Group5p1

Meiji Restoration in Japan**(1868 - 1912)**

In 1867/68, the Tokugawa era found an end in the Meiji Restoration.The emperor Meiji was moved from Tokyo which became the new capital; his imperial power was restored. The actual political power was transferred from the Tokugawa Bakufu into the hands of a small group of nobles and former samurai. In 1867 pro-imperial daimyo suggested that shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu should step down and acknowledge imperial authority.Yoshinobu agreed in principle in November 1867, but mistrustful Satsuma radicals seized the imperial palace in Kyoto on January 3, 1868, and proclaimed a restoration under the young Emperor Meiji.Yoshinobu's forces were thrown back from Kyoto, and an "imperial army" of Choshu, Satsuma, and Tosa clan forces secured peaceful surrender of the shogunal capital Edo. Most daimyo stayed neutral, and the civil war ended in 1869.Yoshinobu retired and left government to Saigo Takamori, Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, and other restoration leaders.Confiscated Tokugawa estates comprising some 25 per cent of Japan's arable land were put under their control, providing a springboard for broader policies. In 1869 the emperor moved to Edo, renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital"), the new imperial capital.The emperor was used by the new government as a focus of national loyalty and the sanction for the revolutionary changes they introduced. The Meiji Restoration had a massive impact on Japan; it transformed Japan into a strong military power by modernization as well as introducing compulsory education, which meant an educated country. Medical, law, business, industrial, etc as well as curriculums, examinations, diplomas, qualifications, the role of teachers, school administration, regulation of studies abroad, school fees and education loans. The main people affected by these taxes were peasants; they had to pay 2$ to serve for three years in the normal army and 4 years in the reserves. It also converted Japan into an industrialized country instead of an agricultural country. This also meant that Japan could modernize at a faster rate, because they were well educated. Gakusei was made up of 109 chapters and extended a year later to 214 chapters. This new form of education meant compulsory education. On July 18th 1871 the Meiji government established a Ministry of Education and August 3rd 1872 established a new national education system - Gakusei. Sam Allison, Year 11The earlier form of education were Terakoya ( village or town schools often in local temples) or Gogaku ( semi-official schools ). This impacted on Japan because it meant that in order to fund this process the Meiji government had to introduce land taxes.

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TimeLine

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 * AD 1869 ||  || Daimyo return lands to the Emperor ||
 * AD 1871 ||  || Feudalism abolished ||
 * AD 1873 ||  || Meiji government participates in the international expo in Vienna ||
 * AD 1874 ||  || Beginning of Samurai protest movements ||
 * AD 1875 ||  || Japan signs the Treaty of St Petersburg with Russia: Japan claims Kurile Islands and relinquishes Sakhalin Islands to Russia ||
 * AD 1876 ||  || Treaty of Kangwa: Japan gains extra-territorial rights in Korea ||
 * AD 1894 ||  || Beginning of Sino-Japanese war, primarily over control of Korea ||
 * AD 1894 ||  || Anglo-Japanese commercial treaty abolishes extraterritoriality and restores partial tariff autonomy to Japan ||
 * AD 1910 ||  || Kotoku Shusui implicated in a plot to assassinate the Meiji Emperor ||
 * AD 1912 ||  || Death of Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito; Taisho ||

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [|http://alumni.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/meiji-resto.html http://alumni.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/meiji-resto.html]