Abstract
This paper discusses the domestic priorities that took precedence over foreign policy interests for the Meiji government (1868-1912) in Japan. This was because, with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the entire feudal system of Japanese government collapsed and Meiji leaders were intent on bringing Japan into the modern world.

Abstract
This paper discusses the Meiji Restoration in Japan, from 1868 to 1912. It describes the events leading to the Meiji Restoration, the events themselves and the changes that happened during the period. It discusses them with relation to the Charter Oath of 1868 and analyzes whether the restoration was a success or not. It looks at the success in terms of the establishment of a democratically-elected government, the elimination of discriminatory class status, disparaging customs and traditions and the establishment of a universal education system.

From the Paper
"The waning days of the Tokugawa reign was witnessed by the clan's inability to implement reforms needed to face the requirements of the industrial and the overwhelming pressure of Western nations to open up the country to international trade and industry. Aside from the aforementioned problems, the Tokugawa clan was also being challenged by various other clans and a coup was the final straw that broke the Tokugawa's back. "The Satcho-Dohi coalition of the 1860s carried out this supposed feudal coup from below. The coalition was between the four tozama fiefs of Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa and Hizen, the four strongest principalities of the southwest. (The Meiji Restoration, 1999)" Eventually, the last shogun of Japan, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, capitulated in the late 1800s and handed over the rule of the country to a young emperor of the Meiji clan, Mutsuhito. Mutsuhito took over as emperor upon his father's death in 1867 - Emperor Komei left a troubled nation needing reforms to his then 15 year-old son."

Tags:Tokugawa, emperor, reforms, revolution

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to review the relationship between government policies toward the agricultural section in relation to economic growth in Meiji Japan and Maoist China. The paper also identifies how the policies of the two countries in the specified eras were different and how they were similar.

From the Paper
"The purpose of this paper is to review the relationship between government policies toward the agricultural section in relation to economic growth in Meiji Japan and Maoist China. The paper also identifies how the policies of the two countries in the specified eras were different and how they were similar. The development periods of interest in the two countries are separated in time by about ... years from the end of the Meiji..."

Tags:Meiji Japan, Maoist China

Abstract
This paper explains that the restoration of the Emperor to the throne, which began the Meiji period, led to a series of official policies, such as a centralized government and moving the capitol to Tokyo, which were conducive to the process of technology and cultural modernity. The author points out that, in the Meiji period, acceptance of Western influences were shown in the cultural milieus. The paper stresses that, during the Taisho period, western influences brought about democratization as demonstrated in a two party political system and calls for universal suffrage. The author argues that Japan's failure in World War II began during the Taisho period with Japan's policy of the colonization of Taiwan in 1895 and Korea in 1910.

From the Paper
"The Meiji restoration refers to the fact that the traditional emperor of Japan was essentially returned to power in 1868 following an extended period of Shogunate rule led by the Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa clan ruled Japan from the early 1600s until 1867 and was largely responsible for Japan's increasing isolation from surrounding countries as well as fierce resistance to intrusion by the Western powers seeking access to its markets. Perhaps the single most pivotal point, vis-a-vis opening up and accepting the reality of the forces of modernization, was a series of visits by Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy beginning in 1852."

Tags:wwii, russo-japanese, centralized, culture, infrastructural

Abstract
This six-page graduate paper is in the form of three two-page essays on the Meiji Restoration, Japan's postwar one-party democracy, and the implications of state-run capitalism. The author examines why the Meiji Restoration contributed to the rise of militarism in Japan and the consequences of this development; discusses the implications of one-party democracy in Japan, and analyzes how state-led capitalism helped Japan achieve great economic prosperity by the nineteen-eighties.

Abstract
This paper provides a brief history of Japan and its relationship and influence by the West and in particular the U.S.. It looks at how while a technological and industrial revolution swept the West in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Japan remained in a medieval state, the country governed by a class of hereditary warlords. It examines how once the shogun was overturned, the new Japanese government, known as the Meiji, set about modernizing the country as quickly as possible and how following the Western example, Japan established modern industries and re-organized her military with the latest available technology. It evaluates how Japan rose to become one of the world's main powers and even after her defeat in World War II, got back on her feet very quickly. It analyzes how today as more Japanese become exposed to the West and how the more they travel and view Europeans and Americans in their environments, the more they come to realize the disparity in their standards of living and traditions.

From the Paper
"The Japanese had learned much from the Russo-Japanese War. They had learned that an Eastern nation could defeat a major Western power if it had the requisite military technology, and the industrial base. They had learned that militarism paid. And, taking these lessons to heart, the Japanese moved their government and society in an ever more strongly military direction. Though administered in theory by an elected parliament, and a responsible prime minister, in reality, Japan was largely and increasingly under the control of its military. The military regularly interfered in government affairs, and by the terms of its constitution had the right to approve or veto government decisions that concerned it. As well, in a curious quirk of Japanese law, the military could actually continue to function under its own budget if funds were not voted by parliament. The Japanese High Command regularly named its candidates to the ministries, and manipulated the national administration. Significantly, this constitution and system of government had been imposed from above. Ordinary Japanese, and their elected official, had no voice whatsoever at the highest echelons of the administration. They had no hand in policy-making."

Tags:europe, shogun, meiji, technology, military

Abstract
The paper discusses Fukuzawa Yukichi's autobiography that has long been considered a classic towards understanding the history of the Meiji period and modern Japan. The paper examines Fukuzawa's youth and education and describes his reputation as an author, political theorist and educator determined to inspire reform of Japanese society, government and institutions. The paper concludes that he left Japanese society having inspired thousands of young people to move beyond a traditional order that so often constrained them.

Outline:
Introduction
Escape from Expectations
A Samurai Returns
Last Remarks - an Unique Personality

From the Paper
"This volume has long been considered a classic towards understanding different currents in the history of Meiji and modern Japan. (1980) It is readable from the very first page and most readers will take to the unique voice that permeates the entire book, although Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) dictated his memoirs to a relation in 1897, as were translated into English by the narrator's grandson. Fukuzawa was born into the lower samurai clan of his father, Fukuzawa Hyakusuku, Samurai of the Okudaira clan on the island of Kyushu. His mother was the eldest daughter of another samurai of the same clan. (p.1) Readers with previous interest in 19th century Japan will probably take interest in what is related of one of the last generations of a lower samurai family, its sense of propriety, and Yukichi's departure from the tradition in which he was raised. He nearly succumbed to typhoid fever in youth. (pp.40-41)"

Tags:Samurai, Confucian, ethics, modernization, independence, Meiji

Abstract
This paper explores the end of the Meiji period in Japan and the beginning of the country's modern period (1867-1912), which ultimately led to Japanese seeking their fortunes in the West, especially the United States. It traces the history of these immigrants, their impact on the economy, and the pitfalls they encountered in the form of racism and discriminatory laws. This anti-Japanese feeling reached its peak in 1941 with the Japanese invasion on Pearl Harbor and the internment of all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast of the United States. The paper also looks at how the American government has since awarded reparations to those interned and how descendants of Japanese immigrants fare today in American society.

From the Paper
"While many Japanese back in Japan initially waxed enthusiastic about the United States and its culture, the feeling in America was hardly mutual. As was typical of majority White America's relations with Non-Whites, Japanese immigrants were scorned, and their culture denigrated. First, the United States had passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This was followed by restrictive measures against the Japanese. As Californians and other West Coast White Americans clamored to stop the flow of Japanese to their region, the American Government relied on a rather ingenious and disingenuous clause in its commercial treaty with Japan to staunch the flow of Japanese Labor by refusing to issue permits for their travel to the Mainland. The Japanese, along with the Chinese, were called the "Yellow Peril," their competition for American jobs and resources keeping these jobs and resources from "real" Americans."

Tags:Yellow, Peril, Hawaii, sugar, plantations, Franklin

Abstract
History of Japan's native-grown religion. Emphasis on sacredness of nature. Concept of the natural world & nature mysticism. Revival of Shinto during Meiji period & perceived connection to movement in Japan toward a militaristic nationalism. Ultranationalism & notion of Japanese inherent superiority. Government sponsored Shrine Shinto and the ancient tradition.

From the Paper
"The history of Shinto, Japan's native-grown religion that predates the arrival of both Buddhism and Confucianism there, is embedded with a sacral conception of the land. This explains the erection of community shrines that represented "the creator or early owner of the land itself," as well as at various scenic spots in regions all across Japan.. Earhart notes in particular that Shinto borrowed from Buddhist tradition the mandala symbol of the universe but transformed it to give it "a typically 'this-worldly' Shinto coloring" by means of "a picture of the actual Japanese landscape." That transformation is consistent with what Earhart calls the "Shinto emphasis on the sacredness of nature.".
The Shinto writer Norinaga cites as the "universal principle of the world . . . that heaven and earth . . . were ..."

Abstract
Discusses the forces driving Japanese national development, the parliamentary government in the 1920s, transformation from Meiji rule, and shift toward party politics and shifting power base of the oligarchs.

From the Paper
"This research examines the emergence of political institutions in Japan in the 1910s and 1920s and the impact of political development in the country as a consequence of the way in which the institutions developed. One view of the dynamics is that through..."