The Emergence of Meiji Japan (Cambridge History of Japan)

This new edition brings together selected chapters from Volume 5 of The Cambridge History of Japan. Japan underwent momentous changes during the nineteenth century. This book chronicles the transition from Tokugawa rule, and the political process that finally ended centuries of warrior rule. It goes on to discuss the samurai rebellions against the Meiji Restoration, national movements for constitutional government that indirectly resulted in the Meiji Constitution of 1889, and Japan's twentieth-century drive to Great Power status. Cover 1 Frontmatter 5 Contents 9 Preface 11 The Tempō crisis 19 The Tempō famine 20 Civil disorder 23 The foreign threat 27 Critics and criticism 29 Domain reforms 36 Bakufu reforms 42 Mizuno Tadakuni 58 The aftermath 61 The implications 67 Late Tokugawa culture and thought 71 The culture of play 71 The play of culture 81 Good doctrine and governance 85 The restoration of worship and work 101 Religions of relief 118 Defense and wealth 134 Cultural practice and the triumph of political centralization 155 The Meiji Restoration 162 Troubles within, disaster from without 162 The Harris treaty and its aftermath 168 The loyalists 174 Court and camp, daimyo style 179 The treaty ports and foreign influence 189 Bakufu rally 196 Regional reform 199 Restoration 207 The Restoration in history and historiography 214 Opposition movements in early Meiji, 1868–1885 221 Early rural protests 222 The Meiji land tax and village protests 226 Shizoku revolts 236 The popular rights movement 256 Conclusion 280 Japan's drive to great-power status 286 The foreign policy of a modern state 286 The Meiji polity and society 293 Consolidation of domestic and foreign affairs, 1868–1880 298 Domestic politics and overseas expansion, 1880–1895 312 Imperialism and militarism, 1895–1912 330 Bibliography 349 Glossary-index 363 Ths book brings together chapters from volume 5 of The Cambridge History of Japan. Japan underwent momentous changes during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. This book chronicles the hardships of the Tempo era in the 1830s, the crisis of values and confidence during the last half century of Tokugawa rule, and the political process that finally brought down the Tokugawa regime and ended centuries of warrior rule. It goes on to discuss the samurai rebellions against the Meiji Restoration, and national movements for constitutional government which indirectly resulted in the Meiji Constitution of 1889. The significance of Japan's Meiji transformation for the rest of the world is the subject of the final chapter, in which Professor Akira Iriye discusses Japan's drive to Great Power status. Constitutional rule at home, imperialism abroad, became new goals for early twentieth-century Japan This Paperback Edition Of Chapters From The Cambridge History Of Japan, Volume 5, Describes The Transition To Meiji Rule.