The
political and social changes make each of the Japanese periods very
uniqiue and one of its kind. What has to be underlined; the
change of its name has never been accidental or random, in contrary,
it is always associated with changes, in this case it was no difference. The role of dayimo has not changed, they still were responsible for administrating their land, the role of the samurai
has also been more or less the same, however, it was about to be
changed. They who stayed under the surveliance of their master had
peasants to govern and supervise the land farming and crops
gathering. The system was organised and ordered. Yet, it was a time
for having some reforms, it came in 1868 with the Charter Oath, which
said or rather promised: to discuss the matters of state by means of
assembly, a unity of all classes to establish equal economy and
welfare, the overall equallity of the nation and their individual
desires, aspirations, basic customs for everyone, and principles of
international justice ...etc. The political reforms were unavoidable,
the shape of some archaic and out-of-date principles had to be shaken
off. The first changes strike towards samurai; the low-ranking ones
brought the shougunate down, they had to face changes in the most
trecherous era in Japan before the great wars. The changes followed:
the creation of national land tax; the abolition of four-class social
system, the samurai class, abolition of domains, establishemt of
perfectures. The changes couldn't be accomplished independently, the
land tax reform was the most important, it was the forerunner of
fiscal foundations. The three representatives of the Finance
Ministry: Mutsu Munemitsu, Inoue Kaoru, Okuma Shigenobu shared the
failures and successes of the new reforms. They drew and impelemented
the tax scheme. Due to this changes the productivity was about to
increase, the style of social life was about to improve, be more
attractive to new, young families, marriages. The comercial taxes
were also implemented, it depneded on the land tax and its revenue.
Samurai could depend on the state help, they were given a chance to
start up their own businesses, they mostly became merchands and
traders. The changes from the west meant a lot, the most significant
ones were in the military system, Japan borrowed lots of innovations
from China, Korea, Far East Asia, carefully observed the
Mongols who were its constant threat. Being a merchant was different
to be a soldier, samurai not entusiastically drew themselves into the
Imperial Army, it was successful due to innovative approach of Yamagata Aritomo who is
often called ''The Father of Japanese Army''. Nonetheless the new
military obligation gave them a little choice. They had to keep their
social status and earn for their well-being, they knew that the
service they undergo will give their children to enter a new class, a
better society, they themsleves could only dream about. The ecomonic
reforms were about to show that Japan had changed its shape of the
government, it opens itself to the west, the country continuously
tried to reshape the Unequal Treaties, and watched the West carefully,
how it functioned and how it developed. The government realized it
has to spend a huge amount of money to rebuild and to grow the
infrastructue ahead, it has to trust the private industry which would
and will help to mentain and keep well-shaped railroads, roads,
banks, shipping companies, postal and communication system. The
ventures were risky but it was all worth taking to. The ecomonic
development and growth was not the only one, the changes were also
visible in the society, among the classes, the intellectual class
emerged, there were also religious developments. The western and
Japanese beliefs significantly differed, the Western system was
based on Christian morality, the Japanese one was based on
Noe-Confucian foundation. Shinto on the other hand had no such
principles, neither have they a national organisation, priests did
not have any religious schooling or secular authority. For that
reasons the changes had to occur by means of implementation of
''western patterns''. Western political and social ideologies had
Japanese followers and admireres. In 1898 a new Civil Code has been
signed, it established the role of the family, it was not the lowest
legal unit any longer! Unfortunately the role of women did not change,
they weren't given any rights and were ''the property'' of
their male masters in this case: husbands or concubines. As a strong
nation, Japan, chose the way it had to choose: military imperialism.
The colonialism were more common than never, Portugal, Spain,
England, France and the Netherlands aquitted the colonies all over
the globe and were hungry to have more and more. The fight for the
sphere of influence was inevitable. The end of XIX cenrury was for
Japan the time of wars, the first Sino-Japanese war was to prove the
power and strength of Japanese force. It indeed led to rapid
economic growth, and successes mostly in foreign affairs.
Ruso-Japanese war cost many lives and casualties, it was failure for
Japan. A bitter pill to swallow, moreover, it worsened the
relationships with the USA like never before. The media
propaganda and wide-spread paranoia triggered America to establish
their military base in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1908. Japanese commercial interests had to go with the wars it led. It had to compete with China for a trade dominance, luckily Japanese goods started replacing British, French and American in China's trade stocks and markets. Japan knew it had to maintain the political control on the continent regardless of all means.
Bibliography:
1. The Cambridge History of Japan, 2001
2. Japan History; From Prehistoric to Modernity, 1999
3. The Oxford History of the World, 1997
4. The Modern Nation: The History of Japan, Second Edition, 2009
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