1. The rise of japan

2. the Japanese faced western aggression
In 1853 a fleet of US naval vessels
Tokyo Bay
U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry
He demanded “normal” relations with US
And the rest of the world.
Japan had been historically reclusive

3. Japan In the 19th century Japan became an imperialist power
It created its own East Asian empire
Japan united and modernized
It became an industrialized nation.
It built a society that was both modern and distinctly Japanese

4. Japan between 1600 and 1850 Japan was governed by a military ruler
A shogun -- from the Tokugawa family
The shogun acted in the name of the emperor
Emperor was idolized, but powerless
The shogun’s main task was to keep the peace
Japan’s 260 rival feudal lords – daimyo
Each had an “army” of samurai warriors
Shoguns rule gave Japan 250 years of internal peace

5. Japan was not politically unified
Japan did not have a national army or uniform currency
Central authority at the local level was weak
Shogun rulers imposed a rigid hierarchy
The samurai were at the top
(2) Peasants, (3) artisans, and, (4) merchants.
Shogun imposed rules governing the status of the 4 groups
Occupation, residence, dress, hairstyles, and behavior

6. Peace and prosperity Peace made Japan’s very prosperous
By 1750, Japan the world’s most urbanized country
10% of its population lived in towns or cities
Edo – the capital city – a very large city
It’s market economy linked urban and rural areas
Japan had a high rate of literacy
40 % of men and 15% of women

7. Prosperity challenges tradition
Prosperity made it nearly impossible for the Shogun to enforce hierarchies
Samurai want to make money selling stuff
Social elite borrow money from social inferiors.
Merchants had money, but little status
Samurai had status, but owed money to inferiors
Peasants acted above their status
moving to cities and wearing fancy clothing

8. Social change undermined ruling regime
Corruption was widespread
A famine hit Japan in the 1830s
Rulers failure to deal successfully
Erodes public confidence in the government
Peasant uprisings and urban riots
By 1830s a growing feeling rulers were losing control
Then Commodore Perry arrived with his fleet . . .

9. Japan had limited contact with the west
Since the early 17th century
Foreign trade was limited to a single port
Hirado
Only the Dutch were allowed to trade.
Other westerners were denied access to Japan
Shipwrecked sailors or whalers?
expelled, jailed, or executed.

10. Commodore Mathew Perry, 1853
Sent by the United States to insist that Japan . . .
Give humane treatment to castaways
Let American ships refuel and buy provisions
Opening of ports for trade.
US government authorized Perry to use force
Japan agreed to a series of unequal treaties
with various Western powers.

11. the Meiji Restoration, 1868
Humiliating triggered a brief civil war in Japan
Ends the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867)
Returns control of Japan to direct imperial rule
Under Mutsuhito, the emperor Meiji.
A major turning point in Japan’s history
Leaders believe Japanese society had to change
to save itself from foreign domination
to create national unity in Japan

12. Westerners “Ignore” Japan
Japan was of less interest to the West than China or the Ottoman Empire
China – rich with huge potential market
Ottoman Empire -- strategic location
United States – distracted by internal problems
Civil War,
This all meant less Western pressure on Japan.

13. Meiji rulers work to unify Japan
Took away power and privileges from elite
warlords (daimyo) and the samurai
Almost all Japanese became legally equal as commoners
Warlords lost political power
Central state began to exercise more control
Appointing Governors, collected taxes, raising a national army
Men from all social classes were drafted to serve.
Samurai lost their ancient role as the country’s warrior class
. . . and with it their cherished right to carry swords.
Namık Kemal (1840–1888) 

14. Japan fascinated by everything “western”
Western science and technology
Western political and constitutional arrangements
Western legal and educational systems
Western dances, clothing, and hairstyles

15. state-guided industrialization program
The Japanese government established a number of enterprises
Then sold them to private investors.
The Japanese created a modern infrastructure
railroads
a postal system
a national currency and banking system.

16. Japanese Industrialization
By 1900
Exported of textiles
Produced munitions
Produced industrial goods
Mass-circulation newspapers
Movie theaters
Electric lights
Did it without a lot of outside help:
Used their own economic resources
Did NOT amass a huge foreign debt

17. Japan and the west Japan renegotiates treaties with western powers
Early 20th century
Japan now “civilized” and enlightened”
West views Japan as an equal player
West views Japan as “a Great Powers”

18. Japanese imperialism Japan set out to build an empire
Motivated in part by it’s lack of natural resources
Seizes Taiwan, Korea, and parts of China
First Asian state to defeat a major European power
The Russo-Japanese War, 1904 – 1905
Japans extends it’s influence after World War I
The South Pacific and further into China