Meiji Japan’s Pursuit of a Modern Nation-State: An Interpretation
Abstract
This paper attempts to revisit the central position of Meiji Ishin (Meiji Restoration) in 19th Century Japan as it was considered a watershed point in the history of Japan. The Japanese and Western scholars generally agreed that the event had paved the way for the modernization of Japan in the 19th Century. Thus, it seems little doubt that the event was considered of great importance for Meiji insurgencies who later took up the country’s leadership in the country to safeguard and protect the suzerainty of Japan at the expense of steady Western encroachments into Japanese waters since the 1850s. In so doing, the study uses a method of content analysis to examine the essentiality of the Meiji Ishin based on Japanese and Western literature. The study demonstrates that the Meiji insurgencies who had taken charge of transforming Japan as a modern and strong nation-state economically and militarily in the 1870s until 1890s pointed out that this revolution was indeed their utmost step otherwise Japan would succumb to Western imperialism. The study also demonstrates that Meiji leaders (names include Ito Hirobumi, Saigo Takamori, and Kido Takayoshi to name but a few) who later had paved the way for Meiji Restoration in 1868, had strategically realized the dangers that the Western Powers posed towards Japan which then partly explained their attempts of overthrowing the Shogunate administration in 1868. Eventually, the occurrence of Meiji Ishin in 1868 set the stage for the creation of modern administrative, political, and economic changes in Japan.
References
Adams, F. O. (1875). The history of Japan. London: Henry S. King & Co. Vol. II
Adams, T. F. M. (1964). A financial history of modern Japan. Tokyo: Research Ltd.
Akagi, Roy Hidemichi. (1936). Japan's foreign relations 1542-1936: A short history. Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press.
Akita, G. (1967). Foundations of constitutional government in modern Japan 1868-1900. Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press.
Alcock, R. (1863). The capital of the tycoon: A narrative of a three years' residence in Japan. London: Longman.
Akita, George. (2020). Ito Hirobumi: Prime minister of Japan. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ito-Hirobumi Earl.
Beasley, W. G. (1987). Japanese imperialism 1894-1945. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1995). Japan encounters the barbarian: Japanese travellers in America and Europe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1973). The Meiji restoration. London: Oxford Univ. Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1963). The modern history of Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Turtle.
Brown, Alexander D. (2005). Meiji Japan: A unique technological experience. Student Economic Review, 19, 71-83.
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, September 22). Ōkubo Toshimichi. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Okubo-Toshimichi
Burks, A. W. (1985). The modernizers: Overseas students, foreign employees, and Meiji Japan. Boulder: Westview Press.
Chang, Richard T. (1970). From prejudice to tolerance: A study of the Japanese image of the west 1826-1864. Tokyo: Sophia University.
Checkland, O. (1989). Britain's encounter with Meiji Japan, 1868-1912. London: Macmillan Press
Cobbing, Andrew. (1998). The Japanese discovery of victorian Britain: Early travel encounters in the far west. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library.
Cobbing, A., Ohta, A., Checkland, O, and Breen, J. (1998). The Iwakura mission in Britain,1872. London: STICERD, London School of Economics.
Conroy, H. (1960). The Japanese seizure of Korea: 1868-1910. A study of realism and idealism in international relations. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
Cortazzi, H. (Ed.). (1982). A diplomat's wife in Japan, sketches at the turn of the century. Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Crowley, James B. (1966). From closed door to empire: The formation of the Meiji military establishment. In Bernard S. Silberman & Harry Harootunian (Eds.), Modern Japanese leadership: Transition and change (pp. 276-277). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Daniels, G. (1996). Sir Harry Parkes: British representative in Japan 1865-83. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library.
Devere B. Sidney. (1962). Ōkubo Toshimichi: His political and economic policies in early Meiji Japan. The Journal of Asian Studies, 21 (2), 183-197.
Dickins, F. V. & Lane-Poole, S. (1984). The life of sir Harry Parkes (Vol. 11). London: Macmillan and Co.
Fait, O. K. (1990). The clash of interests: The transformation of Japan in 1861-1881 in the eyes of the local anglo-saxon press. Oulu: The Historical Assoc, of Northern Finland.
Flottman, Augustus. (2012). The Meiji education system: Developing the emperor’s ideal subject [Undergraduate honours thesis]. The University of Colorado.
Gubbins, J. H. (1911). The Progress of Japan 1853-1871. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Gubbins, J. H. (1922). The making of modern Japan. London: Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd.
Hoare, J. E. (1994). Japan's treaty ports and foreign settlements: The uninvited guests 1858-1899. Folkestone, Kent: Japan Library.
Howe, C. (1996). The origins of Japanese trade supremacy: Development and technology in Asia from 1540 to the pacific war. London: Hurst & Co.
Humphreys, Leonard A. (1995). The way of the heavenly sword. The Japanese army in the 1920s. California: Stanford University Press.
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and postmodernization. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press.
Irokawa, D. (1985). The culture of the Meiji period. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press.
Jansen, M. B. (1980). Japan and its world: Two Centuries of Change. Princeton University Press.
Jansen, M. B. (1989). The Cambridge History of Japan. vol. 5: The Nineteenth Century (Vol. 5). Cambridge University Press.
Jansen, M. B., & Rozman, G. (2014). Japan in transition, from Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton University Press.
Jones, H. J. (1980). Live machines: Hired foreigners and Meiji Japan. Paul Norbury Publications.
Ohno, K. (2019). Meiji Japan: Progressive learning of western technology. In Arkebe Oqubay and Kenichi Ohno (Eds.), How nations learn: Technological learning, industrial policy, and catch-up (pp. 85-106). Oxford University Press
Lehmann, Jean-Pierre. (1982). The roots of modern Japan. Palgrave Macmillan.
Magarey, D. (2020). Saigo Takamori: Japanese samurai. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saigo-Takamori
Masamoto, Kitajima & Hurst, G. Cameron. (2020). Japan from 1850 to 1945: The Meiji restoration. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/The-opening-of-Japan
Michio Nagai. M. (2005). Westernization and japanization: The early Meiji transformation of education. In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese culture (pp. 53-94). New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Nakamura, T. (1983). Economic growth in prewar Japan. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.
Nakamura, T., & Feldman, R. A. (1983). Economic growth in prewar Japan. Yale University Press.
Norman, E. H. (1940). Japan’s emergence as a modern state: Political and economic problems of the Meiji period. New York: Institute of Pacific Relations.
Obispo, Joanna Luisa. (2017). Japan’s fukoku Kyohei: A continuous pursuit of economic and military powers. Ugong,9, 56-80.
Ohno, Kenichi. (2018). The history of Japanese economic development: Origins of private dynamism and policy competence. Routledge.
Presseisen, Ernst. (1965). Before aggression: Europeans train the Japanese Army. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Ramseyer, J. Mark, and Rosenbluth, Frances M. (1995). The politics of oligarchy: institutional choice in imperial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Shively, Donald, H. (1971). The Japanization of the middle Meiji. In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese Culture (pp. 92-138). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Soviak, Eugene. (1971). On the nature of western progress: The journal of the Iwakura embassy.” In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese Culture (pp. 25-52). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Sugiyama, Shinya. (1988). Japan’s industrialization in the world economy 1859-1899: Export trade and overseas competition. London: The Athlone Press.
Sumikawa, S. 1999. The Meiji Restoration: Roots of Modern Japan. Retrieved from https://www.lehigh.edu/~rfw1/courses/1999/spring/ir163/Papers/pdf/shs3.pdf
Takii, K., Manabu, T., Murray, P., & Fister, P. (2014). Itō Hirobumi Japan's first prime minister and father of the Meiji Constitution. Routledge.
Wahyuni, Dina. (2012). The research design maze: Understanding paradigms, cases, methods, and methodologies. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 10(1), 69- 78.
White, Marilyn Domas & Marsh, Emily E. (2006). Content analysis: A flexible methodology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3670
Adams, T. F. M. (1964). A financial history of modern Japan. Tokyo: Research Ltd.
Akagi, Roy Hidemichi. (1936). Japan's foreign relations 1542-1936: A short history. Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press.
Akita, G. (1967). Foundations of constitutional government in modern Japan 1868-1900. Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press.
Alcock, R. (1863). The capital of the tycoon: A narrative of a three years' residence in Japan. London: Longman.
Akita, George. (2020). Ito Hirobumi: Prime minister of Japan. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ito-Hirobumi Earl.
Beasley, W. G. (1987). Japanese imperialism 1894-1945. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1995). Japan encounters the barbarian: Japanese travellers in America and Europe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1973). The Meiji restoration. London: Oxford Univ. Press.
Beasley, W. G. (1963). The modern history of Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Turtle.
Brown, Alexander D. (2005). Meiji Japan: A unique technological experience. Student Economic Review, 19, 71-83.
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, September 22). Ōkubo Toshimichi. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Okubo-Toshimichi
Burks, A. W. (1985). The modernizers: Overseas students, foreign employees, and Meiji Japan. Boulder: Westview Press.
Chang, Richard T. (1970). From prejudice to tolerance: A study of the Japanese image of the west 1826-1864. Tokyo: Sophia University.
Checkland, O. (1989). Britain's encounter with Meiji Japan, 1868-1912. London: Macmillan Press
Cobbing, Andrew. (1998). The Japanese discovery of victorian Britain: Early travel encounters in the far west. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library.
Cobbing, A., Ohta, A., Checkland, O, and Breen, J. (1998). The Iwakura mission in Britain,1872. London: STICERD, London School of Economics.
Conroy, H. (1960). The Japanese seizure of Korea: 1868-1910. A study of realism and idealism in international relations. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
Cortazzi, H. (Ed.). (1982). A diplomat's wife in Japan, sketches at the turn of the century. Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Crowley, James B. (1966). From closed door to empire: The formation of the Meiji military establishment. In Bernard S. Silberman & Harry Harootunian (Eds.), Modern Japanese leadership: Transition and change (pp. 276-277). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Daniels, G. (1996). Sir Harry Parkes: British representative in Japan 1865-83. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library.
Devere B. Sidney. (1962). Ōkubo Toshimichi: His political and economic policies in early Meiji Japan. The Journal of Asian Studies, 21 (2), 183-197.
Dickins, F. V. & Lane-Poole, S. (1984). The life of sir Harry Parkes (Vol. 11). London: Macmillan and Co.
Fait, O. K. (1990). The clash of interests: The transformation of Japan in 1861-1881 in the eyes of the local anglo-saxon press. Oulu: The Historical Assoc, of Northern Finland.
Flottman, Augustus. (2012). The Meiji education system: Developing the emperor’s ideal subject [Undergraduate honours thesis]. The University of Colorado.
Gubbins, J. H. (1911). The Progress of Japan 1853-1871. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Gubbins, J. H. (1922). The making of modern Japan. London: Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd.
Hoare, J. E. (1994). Japan's treaty ports and foreign settlements: The uninvited guests 1858-1899. Folkestone, Kent: Japan Library.
Howe, C. (1996). The origins of Japanese trade supremacy: Development and technology in Asia from 1540 to the pacific war. London: Hurst & Co.
Humphreys, Leonard A. (1995). The way of the heavenly sword. The Japanese army in the 1920s. California: Stanford University Press.
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and postmodernization. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press.
Irokawa, D. (1985). The culture of the Meiji period. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press.
Jansen, M. B. (1980). Japan and its world: Two Centuries of Change. Princeton University Press.
Jansen, M. B. (1989). The Cambridge History of Japan. vol. 5: The Nineteenth Century (Vol. 5). Cambridge University Press.
Jansen, M. B., & Rozman, G. (2014). Japan in transition, from Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton University Press.
Jones, H. J. (1980). Live machines: Hired foreigners and Meiji Japan. Paul Norbury Publications.
Ohno, K. (2019). Meiji Japan: Progressive learning of western technology. In Arkebe Oqubay and Kenichi Ohno (Eds.), How nations learn: Technological learning, industrial policy, and catch-up (pp. 85-106). Oxford University Press
Lehmann, Jean-Pierre. (1982). The roots of modern Japan. Palgrave Macmillan.
Magarey, D. (2020). Saigo Takamori: Japanese samurai. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saigo-Takamori
Masamoto, Kitajima & Hurst, G. Cameron. (2020). Japan from 1850 to 1945: The Meiji restoration. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/The-opening-of-Japan
Michio Nagai. M. (2005). Westernization and japanization: The early Meiji transformation of education. In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese culture (pp. 53-94). New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Nakamura, T. (1983). Economic growth in prewar Japan. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.
Nakamura, T., & Feldman, R. A. (1983). Economic growth in prewar Japan. Yale University Press.
Norman, E. H. (1940). Japan’s emergence as a modern state: Political and economic problems of the Meiji period. New York: Institute of Pacific Relations.
Obispo, Joanna Luisa. (2017). Japan’s fukoku Kyohei: A continuous pursuit of economic and military powers. Ugong,9, 56-80.
Ohno, Kenichi. (2018). The history of Japanese economic development: Origins of private dynamism and policy competence. Routledge.
Presseisen, Ernst. (1965). Before aggression: Europeans train the Japanese Army. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Ramseyer, J. Mark, and Rosenbluth, Frances M. (1995). The politics of oligarchy: institutional choice in imperial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Shively, Donald, H. (1971). The Japanization of the middle Meiji. In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese Culture (pp. 92-138). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Soviak, Eugene. (1971). On the nature of western progress: The journal of the Iwakura embassy.” In Donald H. Shively (Ed.), Tradition and modernization in Japanese Culture (pp. 25-52). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Sugiyama, Shinya. (1988). Japan’s industrialization in the world economy 1859-1899: Export trade and overseas competition. London: The Athlone Press.
Sumikawa, S. 1999. The Meiji Restoration: Roots of Modern Japan. Retrieved from https://www.lehigh.edu/~rfw1/courses/1999/spring/ir163/Papers/pdf/shs3.pdf
Takii, K., Manabu, T., Murray, P., & Fister, P. (2014). Itō Hirobumi Japan's first prime minister and father of the Meiji Constitution. Routledge.
Wahyuni, Dina. (2012). The research design maze: Understanding paradigms, cases, methods, and methodologies. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 10(1), 69- 78.
White, Marilyn Domas & Marsh, Emily E. (2006). Content analysis: A flexible methodology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3670
Published
2022-04-01
How to Cite
MANSOR MAJDIN, Mohamad Firdaus.
Meiji Japan’s Pursuit of a Modern Nation-State: An Interpretation.
Asian Journal of Research in Education and Social Sciences, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 1, p. 186-195, apr. 2022.
Available at: <https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ajress/article/view/17852>. Date accessed: 13 oct. 2024.
Section
Articles
