Japan

Flag of the Empire of Japan

The **Empire of Japan** (Japanese: 大日本帝国, *Dai Nippon Teikoku* or *Dai Nihon Teikoku*), also referred to as the **Japanese Empire**, **Imperial Japan**, or simply **Japan** is an island country in East Asia. It is mainly in the northwest Pacific Ocean and it borders Fengtian through territories in Korea, extending from the Chishima Islands in the north toward the Taiwan and Indochina in the south.

## History

The history of modern Japan begins in 1868 when the Shogunate ended and the imperial power was restored. Since the government of Shogun could not oppose forces from the West, many Japanese people were upset. Most opposed to further Shogun rule were the domains of Chōshū and Satsuma in the southern part of the country, their samurai wanted to expel the "white devils" from the islands and put the Emperor on the throne. Leaders of the rebelling domains in 1868 convinced the young Meiji Emperor and his advisors to issue a rescript calling for the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The armies of Chōshū, Satsuma and other affiliated domains soon marched on Edo, and the Boshin War led to the fall of the shogunate.

### Meiji Era

The emperor was restored to supreme power, and in 1869 the imperial family moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo ("the eastern capital"). The most powerful people in government, however, were the samurai of Chōshū and Satsuma, not the emperor, who was fifteen years old at the time. These men, known as the Meiji oligarchs, oversaw the dramatic changes that Japan experienced during this period. The leaders of the Meiji government wanted Japan to become a modern nation-state that could stand on equal footing with the Western imperialist powers.

#### Political and social changes

The Meiji government abolished the Edo class structure and replaced feudal *daimyō* domains with prefectures. It introduced comprehensive tax reform and lifted the ban on Christianity. Between 1870 and 1874, a series of land and tax laws were enacted that formed the basis of modern fiscal policy, and private property was legalized. The government's top priorities also included the introduction of railroads, telegraph lines and a universal education system. The Meiji government promoted universal modernization and hired hundreds of advisors from Western countries with expertise in areas such as education, mining, banking, law, military affairs and transportation to remodel and modernize Japanese institutions. The Japanese adopted the Gregorian calendar, Western clothing, Western hairstyles, etc.

The first Japanese constitution, the Meiji Constitution based on the British model, was promulgated in 1882. It was a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy. The new constitution established an elected lower house, the House of Representatives, but its powers were restricted. Only two percent of the population were eligible to vote, and legislation proposed in the House required the support of the unelected upper house, the House of Peers. Both the cabinet of Japan and the Japanese military were directly responsible not to the elected legislature but to the emperor. Concurrently, the Japanese government also developed a form of Japanese nationalism under which emperor was declared a living god and schools nationwide instilled patriotic values and loyalty to him. Class distinctions were mostly eliminated during modernization to create a representative democracy. The samurai lost their status as the only class with military privileges. However, during the Meiji period, most leaders in Japanese society (politics, business and military) were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai.

#### Imperialism and Expansion

In 1868, the Japanese government established Tokyo Arsenal, and a year later Osaka Arsenal was founded. Also in 1868, Japan's first military academy was founded in Kyoto. It was also proposed that military service be manned by all classes of people, including farmers, merchants and peasants. The shōgun class was not happy with this idea and committed the assassination of the originator of the idea.

In 1872, Yamagata Aritomo and Saigō Jūdō, both new field marshals, established the Imperial Guard Corps. In addition, in the same year, the hyobusho (war bureau) was replaced by the War Department and the Navy Department. The samurai class suffered a great disappointment in the following years when the Conscription Act of 1872 was passed in November. Signifying the beginning of the end for the samurai class, this monumental law was initially met with resistance from both peasants and warriors. The peasant class interpreted the term for military service, ketsu-eki (blood tax) literally and tried to avoid service by any means necessary. Methods of evasion included mutilation, self-mutilation and local uprisings.

Despite the Conscription Law of 1872, and all the reforms and progress, the new Japanese army was still untested. That all changed in 1875, when Saigō Takamori led the last rebellion of the samurai in Kyūshū.

After consolidating its full control over Hokkaido in 1876, two years later there was a formal annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom which had been under the de facto control of Satsuma since 1609. In 1895, Japanese and Chinese troops clashed in Korea, where they were both stationed to suppress the Donghak Rebellion. During the ensuing First Sino-Japanese War, Japan's highly motivated and well-led forces defeated the more numerous and better-equipped military of Qing China.