8/12/2019 Japanese History 1603 Onwards Professor Nigel Haworth

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Japanese History 1603 OnwardsProfessor Nigel Haworth

- Japan seems very western, very much like Japan. Mixed signal, looks European, feelsEuropean however there are traditional values that still exist such as gender roles

- Still carries currents of its history and culture, exaggerated by the economic rapidityTokugawa Shogunate 1603-1868

- Togugawa Ieyasu unites japan (Edo period)- Reflects imperial weakness after 12thcentury, dysfunctional state- Did this by establishing strong central government- Extended era of peace, prosperity and order until the middle of the 19 thcentury- The price of stability was inertia and inability to change and the inability to recognize that

outside Japan was changing, internally ordered, closed society

- Tokugawa created 2 classes. The elite (warrior) class that consisted of the Emperor, theShogun (de facto ruler), the Daimyo and the Samurai. This samurai code and the ideas of

honor, loyalty and absolute commitment to your lord were carried on after the samurai

became non-existent

- The lower classes consisted of the peasants, merchants and artisans. There was a sense ofmutual respect between the upper and lower classes. Lower classes were lower rankedsocially but respected

- Limited social mobility (feudal model), if you were born into a class, you stayed in that class- Peasants valued, but poor- Merchants not valued, but rich- Subordination of women- Samurai weakened (role/status changed)- Isolationist after 1650 (fear of external influence Christians out after 1637 rebellion, though

contact had promoted prosperity; some contacts maintainedNagasaki).

- Cultural development important (e.g. haiku, kabuki, bunraku, ikebana, paintings) Japanbecame a center of extraordinary craft and artifacts for this elite

The Black Ships- Tokugawa overthrown by imperial restoration late 1860s.- End of isolation (Commodore Perry 1853, and following (contested) opening up of trade)- Japanese reaction (fear and uprisings versus modernization)- The experience of China- The impact of Dutch knowledge (a modernizing elite), the notion of western scientific

ideology and other western ideals had begun to grown in the elite group, people acting

inside the country acting to modernize Japanall added up to a questioning to 400 years of

history

- Merchants seeing advantage in opening- Economic crises (e.g. fixed prices), tax reform needs- Transition period 1858-1881- Japans future argued and fought over; fought over 2 strategies, people dont like change,fought against this process- Political strategy - Government by Public Deliberation- Economic strategyWealth and military power- Goals Emerge- Rapid industrialization, foreign engagement, constitution (1890), parliament (1889)- Flexibility in making domestic alliances to achieve goals- Looked at the best systems in the world, and implemented them in Japan

Tsushima (1905)

8/12/2019 Japanese History 1603 Onwards Professor Nigel Haworth

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Meiji Reforms

- Industrialization: infrastructure (legal framework, currency, baking, postal system, railway),urbanization, foreign trade, education system, foreign knowledge

- Military reforms: modernization of military (Prussia), conscription 1873, nationalism, success(China 1894-5, Russia 1904-5, Korea annexation 1910)

- Post first world war (1918) stresses in Japan modernization emerge: sense of unrecognizedstatus as victorious ally, US limitation on Japanese immigration (1924) plus consumer

boycotts, snubs by the League of Nations, Japans status in relation to China, a growing

nationalism, militarism and a limited democracy, impact of depression, access to markets

and raw materials (e.g. oil)

- Military uses stresses to gain power; by 1928, military and government are one (permitting1937 invasion of China NB Manchuria 1931)

Second World War

- Japans intervention brought on by; nationalism, imperialism and militarism, US restrictionson trade (e.g. trade, steel), US freezing on Japanese assets, an Asia of the Asians anti-

western influence philosophy, liberating Asia from western imperialism

- Japan wins, and then loses (1.85 million dead4% of population, about 25% of nationalwealth destroyed, devastated economy and social system)

- The USMacArthur approach, we want Japan to rise as a democratic ally of the USFrom Feudalism to Harajuku in 90 Years

- In the top rank in terms of economic power, after the war, Japan was coward by the losses.Devoted all its power to becoming economically great. Concentrated on economic growth,

the generation of people who felt the defeat was the ones to rebuild.

- That generation have the commitment to rebuild Japan and restore it to the economy that itis today, did it for the love of the country, honorable thing to do, we have to rebuild after the

horrific loss to gain back self-respect as a modern society, strong work ethic

- Strong government direction (e.g. investment, technology), exports, corporate governancePost-war Politics- Demilitarization, democratization, new western constitution (1947), post war political

consensus (Pacifism, non-nuclear, conservative), breaking up of Zaibatsu and creation of

Keiretsu, workers rights

- Rapid development- Adaptation of the old to meet the needs of the new