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JAPAN: RETURN TO ROOTS

JAPAN: RETURN TO ROOTS. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE STRONG ARMY , STRONG COUNTRY INTO THE FUTURE . CHANGE AND RESISTANCE. Many of the changes that took place were labelled Westernization, the adoption of Western ways and ideas The motto of this movement was “Civilization and Enlightenment”

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JAPAN: RETURN TO ROOTS

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  1. JAPAN: RETURN TO ROOTS CHANGE AND RESISTANCE STRONG ARMY , STRONG COUNTRY INTO THE FUTURE

  2. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • Many of the changes that took place were labelled Westernization, the adoption of Western ways and ideas • The motto of this movement was “Civilization and Enlightenment” • One goal of the movement was to change the unequal treaties with western countries • Cultural changes were easiest to see in the poorest cities • foreign books and magazines became available, and in 1871 daily newspapers were launched • Newspapers were placed in public reading rooms so citizens could learn about the changes in Japanese society

  3. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • Western took issue with some typical Japanese behaviours, for example • In warm weather Japanese working men wore only loincloths. The governor of Yokohama ordered all labourers to wear a shirt or tunic • In 1872, the Japanese government passed a law to prohibit tattooing, including that done by the Ainu • Public bathing, a revered Japanese ritual, shocked proper Victorians. Public baths were closed or modified • When officials at the Imperial court realized foreign officials were not in the habit of taking off their shoes, they replaced tatami mats with carpet • The emperor had to learn how to shake hands • European style food was served at the emperor’s receptions

  4. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • The government urged Japanese men to abandon their kimonos for trousers and suit coats • By the 1870s, all prominent Japanese men wore their hair cut short, some grew beards and moustaches • The Japanese military wore Western style uniforms • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7r_f-OMG1M&feature=related&

  5. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • Deer Cry Pavilion, was a fancy European style building in which Western visitors were entertained • In the hall the buffet tables were laid out with imported European gourmet food • Cuban cigars, billiards were intermeshed with French orchestras playing operettas and German polkas and waltzes • Foreign diplomats would socialize with the Japanese but had no appetite to reopen the original treaties • The Deer Cry Pavilion was shut down as part of an anti-Western backlash

  6. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • The rapid changes had produced tensions in Japan • The Japanese were a proud and independent people and their traditions, customs and beliefs were very important to them • The motto “Civilization and Enlightenment” was dropped and replaced by “Western science and Japanese essence” • Two of the items essential for unity in the West, Christianity and democracy, had little hold in Japan at this time • Most Western countries had constitutions which describes parts of the government and the powers given to each part • They often include a bill of rights and freedoms

  7. CHANGE AND RESISTANCE • a constitutional study commission was sent abroad and it decided that the Prussian constitutional model was best • Highlights of the new constitution • The emperors powers were described as “sacred and inviolable” meaning not to be challenged • Japanese citizens were given rights to free speech, privacy, property, movement, legal and religion • An Imperial Diet consisted of a House of Peers (nobility or royalty) and a House of representatives (elected by the people) • Putting it into practice • Political parties were discouraged and freedom of speech and the press lasted only a few years • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQzNkWUwoWc&

  8. STRONG ARMY, STRONG COUNTRY • The Meiji leaders looked at the powerful countries of the West and saw three commonalities • Control over foreign colonies or territories • Military power to defend those territories • A strong and independent economy • The Japanese began a deliberate path to strengthen their military • The first step was the Conscription Law of 1873 • It required all males to serve in the military for three years and to do reserve duty for four more years • The second step was to take over several smaller island territories including the Ryukyu, Bonin and Kurile Islands

  9. STRONG ARMY, STRONG COUNTRY • The closest country to Japan on the mainland was Korea, the distance between the two is less than 200 km • Korea is strategically important because it borders both Russia and China • The Sino-Japanese war was between China and Japan and was quick and decisive lasting from Aug 1894-Apr 1895 • Japan’s superior military gave it an easy victory, and the resulting treaty gave Japan • the rights to Formosa(modern Taiwan) • China paid an indemnity for Japan’s losses • Japan special economic rights

  10. STRONG ARMY, STRONG COUNTRY • The Japanese victory worried Western powers • Russia, France and Germany stepped in and made changes to the peace treaty • They forced Japan to give up Liaotung Peninsula, which was promptly taken over by the Russians • They also wanted the same economic considerations with China that Japan had • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16sdjIpZNVc&

  11. STRONG ARMY, STRONG COUNTRY • In 1904 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Russian ships in Port Arthur • War erupted shortly but the Russian efforts were severely hampered by the Bolshevik Revolution back home • Russia was forced into a peace negotiations rather than continuing the war • Five years after the war Japan annexed Korea with very little protest from the Western powers • Japan was now recognized as an imperial power

  12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PffYjbHfs&

  13. THE END OF AN ERA • When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, his leading general and the general’s wife committed junshi, ritual suicide after the death of one’s lord • Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941 bringing the United States into direct conflict during the war of the Pacific • On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and three days later of Nagasaki • On September 2, 1945 Japanese officials signed the surrender papers aboard the USS Missouri • In 1947 the new Japanese Constitution contained Article 9 • It called for Japan to be an unarmed nation that would never again be a military threat

  14. JAPAN POST WAR • Many feel Article 9 which did not permit expenses on the military has had a large role in the post war economic miracle of Japan • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SnnWZ1YTL4& • Historian Ken Henshall points to the following keys to the Japanese success • The ability of the Japanese to learn from others and to adapt these borrowings • The emphasis on learning and education • The Japanese focus on making their country powerful and respected in the world • The willingness of the Japanese to work hard an make sacrifices for the greater good of the group and society

  15. JAPAN TODAY HIGH SPEED RAIL IN JAPAN • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuOx7SleTlc • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdJhBzTTx4 • A NEW KIND OF LEADER • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RUtE5eTrkE&safe=active • POP CULTURE IN JAPAN • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgAdsbrJ_m0 • THE JAPANESE ECONOMY TODAY • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkbs6Zjw578

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