western” imperialism on the traditional
bases of Tokugawa strength: strain in bakufu resources handling the crisis
One main one was that between the domains of Satsuma and Chōshū
The power struggle eventually led to the Boshin War of 1867.
Edo modernizers were pushing reforms to produce a more effective bakufu control; Chōshū and Satsuma leaders were readying their troops for a military showdown
Kyoto representatives gave a proposal to Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu to resign.
Proposal dictated that the court would rule, but a two-house council, made up of daimyo and court nobles, would be established; new treaties would be worked out; an imperial army and navy would be established
Yoshinobu accepted (Tokugawa rule formally ended) but nothing replaced the Tokugawa system.
Three weeks of standstill; Boshin war broke out leading to the Fall of Edo in July 1868
British-French Rivalry
Meiji Modernization post-1868
Main aim: “catch-up” with “Western” powers
Modernization gradually visible: Steamships, railroads, telegraph lines, postal service, factories.
Dismantling of Feudal Order
Abolition of Domain system / Samurai privilege
Equality to all people
Prosperous Country, Strong Army (fukokukyōhei)
Civilization and Enlightenment (bunmei-kaika)
Meirokusha (intellectuals engaged in western learning
before the Restoration)
Several missions were sent to the US and Europe; students were sent to prestigious universities.
Lifting of the ban on Christianity
Meiji Nationalization
Universal primary education (from 1872)
Universal Military Conscription (1873)
Series of Economic reforms: meritocracy, protection of private property, and promotion of capitalist
economic growth, reduction of land taxes
1880s-1890s: Aim to revise unequal treaties; traditionalism vs westernization
National Language
Genbun’itchi – the standardization of written and spoken
Meiji Enlightenment
Promoted spread of new knowledge through newspapers, journals, printed books, and school textbooks
Temp. Employment of Foreign Experts
New Life-styles
“Modern Institutions”, Legal Systems, and Business
practices
Reforming Life: Calendar reform (1872)
Meiji Leadership
Leaders of Meiji restoration mainly samurai from the domains of Satsuma-Chōshū
Korean invasion crisis 1873; “war” party left the govt — eventually led to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, led by Saigo Takamori
Opposition from political parties — the Liberal Party
(Jiyuto - agarian interests) and the Progressive Party (Shimpoto - urban interests) — also press (a lot of political party members were journalists
Meiji Constitution
Written by Itō Hirobumi and his colleagues, as a gift from the emperor to the people
Emperor as the center of all power, center of the kokutai (national polity/body) of the Japanese nation
Current Japanese National Anthem: “Kimi ga Yo” (His Majesty’s Reign)
Mixture of conservative/liberal principles
Meiji Constitution - Power Structure
Two houses: House of peers, House of Representatives
No provision for appointments of prime ministers, no provision of accountability to anyone except the emperor
Extralegal body of genrō or elders, consisting at entirely of the highest Satsuma-Chōshū leaders
Japanese people were all subject to limitations imposed by laws; everyone became imperial subjects
Employment was in effect by the emperor.
Top government officials picked from Imperial Universities (Tokyo/Kyoto)
Political Changes after Meiji Constitution
Diet opened in 1890 with over 1-percent of entire
population given the right to vote for members of the House of representatives (House of peers remain by “divine selection”)
Suffrage was limited to high-tax-paying males above the age of twenty-five. (Male universal suffrage was realized in 1925, and universal suffrage did not occur until 1945, during the Occupation period.)
1890s: Rise of Conservatism– Return to traditionalism
The Problem with Language - Context
several modes of writing were employed depending on the content of the written piece.
the gap between written language and spoken language was huge, not to mention the regional variations across the Japanese archipelago.
This eventually led to the
movement called genbun itchi (unification of spoken and written language).
The Problem with Language
Intellectual (philosophical/scientific) works were still written in kanbun
In the 1880s, kanbun and kangaku (study of classical Chinese and its writings) became an important pillar of primary/secondary education— Boom of private kangaku academies
Language for Nation Building
Necessary to create a vernacular language
Creation of the nation: promote communication and circulation of information across class and regional boundaries
Orthographic Reform and
Language
Vernacularization, orthographic reform, and standardization of the written language emerged as interrelated concerns from the early 1870s
Orthographic reform began as the promotion of kana syllabary and
romanization due to the influence from Western phonetic alphabet — kana syllabary seen as “natural”
Disappearance of ゐ(wi) and ゑ (wye)
Genbun-itchi ⾔
⽂⼀致 and Language Reform
Influence of Western Phonetic Alphabet
Wa-bun (as juxtaposed with Kanbun)
Prestige of Kanbun drastically depreciated following Japan’s victory over China in the
Sino-Japanese War (1894–5) (but continued to be used depending on genre)
Various new words emerged: hyōjungo (“standard language”), futsūgo (“ordinary language”)
If the genbun-itchi movement ostensibly aimed to close the gap between colloquial
speech and writing, it was fundamentally driven by a desire to achieve parity between Japanese and modern European forms of
writing
