Background for Context

By the mid-nineteenth century, Japan was enveloped in political upheaval which brought the nation to a standstill. Since 1603, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate enforced national self-isolation (Sakoku) to prevent the infection of religious “impurities” from Spanish and Portuguese traders. Through the first two centuries of rule, the successive shoguns (military rulers) were able to keep such influences at bay; emphasizing traditional Japanese values as a means to keep the populace homogenous. The collectivism perpetuated by the shogunate kept the local lords (daimyo) from warring amongst themselves, creating a decades-long peace. In the tranquility, the country experienced a boom in economic development, urbanization, commercialization, and small-scale rural agriculture. While there were certainly positives to these changes, unintended consequences regarding social classes would come to undermine the shogun’s rule. Merchants, historically one of the lowest classes, quickly rose to become some of the wealthiest members of society. At the same time, the honorable samurai class became indebted as without conflict, there is little need to hire soldiers. Certain factions of samurai considered their sudden loss of status a failure on behalf of the shogun’s lack of foresight. The shogunate soon found itself without a loyal fighting force, sustainably diminishing its central authority. Concurrent with the dissolution of the military establishment, famine and peasant uprisings razed the countryside, reducing the shogunate’s power to a formality. While this political drama was unraveling, foreign governments began to recognize Japan’s internal weakness as an opportunity to globalize the nation’s economy. In the age of imperialism, western nations sought influence over fragile states as a means to bolster their own “magnificence” and economic prosperity. Ordered to bring Japan into the American sphere of influence, Commodore Matthew Perry and his flotilla of gunboats were sent to “negotiate” the opening of Japanese ports (1852-1854). At his arrival, the Japanese populace trembled in fear at the sight of Perry’s “black ships” lurking off their coast. The exterior of these vessels were covered in an array of cannons, nearly masked by the black paint; their steam engines billowed clouds of exhaust. In their isolation, Japanese technology had largely fallen out of parallel with its western counterparts. There was little knowledge and defensive preparation to counter such mechanized warships; the country was gripped with fear. The Tokugawa shogunate, already in the midst of a social and political crisis, was in a state of disrepair. With the present threat of bombardment, Perry only had to land his rifled detachment before the shogunate conceded to American demands. By the end of 1854, Japanese ports were reluctantly opened to western traders. For a government so firm in its pursuit of a Japanese cultural revival, the shogunate had opened the floodgates to a sea of western ideals. By 1868, the shogunate would collapse under its bureaucratic weight; the vision of a traditionalist Japanese society went with it. With the shogun out of power, the American government restored the emperor (previously a figurehead for the shogunate) to his full power. This was a different kind of revival, this was bringing Japan into the modern age. The Meiji Restoration (named for the first restored emperor) brought swaths of western concepts to the nation. Western books, art, and clothing became the new infatuation of the upper classes; this came alongside a reorganization of the education system to model a western style of learning. A national military was established and equipped with the latest armaments; outclassing the archaic samurai system. Factories were constructed, manufacturing commodities at mass for consumption by the growing middle class. However, this is not to say the Restoration was without its troubles. The new regime, while pro-western (implying pro-democracy), was undoubtedly authoritarian. Under the direction of Emperor Meiji, enforcement of traditionalist women’s roles remained a continuity from the late shogunate, barring female entry into the new political and social landscape. Despite this focus on traditional feminine roles, women held up the backbone of the rapidly growing industrial machine; accepting low wages and atrocious working conditions to support their families. The military, now a formidable force in East Asia, could effectively oppress the historic “enemies” of the Japanese people. The occupations of Korea and later Manchuria have been noted as particularly barbaric; these respective peoples were stripped of their essential freedoms and forced to assimilate into a Japanese-dominated culture. It is clear that the Japanese were rather selective in which pieces of “enlightened” western ideals they chose to adopt. Many saw the new social inequalities, particularly between the classes, as unjust western intrusions into a fundamentalist Shinto nation. As the turn of the century approached, the universal support for western culture faded as people became aware of the inadequacies of certain practices. Soon, small but vocal uprisings emerged to challenge the western-backed emperor; many were hanged for their disloyalty to the state. It was a divisive social climate, there was a general feeling of progress with substantial repressed dissatisfaction. Kiyoshi K. Kawakami, observing the fallout of the Meiji Restoration in the early 1920s, collected a series of works characterizing different viewpoints regarding the era. His anthology, What Japan Thinks, serves as a summary of how Japan came into an internal disagreement over the proper direction for the nation’s future.