Quantum Leap for Japan Still Felt Today

The Meiji Restoration was a significant turning point in Japanese history because it led to revolutionary changes in Japanâ??s economic and political structures.

 

Commodore Matthew Perryâ??s arrival at Edo Bay (Tokyo was once named Edo) in 1853 demonstrated to Japan the superior military power of the West. Japanâ??s coast was not protected nor did the nation possess a navy capable of defending their marine food supply which helped feed Edoâ??s one million people.

 

The Japanese reacted to their vulnerability by renewing the old spirit of the samurai warrior code, and championing the slogan sonno joi, â??revere the emperor, expel the barbarians.â? As a result of Perryâ??s arrival, Japan was headed in a new direction despite political turmoil and national disorganization. The Choshu and Satsuma daimyo (a feudal lord)allied together to remove the Tokugawa shogunate (the government of a shogun, who is a dictator ruler over daimyo) and instead restored power to the imperial emperor Meiji, thus this time period in Japan is known as the Meiji Restoration.

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