Constructing Imperial Japan, 1868-1890

Background Information.

The success of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 would be useless if the nation fell under the influence of the western powers that seemed to menace the nation.  The leaders of the new government, almost all of them low and middle ranking samurai from the domains of Satsuma and Chōshū, determined that the new nation would have to be thoroughly modernized along western lines to keep its independence.  That meant finding a new symbol around which Japanese people could rally (the Meiji Emperor), a new sense of investment in the modern society being built (the opportunity to make a “success” of oneself) and the dismantling of the old feudal order.

Over the course of this period the old feudal domains were abolished in favor of a modern centralized government, and the old feudal class distinctions were done away with, most notably the samurai class.  Not all samurai were prepared to go quietly, and it was necessary to suppress a serious rebellion led by Saigō Takamori in 1878. However, after the Meiji government had proved itself, the Japanese people threw themselves vigorously into creating a modern society.  They eagerly pursued the new opportunities open to them to gain education and make something of themselves in the new society.

As the Japanese people threw themselves into making the new modern Japan, many began to ask why the Meiji Oligarchs, the half dozen or so leaders who controlled Japan, should be the only people with a meaningful political role.  Many felt that a modern society required a modern constitution and the chance for all Japanese to participate.  The Oligarchs were reluctant to allow for true political participation but were forced to draft a constitution.  Seeking models from abroad they fastened on Imperial Germany (like Japan a new nation, formed two years after their own).  This gave the people the trappings of a modern state, with a popularly elected parliament, but supposedly no real role in decision-making.

Learning Goals.

1. Students will identify several challenges facing the new leadership of Japan.
2. Students will determine which feudal institutions had to be dismantled to enable successful reform.
3. Students assess possible motives explaining why Japanese at all levels embraced modernity.
4. Students will describe actions the Meiji Oligarchs used to secure their power.

Standards.

Common Core Standards
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading

• Standard 2.  Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing

• Standard 1.  Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Standard 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

• Standard 1.  Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• Standard 2.  Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.   

1. McRel Standard 34.  Understands how Eurasian societies were transformed in an era of global trade and the emergence of European power from 1750 to 1870.
2. McRel Standard 36.  Understands patterns of global change in the era of Western military and economic dominance from 1800 to 1914.
3. McRel Standard 37.  Understand major global trends from 1750 to 1914.
4. McRel Standard 46.  Understands long-term changes and recurring patterns in world history.

Key Concept.

The Charter Oath defined in a simple and accessible way the objectives of the new Japan.

Essential Question.

How did the Meiji Emperor come to symbolize all the changes Japan was undertaking following the Charter Oath?

Primary Source.

The Charter Oath (1868)
By this oath we set up as our aim the establishment of the national weal on a broad basis and the framing of a constitution and laws.

1. Deliberative assemblies shall be widely established and all matters decided by public discussion.
2. All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of affairs of state.
3. The common people, no less than the civil and military officials, shall each be allowed to pursue his own calling so that there may be no discontent.
4. Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of Nature.
5. Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.

The oath was written by the new leaders and given to the newly restored emperor to present to the people.

Thought Questions.

1. Why modernize? Why become like the west? How did the Japanese perceive the west during this time?
2. How was it possible to dismantle the old feudal institutions so completely?
3. Why did Japanese at all levels throw themselves so enthusiastically into making their nation modern? What was in it for them?
4. Why did the Japanese Oligarchs choose the models they did (especially Imperial Germany), to reshape the nation?

Activities

Focus Activity Ideas.

Students will write a paragraph that answers the following question: What does it mean to be a modern nation-state?

Main Lesson Activity Ideas.

1. Students will pair up and discuss with their partners what does it mean to be a modern nation-state.
2. Students will discuss with the whole class the elements that make up a modern nation state.
3. Students will receive and read the Charter Oath of 1868.  They will paraphrase the key points of the Charter Oath.
4. Students will discuss the Charter Oath and how it might be used to “jump-start” modernization in Japan.  For example-Article 5 states that “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.”  The clear implication is that the old isolation policy has come to a decisive end and there will be effort to learn western ways and knowledge, but this clearly includes only such knowledge as supports “the foundations of imperial rule.”
5. Students will identify what “evil customs of the past” the Japanese “broke.”  Particular to this discussion will be the question of whether the end of the samurai class was a good or necessary thing.  (Colorful and romantic they may have been, but the samurai had also existed as a parasite class for over 200 years.  The end of the samurai made clear to everybody that a new Japan was being born where all would have an opportunity to succeed based on their on efforts and not what class they were born into.)
6. Students will identify why the Japanese embraced modernization in general and Germany’s example in particular.  What choices were available to Japan? (The leading nations, the ones which seemed most menacing to Japan, all possessed vast overseas, e.g., Britain, France, Germany, or internal, e.g., Russia and the United States, empires.)  Was it realistic to expect that Japan become like Sweden or Denmark, rather than Britain or Germany?

Summative Activity Ideas.

1. Pretend that you are a young samurai living in Tokyo.  Write a letter to your aged uncle in the countryside explaining and defending the decision to embrace modernization under the Charter Oath of 1868.
2. Review the following points with your students: When the Meiji period ended, with the death of the emperor in 1912, Japan had: (1) a highly centralized, bureaucratic government; (2) a constitution establishing an elected parliament; (3) a well-developed transport and communication system; (4) a highly educated population free of feudal class restrictions; (5) an established and rapidly growing industrial sector based on the latest technology; and (6) a powerful army and navy.
3. Based on their in class activities, have them speculate about the answers to two questions that beg to be asked—how and why?  Why did the Japanese embark on this frenetic reformation of their society?  How were they able to succeed where other nations failed (e.g.. China)?

Resources.