Good Essay About Meiji Restoration: Turning Point Of Japan’s History

[Professor]

People are indeed the change makers of history. From being plunged into warlord society and feudalism during the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan rose and fight back to turn the history from extreme repression to genuine national growth through an oligarchy governance. This period is called the Meiji Restoration which ran from 1868 to 1912.
The Meiji Restoration occurred due to various reasons but two of the main factors were the force entry of American shipyards within Japan’s territory which violated the long-running rule which is banning foreign ships from entering their territory. The ill-fated entry was planned and carried out by the United States through Commodore Matthew Perry. Another factor was when Japan was forced to sign the Ansei Treaty. The aforementioned factors helped led to the end of the Tokugawa rule in 1867 into the restoration of the imperial power. This new era is called Meiji Restoration or the “enlightened rule.”
During this era, social and economic reforms were made. In social reforms, feudalism was dismantled including the armies of the rulers in each domain. Education was made accessible to everybody. For at least six years, schooling was free although it was controlled to include moral training and the emphasis of students’ duty to the emperor. Economic reforms were radical. Money as a form of national land tax instead of rice was enforced. It resulted positively to the part of the government as it stabilized the national budget. Moreover, the government tried its best in improving the national industry until it eventually turned it over to private entities as it was very expensive to maintain. It led to the rise of business conglomerates called Zaibatsu.
Aside from social and economic reforms, there were also aggressive moves in terms of politics during the Meiji era. The imperial power was not absolute. It was limited. The Meiji governance installed a centralized unitary system as it abolished the domain turf of warlords. Moreover, political reforms were also pushed by the emerging freedom and peoples’ rights movements. However, despite the limited power of the emperor, he still plays a significant role in controlling the non-elected government’s institutions like the House of peers and the military.