Meiji Restoration: How Japan Became a World Super Power and History of Japan

[Music] japan located in the northwest pacific ocean is long known as a world power however little do people know that in the 1600s japan was just an isolated country following a national seclusion policy it kept itself secluded from much of the world for more than two centuries until the issuance of the meiji restoration that paved the way for japan to become a world's power as it is today japanese seclusion japan's seclusion began under the tokugawa shogunate the feudal military government of japan established at ido present-day tokyo during the ido period at this time the real political power was held by shoguns the japanese military dictators all from the tokugawa family while the emperor only ruled in name in 1543 a group of portuguese traders on a chinese boat drifted to the island of tanegashima a small island near kiyushu becoming the first europeans to set foot on japan and also initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between japan and the west this period of trading was called the non-bond trade period during which match lock firearms galleon style shipbuilding and christianity were introduced to japan when the warring states period ended fear of the extensive influence of christianity in japan and a threat to his power from the western countries tokugawa issued the sekoku policy closed country that isolated japan from the outside world according to the isolationist policy foreigners entering japan and common japanese leaving the country were prescribed death penalty while relations in trade between japan and other countries were severely limited specifically european trade was limited to dutch traders on the island of dejima in nagasaki trade with china was conducted through the port of nagasaki trade with korea was limited to the tsushima domain today part of nagasaki prefecture trade with the ainu people was limited to the matsume domain in hokkaido and trade with the ryukyu kingdom was in the satsuma domain part of present-day kagoshima prefecture [Music] the opening up of japan and the end of the shogun era in 1853 commodore matthew perry of the united states navy arrived south of yakohama with a fleet of four american warships to look for a trade agreement putting an end to japan's 220 years of isolation under threat of force japan had to sign the treaty of kanagawa bringing a plethora of unfavorable agreements to japan itself one of which was the opening of shimoda and hakodate ports to american vessels four years later the harris treaty forced japan to open four more ports for american trade namely kanagawa nagasaki negata and hiyogo while the emperor refused to accept these treaties the shogun fear of western powers continued to sign similar treaties with holland russia britain and france stoking anger among many japanese later two of the strongest domains choshu and satsuma formed an alliance called sacho aiming to destroy the takugawa shogunite and return power back to the emperor after emperor kome died and his son was crowned emperor meiji civil unrest continued making it hard for the new ruler tokugawa yoshinobu to maintain his power leading to his resignation in november 1867. the boshin war and the subsequent fall of ido led by the sacho alliance finally overthrew the shogunate marking the end of the tokugawa military dictatorship and the beginning of the meiji era the meiji restoration to modernize japan after taking the throne in 1868 emperor meiji had implemented a comprehensive reform called meiji restoration which was followed by an era of major political economic and social change in japan leading to its modernization and westernization the early goals of emperor meiji were reflected via the charter oath of five principle which guided japan to modernization and adoption of a western parliamentary constitution while the country was still unsettled the emperor made his first action to relocate his capital from kyoto to ido which was later renamed tokyo eastern capital few years later the administrative reorganization successfully dismantled the old feudal regime abolished feudal class privileges and replaced feudal domains with a system of prefectures during the meiji period japan underwent a rapid transition towards an industrial economy adopting western political judicial and military institutions the new government organized the privy council introduced the meiji constitution and assembled the imperial diet besides significant changes in politics education and economics the modernization and enlargement of the imperial japanese army played a key role in japan's expansion abroad the conscription law was established increasing the number of soldiers in the army additionally japanese leaders focused on not only adopting the weaponry of the western world but also developing its military towards western models such as britain's navy america's logistics system and germany's infantry the invasion of taiwan under qing rule a punitive expenditure by japanese military forces in response to the mudon incident of 1871 marked the first overseas deployment of the imperial japanese army and navy the emergence of imperial japan by the 1890s the imperial japanese army had grown to become the most modern army in asia bringing japan dozens of glorious victories after consolidating its control over hokkaido and annexing the ryuku islands japan began its territorial expansion its first targets were korea china and russia after the first sino-japanese war taiwan was ceded to japan the russo-japanese war was another victory for japan giving the country control over the southern half of saikolan korea following the japan korea treaty was also annexed to japan in 1910. in the early 20th century the taisho period marked japan's increasing expansionism by joining the allies during world war 1 japan managed to capture german possessions in the pacific and china as early as 1931 the empire of japan invaded manchuria a small resource-rich province in northern china japan continued invading other parts of china which precipitated the second sino-japanese war in 1940 japan joined the axis powers formed in response to its ally with germany and italy through the signing of the tripartite pact in berlin one year later japan gained control over the whole of french indochina as part of japan's ambition to dominate the pacific in 1941 japan launched a surprise attack on pearl harbor a u.s naval base on oahu island hawaii followed by other campaigns targeting british armies in malaya singapore and hong kong triggered the outbreak of world war ii japan after world war ii until today although world war ii which culminated in the soviet invasion of manchuria and the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki ended with japan being occupied giving all its colonies to allied powers and losing millions of lives japan has revived phenomenally from the ashes of this bloody war in 1952 the treaty of san francisco ended the allied occupation and four years later japan was granted a member of the united nations and further cemented its international standing when it hosted the olympic games in tokyo in 1964. during the post-war recovery period japan recorded a period of high growth which transformed the japanese economy and society significantly as a result japan became the world's second largest capitalist economy behind the u.s until recently when it was overtaken by china today japan is well known as a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries with many internationally renowned manufacturing companies like toyota mitsubishi corporation honda motor company hitachi sony and panasonic japanese popular culture including video games anime and manga also becomes a worldwide phenomenon especially among young people the country is also the 11th populous country and is among the most powerful military in the world overall the 20th century saw the remarkable transformation and expansionism of japan from an isolated nation japan had emerged as the most developed and modernized nation in asia and as an industrialized world power thanks for watching if you find this information useful please give us a thumbs up and share it with your friends don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more videos of history

Channel: History on Maps

Views: 105,779

Keywords: Tokugawa, shōgun, shogunate, Sakoku, Nanban trade, Christianity, Commodore Matthew Perry, Treaty of Kanagawa, Emperor Meiji, Boshin War, Meiji era, Meiji restoration, feudal system, Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese invasion of Taiwan, territorial expansion, First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, Japanese invasion of Korea, Taishō era, Tripartite Pact, World War II, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, world power, japan, japanesee, japanese war

Id: XZmTHS91Ifo

Length: 10min 7sec (607 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021