JAPANESE POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND/OR SOCIETY BETWEEN 1868-1920
JAPANESE POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND/OR SOCIETY BETWEEN 1868-1920
The period of 1868-1920 saw some changes in the history of Japan. These changes had significant impacts on the political, economic and social aspects of the society of Japan. They influenced the perceptions of individuals during that period concerning political and economic elements of the society. The Japanese developed various attitudes towards these changes and had various thoughts concerning these changes. There was a correlation between the as some of them had significant influences on others. That is; some of the political changes experienced during this time played a role in the transformation of the economy, which in turn affected the entire Japanese society.
POLITICAL CHANGES
The Meiji Restoration
The Meiji restoration was one of the political changes in the Japanese society. The Meiji leaders wanted to end the rule of Tokugawa in Japan. They also sought to transfer power from Edo to Kyoto and retain their feudal prerogatives rather than envision a new society or a new government. With such attempts, there was a profound change that took place. In the midst of the reforms, which were immensely radical, the emperor emerged as a symbol of national unity. The Meiji Restoration ended the Tokugawa shogunate and established a new government in Japan. The promulgation of the Charter Oath in 1868 was an important aspect in the political reforms. The Charter Oath was a general statement depicting the objectives of the Meiji leaders to establish morale and gain the anticipated financial support for the emergent government.
The Charter Oath
The Charter Oath had five provisions. First, there was to be a wide establishment of the deliberative assemblies and employment of public discussion in deciding matters. Second, there was to be uniting of all classes, low and high, in the vigorous administration of the state affairs. Third, there was to be an allowance of the common people to pursue their calling to prevent discontents. Fourth, there was to be breaking off the ancient evil customs and basing everything on the laws of Nature. Lastly, there was to be immense seeking of knowledge across the world to strengthen the existent and anticipate foundations f the imperial rule.
The implicit in the statement was an end to the exclusive political rule by bakufu and a direction towards democratic participation in the government. There was the establishment of a constitution of eleven articles to implement the Charter Oath. The constitution together with the Charter Oath limited the office of tenure, ordered the formation of new rules of local administration, provided for a new system of taxation and allowed for public balloting. Moreover, it provided for a new system of ranks for officials and nobles, new legislative bodies and Council of State.
The Meiji government came with a new transformation in the Japanese political system. The government assured the foreign powers that it would abide by ancient treaties formulated by the bakufu. Additionally, it announced that it would operate and act in accordance with the international law. There was the establishment of foreign relations in the political system of Japan with the emergent Meiji government.
Foreign Relations
The Meiji leaders modernized the foreign policies of the Japanese government, which was significant approach that saw Japan attain full membership in the international community. Initially, Japan and other East Asia societies based their worldview on tributary relationships and cultural distinctions. The conveyors of foreign policies in the Japanese society were artists, scholars and monks rather than the professional diplomatic envoys. The Japanese society and government related the foreign relations more to the sovereign’s desires than to the interests of the public. With the new political system, Japan avoided the fate of other countries in Asia by formulating genuine national equality and independence. The new Meiji Oligarchy recognized the Western progress. As such, the Meiji leadership sent learning missions abroad to absorb the Western progress as much as possible.
Political Rivalries
Political rivalries also played a significant role in the emergence of changes in Japan during that period. After Japan unifying for the war effort against China, there was the emergence of political rivalries and bitterness between the Diet inception in 1890 and 1894. However, following these events there followed years of political unity, coalition cabinets, and unusual cooperation. The political parties played larger roles from 1900 to 1912 with the Diet and cabinet cooperating more directly. The Meiji oligarchy maintained ultimate control but gradually yielded power to opposing parties.
The Japanese were positive towards these political changes introduced by the Meiji leadership. Prior to this leadership, the existent political system was characterized with difficult economic times, fueled by the increasing occurrences of agrarian rioting and calls for social reforms. The citizens in the old regime also suffered high tuition charges for the compulsory education, military conscription and cash payments for the emergent taxes.
ECONOMIC CHANGES
Economic changes in Japan during that period originated from the industrialization and modernization experienced during that period. Japan emerged from the transition of Tokugawa to Meiji as an industrialized nation in the Asian society. During the Tokugawa period, attempts to meet the demands of the material culture involved the domestic, commercial activities. However, with the Meiji era embraced concepts of the market economy. Additionally, they Meiji rules adopted the North American and British concepts of free enterprise capitalism.
There was a change in the Japanese economic, which embraced the change in the private sector with abundance in the aggressive entrepreneurs. There were numerous economic reforms in the Japanese society, which included the unification of the monetary system based on the communications network, stock exchanges, tax and commercial laws, banking and the yen. There was an establishment of a new institutional framework that was conducive to the advanced capitalist economy, which was completed by the 1890s. The government relinquished the direct control of the process of modernization, especially for budgetary reasons. Many individuals who had received pensions in a lump sum benefited immensely by investing in the emerging industries.
Followership was also an important element in the economic changes of Japan. Followership had its advantages to the Japanese society. It integrated the Japanese bureaucrats with the German economics. The followership encompassed the economic advantages of the existent industrial civilization in Europe. The concept of followership enabled the Japanese bureaucrats and intellectuals to evaluate the progress of other countries, especially the developed ones such as the Western countries. As such, they borrowed economic strategies to build own country.
Firms that flourished during the Tokugawa era failed in the new government that had a new business environment. The government involved in operations of economic modernization by providing numerous modern factories to facilitate the prevalent transition of the economy in the modern period. Industrial economy expanded during this period with numerous inputs in the advanced large private investments and western technology. The Japanese thought that these economic transgressions developed their opportunities to carry out business operations and remain in business.
SOCIETAL CHANGES
The Japanese society also changed in various ways. The political and economic changes influenced the perceptions of individuals in the society. As such, they developed various sociological theories and movements that enabled them to cope in the changing fortunes of time. The major change in the society was the formation of individualism. This movement was a major preoccupation in the discourse of Japan in the late Meiji era. There were varieties of individualism that existed in the Japanese society. First, there was an emphasis on the need for the cultivation of talents and character of individuals to be strengthening the existing state and foster more commitment of the individuals to the policies of the states.
Second, there was legitimization of self-expression and personal autonomy within a private sphere that was restricted. Additionally, the restricted private sphere coexisted within uneasy tensions with values that were dominant in the public sphere. Thirdly, the development of autonomous and free individuals was a fundamental value that the society and state judged. Individualism grew rapidly during this period because the state of Meiji together with its ideologies led to the creation of a sense of unity of the distinct concept of individualism through reconstructions of the traditional definitions of society and policy.
The Japanese thought that individualism was a cultural movement in their society as opposed to the contemporary west where the ideology of individualism was popular ancient judgment concerning the historical essential characters in the Western Society.
Bibliography
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