History Summarized: The Meiji Restoration

Japan: "What if Asia, but mine?" Genghis Khan: single tear Make me proud

Can I just point out that this is the most Modern thing Blue has covered.

"Imperialism is a hell of a drug" As an EU4 player, I can agree to this statement

Their recovery from ww2 was also impressive. 80s' cyberpunk used a lot of Japanese aesthetics in western locales because the fear that Japan would become an economic hegemon was better founded than many ever liked to admit.

Japan going imperialistic is a classic story of becoming the very thing you swore to destroy. It's a tragedy I have seen play out far too often.

The West: "stop colonizing" Japan: "but that's what you guys did" The West "uhhh"

West: Spreads imperialism to Japan. Japan: Becomes imperialistic. West: Surprised Pikachu face

“But that all changed when the fire nation attacked.” It’s very interesting that firelord Ozai bears a remarkable similarity to emperor Meiji and the parallels of both figures’ influence on their respective countries did. Even Meiji’s likeness can be seen with Ozai!!

8:51 Wow I never knew imperial japan based their system on the fire-nation. That's really interesting.

England, America, France, Russia: "Hey Japan anything you want?" Japan: "Hey can we have like... racial equality now that we're all empires?" Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa, Hokkaido: "Excuse us." Japan: "You don't count."

This whole period of history sounds like a weird d&d and civilization Hybrid game session : GM : so USA has reached the other side of the continent what do you do ? USA: MORE MANIFEST DESTINY! MORE MANIFEST DESTINY! GM: roll for it USA:*20* U! S! A! U! S! A! GM: sigh Japan roll for initiative Japan: wakes up uh what ? I already unified my objective has been done . GM: roll or get out of the game Japan: sighs ok * proceeds to lose* Many losing rounds later Japan : what did you say was that industrialization thing ? GM: oh you want to industrialize ? Japan: yes GM: roll Japan:*rolls 20* GM: you successfully restore the empire , centralize the governament and you get a modern army ... Japan: this is fun why did i skip on this ? A few rounds later Every western player: dude stop it's only funny when we do it ... Japan : NO Russia : ok , if you don't stop i'll stop you GM: roll initiative Russia:*1* Japan:*20* Russia:Blyat Every western player: :o Japan: yeah i agree it's really funny to win ...

"I have dreamed of a unified Japan. Of a country, strong, and independent, and modern. And now, we have railroads , and cannon, Western clothing. But we cannot forget who we are, or where we come from..." -Meiji Emperor, The Last Samurai

A positive site note to add to this story: When the United States opened international applications for exhibit space at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 Japan was first in line and ended up being the third biggest spender at the fair behind France and Germany. Journalists and commentators at the time universally praised the Japanese exhibits throughout the fair for being not just fascinatingly exotic but well formed and organized, while more prominent European visitors like France were often criticized for being a mish-mashed hodge podge of everything they could get to fit with no care given to their presentation. The Japanese workers were also praised as being hardworking, polite, and good natured, in contrast to British exhibitors who were regarded as snooty and stuck up, or the Germans who were maybe a bit too proud of their weapons displays. Of particular note were the Japanese structures in the International Section, the Ho-O-Den Buildings. Set on a wooded island, this replica of the Byodo-in Temple became one of the most popular sites at the entire fair, noted for its peace and tranquility, a welcome respite from the overwhelming awesomeness of the rest of the fair. It was especially popular as a romantic spot, in the evenings being lit by small glass "fairy lamps", looking across the lagoon at the bright lights of the Court of Honor (the main exhibit halls). When the fair finally ended in October 1893, the Ho-O-Den Buildings were among only three structures designed to remain permanently in place, being presented as a gift from the Japanese to the city of Chicago. Tragically, during World War II anti-Japanese arsonists burned that gift to the ground. Today, the site where they once stood is commemorated as Osaka Garden, as Osaka is considered the sister city of Chicago. Just stop to think about that for a second. Just 30 years before Japan was still effectively a feudalistic state; 20 years before they were just starting to get a taste for these new "steam train" things. And yet just a quarter of a century after opening to the world and deciding "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", here's Japan rolling up front of the line to get center stage into the World Powers big boy's club, and showing them how it's done! "Oh, you crammed your mini-palaces so full of high brow art and guns that guests can barely move and won't let half of them in because their calling card isn't impressive enough? That's charming. Now, who wants to step over to our wooded island to visit our tea house and be served by cute geisha girls? Yeah, that's what I thought."

Last time I was this early I was rolling up to a medieval city in an M1 Abrams Tank.

And the story of japan modernizing is even more interesting when you consider how and what it is now. Like, from feudal isolationist country, to industrialized colonial power, to modern technological and cultural powerhouse, every step of the ladder is insanely interesting to see play out.

7:27 -The US is holding Japan's hand, UK is beckoning, and Germany sits beside her, while the rest look on with interest; symbol of their roles in getting Japan to modernize -The liberal but imperialist maritime power UK has an Athenian helmet, while the expansionist land power republic USA has a Roman laurel and what looks like a Phrygian Cap as well. -The meaning is communicated from an imperialist viewpoint, progress is good, imperialism spreads progress, European nations are in their own privileged class because of their ability to progress, and the highest goal of any non-European nation should be to become like one.

I’m learning about this in my Asia history 201 class and my professor is the great great grand daughter of Perry.

8:40 - "Koreans weren't thrilled" - When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Koreans living in America celebrated in the streets over the prospect of US power being used to restore their country from the yoke of Japanese rule. White America saw this as a showing of solidarity with their Japanese rulers, and used it as an excuse to treat Korean-Americans as a faction of Japanese-Americans for the internments and stuff. So... that wasn't great for Korean-Americans.

Fgo: Meiji Restoration event OSP: Meiji restoration video Hmmm... I wonder what does this mean

This video is a good, accurate, overview of the broad strokes of Meiji. Here are some additional ideas/facts for interested people: -The Dutch traders in Nagasaki were occasionally summoned to the Shogun to advise on what was going on in the outside world as well as to provide medical advice. As Western colonialism in Asia progressed, the Dutch pushed at the Tokugawa to make a deal of some kind with a Western power (preferably the Dutch). -Beyond Colonialism, The Tokugawa's closed country policy created other problems such as when retrieving sailors shipwrecked in Japan, or when trying to return Japanese sailors shipwrecked OUTSIDE of Japan. -The Perry and later Harris treaties heated up long simmering tensions between the Tozama (Outsider) Daimyo and the Roju, a council of Elders from the Fudai (Insider) Daimyo. Anti-Tokugawa forces already had allies within the Imperial Household that prompted the Emperor to make a statement against signing a treaty with a foreign power, which inflamed the anger of the burgeoning National Studies movement. The signing of the Harris treaty is what led to the Assassination of Ii Naosuke, head of the Roju. -Contrary to some popular historical Narratives which portray it as a peaceable transfer of power, the Meiji Restoration was quite violent. Kyoto nearly burned to the ground and even Naval battles occurred. This was also one of the earliest uses of civilian armed force, the Satsuma Irregulars. -Internationally, some newspapers reported on the Meiji Restoration as a step backwards for Japan, believing that a victory by Imperial fanatics against the slowly modernizing Tokugawa would result in the country closing. -Early efforts to create National Schooling, Religion, and Conscription were resisted by locals, often violently. In one incident, a pair of priests from the short lived Bureau of Divinity were driven out of a village. The villagers had heard their talk of a Divine Emperor that descended from The Sun and assumed that they were Christians. School enrollment in Japan was high, but attendance was low as parents felt that they needed their children to work the fields and did not trust these new schools. Often times, Japanese school textbooks were just shoddily translated Wilson Readers from the US which included references to biblical stories. As a result there were regularly riots wherein schools were burned down. There were also riots against conscription, as able bodied young men were essential to the farming families.