Meiji Restoration: 1867-68
Short Term Actions Taken
1. Eliminated Class and Social status
1. Conscript Army:
3. Compulsory Education:
4. Monarch at the Center:
Source: Andrew Gordon - A Modern History of Japan
- Before the restoration, Japan was split into feudal domains - each operated its own treasury + army. Samurai received stipends for protecting and working for their Daimyo. This system was extremely fragmented and small-scale skirmishes between domains was common.
- Pre-existing issues:
- Military and economic weakness
- Political fragmentation - domains
- Social hierarchy failed to recognise talent in the lower classes - class immobility
- Restoration of Emperor Meiji to the throne in 1876: Capital changed from Kyoto to Edo, then renamed Tokyo
- "Revolution from above", "Aristocratic revolution"
- Differed from European revolutions, which may have allowed such a rapid revolution to have occurred. Initiated by the samurai rather than commoners. The samurai had less to lose, as they didn't own land, so they were more forthright with their revolutionary intent.
- This period also sparked the initiation of 'National Consciousness', where commoners became increasingly aware of the political zeitgeist.
- "Revolution from above", "Aristocratic revolution"
Short Term Actions Taken
1. Eliminated Class and Social status
- Abolished Daimyo domains between 1868-1872
- Aug 1971 - Changed domains to prefectures
- All non-samurai classed now as 'commoners' (heimin)
- Removed all restrictions on modes of travel, dress and hairstyle
- Eliminated restrictions on occupation
- Ended legal discrimination against hereditary outcast
- Samurai: Samurai stipends first reduced in domain abolishment. In mid 1970's, these still cost about 50% of state revenue. This highlights the merit-based social order of the Tokugawa Shogunate
- 1876: stipends were converted to bonds, and samurai's annual income decreased anywhere from 10-75%.
- Removed right to wear swords
- 1876: stipends were converted to bonds, and samurai's annual income decreased anywhere from 10-75%.
1. Conscript Army:
- Established a conscript army of just under 10,000 from the restoration forces
- 1873: Government decree of universal conscription:
- at 20yrs old, 3 years of service, 4 years of reservist
- Many exemptions: household heads, criminals, govt. officials etc.
- Expensive buyout of 270
- Centralised military - aided "return of lands", a term which describes the process of daimyo 'returning' land to the new all-powerful Emperor Meiji
3. Compulsory Education:
- 1972: 4 years of compulsory elementary education: "In a village there shall be no house without learning, and in a house, no individual without learning"
- Established system of elementary schools, middle schools, and national universities
- Traditional gender roles still persisted: women were trained to be good wives and carers of household, men were trained to respect and revere the emperor
- Attendance for boys and girls (elementary school): 25-50% in first decade, but by 1905: 98% of boys and 93% of girls attended. Shows that state sponsored endeavers weren't successful initially, but over time as systems of equality and equality of opportunity developed, people saw greater value in education.
4. Monarch at the Center:
- Cabinet political system 1885, codified in the Meiji Constitution 1889
- Redefined the bureaucratic mission as one of service to the emperor
- Emperor adopted Western clothing in the 1880's to illustrate modernism
- Historiography: Gordon - Emperor was a "touchstone for personal, social, and national identity"
Source: Andrew Gordon - A Modern History of Japan