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Meiji Restoration Essay Example

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Meiji Restoration Essay Example
MEIJI
Introduction
Because of the Meiji Restoration the Japanese society gained social, cultural change and lost traditional ways of agricultural. I chose this topic because the Japanese transformation from a backwards country into a modern day country intrigued me.
The Meiji restoration caused a radical social reform in Japan.

Argument Claim By 1873 Japan had become a Democratic Nation. The boundaries between the social classes of Tokugawa Japan were gradually stripped away. The Shogunate, Daimyo and the Samurai class who were previously held at high level in society were stripped of all their privileges. In order to get rid of the social hierarchy and better conform to the new government, the former daimyo’s had to return all their property to the emperor. This plan was executed by 1870 and followed by limiting of the country in prefectures. The upper social Hierarchy failed to just like the indisputable fact that four social categories were abolished. The Meiji restoration caused an educational reform in Japan. According to The Human Perspective: Readings in world civilization, "In 1885 only 46% percent of children of statutory school age were in school, through by 1905" (311). The Japanese wanted people to be educated in order to prepare the future Japan to be well equipped in skills efficient in use for the army, factory and agriculture. Japan had come to the realization that in order to move forward and be successful as a country in the modern world they had to be grounded in "social and intellectual modernization". Lastly as result of Meiji restoration the Japanese lost the traditional ways of agriculture. By the end of the 1890's Japan had become an exporter of silk and coal. Also the traditional ways of farming and such had been replaced by machines that could produce more materials in a smaller amount of time. The farmers were not happy about this and together with the samurai’s and daimyo’s started rebellions.

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