Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration (明治維新, Meiji Ishin; Japanese pronunciation: [mei.(d)ʑi iꜜ.ɕiɴ, meː-]), referred to at the time as the Honorable Restoration (御維新／御一新, Goi(s)shin), also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ruling emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored practical power to, and consolidated the political system under, the Emperor of Japan. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure and spanned both the late Edo period (often called the Bakumatsu) and the beginning of the Meiji era, during which time Japan rapidly industrialised and adopted Western ideas, production methods and technology.

The origins of the Restoration lay in economic and political difficulties faced by the Tokugawa shogunate. These problems were compounded by the encroachment of foreign powers in the region which challenged the Tokugawa policy of sakoku, specifically the arrival of the Perry Expedition under orders from United States president Millard Fillmore. Under subsequent unequal treaties, Japan was forced to open to the West, questioning the shōgun's political authority over maintaining Japanese sovereignty. The Emperor's rebuke of shogunal actions led to the emergence of an ideological divide within the samurai class concerned with their feudal obligations to both the shōgun and the Emperor. Many lower and middle-ranking samurai became shishi ("men of spirit") who were committed to the Emperor's proclamations to expel the barbarians. Factional disputes within the domains led some domains to conflict with the Tokugawa. After some initial setbacks, the domains organised into an anti-Tokugawa alliance, and, led by Satsuma and Chōshū, they overthrew the shogunal system.

On 3 January 1868, Emperor Meiji declared political power to be restored to the Imperial House. The goals of the restored government were expressed by the new emperor in the Charter Oath. Subsequent Tokugawa resistance to the new government materialised in the Boshin War and the short-lived Republic of Ezo, but by the 1870s, the Emperor's authority was practically unquestioned. The new government reorganised whole strata of society, abolishing the old currency, the domain system, and eventually the class position of the samurai.

The abolition of the shogunate and industrialisation of society in emulation of foreign imperial powers led to backlash with the Saga Rebellion and the Satsuma Rebellion, but ultimately ended feudalism in Japanese society. The Meiji Restoration was the political process that laid the foundation for the institutions of the Empire of Japan, and would have far-reaching consequences in East Asia as Japan pursued colonial interests against its neighbours. The Meiji Constitution of 1889 would remain in place until the Allied occupation of Japan after the end of World War II.

In the Edo period, Japan was governed by a strict and rigid social order with inherited position. This hierarchy in descending order had the Emperor and their Court at the top. The shōgun, with the rōjū and daimyō below him inhabited the upper strata of society. Below them were various subdivisions of samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Historian Marius B. Jansen refers to the political organisation of the system as being one of "feudal autonomy". This was a structure of government where the shōgun was granted extensive control to the various daimyō over their own domains to control their own jurisdiction while paying homage to him through irregular taxation, the seeking of permission for marriage and movement, and systems such as that of alternate attendance. The total population of samurai families in the 19th century numbered around 5–6% of 30 million people (1,500,000–1,800,000), among these families, roughly 1 in 50 was an "upper samurai" while the rest were divided mostly evenly between "middle" and "lower" samurai, with each division containing more subdivisions.

The influence exerted by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu) in contemporary Japan was built on the distribution and management of land. Split into domains, each domain was measured by koku, or the amount of rice a given area of land could produce per annum. By 1650, the shōgun directly controlled land producing roughly 4.2 million koku of rice, with his direct retainers, other members of the Tokugawa family (shinpan daimyō), and his vassals (fudai daimyō) controlling a combined total of land producing 12.9 million koku out of a national 26 million koku. The remaining 9.8 million koku (just under 38%) was parceled out between about 100 rival tozama daimyō, the descendants of those who had fought against the Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara. Many of the strongest tozama domains were located in western Japan away from centres of power, with the fudai often controlling government offices, but with smaller provinces to incentivize them to preserve the system.

According to the Neo-Confucian tenets of bakufu authority, the system of hierarchy developed in bushidō encouraged a series of descending subordinations, but unlike in China, its adoption by the bakufu came to inform an ethic that was distinct from the structural organisation of the Tokugawa state; this allowed it to coexist with Western scientific methods. Historian William G. Beasley argues that there was a tension between this official state ideology that encouraged enlightened meritocratic rule and the rigid class structure that prevented the lower and middle ranking samurai bureaucrats from advancing their position. When exacerbated by foreign and domestic crises, and in spite of official attempts to begin promoting samurai to offices beyond their inherited position, the social bonds between these systems weakened, leading to reformist and revolutionary attitudes among the samurai. Merchant classes, that had been flourishing economically in developing mass culture and communication, were forbidden to translate their influence into political power.

Beginning especially in the last quarter of the 18th century, a kind of Shintō revival was occurring alongside a growing interest in Dutch studies. Both schools occurred as part of a turn away from China as the centre of intellectual thought. But adherents to both movements were careful not to assert that their learning was in any way meant to upset the established political order. The work of the Mito School working primarily from the Kōdōkan, was especially important in the development of nativist concepts connected to kokugaku (national learning).