The , also known as the
Meiji Ishin,
Revolution or
Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure. It occurred in the latter half of the 19th century, a period that spans both the late
Edo period (often called
Late Tokugawa shogunate) and the beginning of the
Meiji Era.
Alliances and allegiances
The formation in 1866 of the
Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance between
Saigō Takamori, the leader of the
Satsuma domain, and
Kido Takayoshi, the leader of the
Chōshū domain, built the foundation of the Meiji restoration. These two leaders supported the
Emperor Kōmei (
Emperor Meiji's father) and were brought together by
Sakamoto Ryoma for the purpose of challenging the ruling
Tokugawa Shogunate (
bakufu) and restoring the emperor to power. On February 3, 1867, Emperor Meiji ascended the throne after Emperor Kōmei's death on January 30, 1867.
This period also saw Japan change from being a
feudal society to having a capitalist economy and left the Japanese with a lingering Western influence.
End of the Shogunate
The
Tokugawa Shogunate came to its official end on November 9, 1867, when
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th Tokugawa Shogun "put his prerogatives at the Emperor's disposal" and resigned 10 days later. This was effectively the "restoration" (
Taisei Hōkan) of imperial rule - although Yoshinobu still was a significant influence.
Shortly thereafter in January 1868, the
Boshin War (War of the Year of the Dragon) started with the
Battle of Toba-Fushimi in
Chōshū and
Satsuma's forces defeated the ex-shogun's army. This forced (or allowed) Emperor Meiji to strip Yoshinobu of all power, setting the stage for official restoration. On January 3, 1868, the Emperor made a formal declaration of the restoration of his power:
Some shogunate forces escaped to
Hokkaidō, where they attempted to set up a breakaway
Republic of Ezo - however, forces loyal to the Emperor ended this attempt in May 1869 with the
Battle of Hakodate in
Hokkaidō. The defeat of the armies of the former shogun (led by
Enomoto Takeaki and
Hijikata Toshizo) marked the final end of the Tokugawa Shogunate; with the Emperor's power fully restored.
Motives
The leaders of the Meiji Restoration, as this revolution came to be known, acted in the name of restoring imperial rule. The word "Meiji" means "enlightened rule" and the goal was to combine "western advancements" with the traditional, "eastern" values. The main leaders of this were: Ito Hirobumi, Matsusaka Masayoshi, Kido Takayoshi, Itagaki Taisuke, Yamagata Aritomo, Mori Arinori, Okubo Toshimichi, and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi. However, political power simply moved from the Tokugawa Shogun to an
oligarchy consisting of these leaders, mostly from the
Satsuma Province (
Okubo Toshimichi and
Saigō Takamori), and the
Chōshū province (
Ito Hirobumi,
Yamagata Aritomo, and
Kido Takayoshi). This reflected their belief in the more traditional practice of imperial rule, whereby the emperor performs his high priestly duties and his ministers govern the nation in his name.
Effects
The Meiji Restoration accelerated
industrialization in Japan, which led to its rise as a military authority by the year 1905, under the slogan of .
The
Meiji oligarchy that formed the government under the rule of the Emperor first introduced measures to consolidate their power against the remnants of the Edo period government, the
shogunate,
daimyo, and the
samurai class.
In 1868, all Tokugawa lands were seized and placed under "imperial control", thus placing them under the prerogative of the new Meiji government. In 1869, the daimyo of the
Tosa,
Hizen,
Satsuma and
Chōshū domains, who were pushing most fiercely against the shogunate, were persuaded to 'return their domains to the Emperor'. Other daimyo were subsequently persuaded to do so, thus creating, arguably for the first time, a central government in Japan which exercised direct power through the entire 'realm' ().
Finally, in 1871, the daimyo, past and present, were summoned before the Emperor, where it was declared that
all domains were now to be returned to the Emperor. The roughly 300 domains (han) were turned into prefectures, each under the control of a state-appointed governor. By 1888, several prefectures had been merged in several steps to reduce their number to 75. The daimyo were promised 1/10 of their fiefs' income as private income. Later, their debts and payments of samurai stipends were to be taken over by the state.
The oligarchs also endeavoured to abolish the
four divisions of society.
Throughout Japan at the time, the samurai numbered 1.9 million. (For comparison, this was more than 10 times the size of the French privileged class before the 1789
French Revolution. Moreover, the samurai in Japan were not merely the lords, but also their higher retainers—people who actually worked.) With each samurai being paid fixed stipends, their upkeep presented a tremendous financial burden, which may have prompted the oligarchs to action. Whatever their true intentions, the oligarchs embarked on another slow and deliberate process to abolish the samurai class. First, in 1873, it was announced that the samurai stipends were to be taxed on a rolling basis. Later, in 1874, the samurai were given the option to convert their stipends into government bonds. Finally, in 1876, this commutation was made compulsory.
To reform the military, the government instituted nationwide conscription in 1873, mandating that every male would serve in the armed forces upon turning 21 for four years; followed by three more years in the reserves. One of the primary differences between the samurai and peasant class was the right to bear arms; this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation. Furthermore, samurai were no longer allowed to walk about town bearing a sword or weapon to show their status as in former times.
This led to a series of riots from disgruntled samurai. One of the major riots was the one led by
Saigō Takamori, the
Satsuma Rebellion, which eventually turned into a civil war. This rebellion was, however, put down swiftly by the newly formed
Imperial Japanese Army, trained in Western tactics and weapons, even though the core of the new army was the Tokyo police force, which was largely composed of former samurai. This sent a strong message to the dissenting samurai that their time was indeed up. There were fewer subsequent samurai uprisings and the distinction became all but a name as the samurai joined the new society. The ideal of samurai military spirit lived on in romanticized form and was often used as propaganda during the early 20th century wars of the
Empire of Japan.
However, it is equally true that the majority of samurai were content despite having their status abolished. Many found employment in the government bureaucracy, which resembled an elite class in its own right. The samurai, being better educated than most of the population, became teachers, gun makers, government officials, or military officers. While the formal title of samurai was abolished, the elitist spirit that characterized the samurai class lived on.
The oligarchs also embarked on a series of
land reforms. In particular, they legitimized the tenancy system which had been going on during the Tokugawa period. Despite the
bakufu's best efforts to freeze the four classes of society in place, during their rule villagers had begun to lease land out to other farmers, becoming rich in the process. This greatly disrupted the clearly defined class system which the bakufu had envisaged, partly leading to their eventual downfall.
Industrial growth
The rapid industrialisation and modernisation of Japan both allowed and required a massive increase in production and infrastructure.
With industrialization came the demand for coal. There was dramatic rise in production, as shown in the table below.
Coal was needed for two things: steamships and railroads. The growth of these sectors is shown below.
Controversy in semantics
Ongoing debate continues between historians as to the historical legitimacy of the name "restoration", as opposed to a "coup" or "revolution". There are reasons to call it all three.
Advocates of the term "coup" would point out the fact that there was a change in only the regime, with the fighting confined to the elite, which managed to avoid being spread to the rest of society and that there was a shared sense of national mission and class values. However, this term only refers to the political leaders—not commoners. More importantly, it also does not represent the wider historical context of the period, and the various ideological struggles of the time in addition to the subsequent radical changes of society.
The direct challenge to the legitimacy of the
Tokugawa Regime in 1868 identifies this event as a revolution. This term also implies an anticipation of subsequent radical changes and indicates that the regime was toppled through the combination of concerns and actions of different groups. This term is problematic because it gives the false impression that rebels had unified or coherent plans for the future and it does not account for the relatively peaceful transition or how much actually stayed the same within the country.
The events of 1868 can be viewed in terms of a restoration because the opposition made claims that the
Tokugawa Shogunate had usurped the power to govern from the emperor. This claim as well as the strictly isolationist sentiments of the times is an accurate representation of the event, in some ways. The word restoration implies a focus on the elite ideological debates but does not address the regional and religious tensions of the period. It also undervalues the strategic nature of restorationist claims and gives a false impression of unity among the rebelling houses. The most detrimental implication of this term is that it offers no concrete explanation of how ordinary people came to accept the legitimacy of direct imperial rule.
See also
