Land Tax Reform In Japan

There is one more key reform to help developed Japanese economic development which is the Meiji land tax reform. The land tax reform was started by the Meiji government to collect tax from land owners. During the Edo period, land owners had to pay with rice, which was an unstable way to collect taxes. Every year, the production amount was different due to the weather and area that they live in, resulting in fluctuating taxes. During the Meiji period, to resolve this problem the government collected three percent of land value from land owners with hard currency every year. This way the government was financially stable and was not affected by the weather, like the rice, to collect taxes. This land tax reform was good for the Meiji government …show more content…
One of the biggest advantages was protection of the country from invasion by other countries. Around that time there were lots of imperial powers from the West, and if a country did not have the power to fight back or protect its citizens and territory, they ended up getting ruled by them or had to agree to unequal treaties. For example, China fought England to stop selling opium illegally, however, China lost against England because of differences in military strength and superior technologies that England possessed. It was necessary for Japan to have military force during that time period and they were able to survive from getting colonized. Another advantage of possessing a military was that it brought people together. In the Meiji period's the country's slogan was "rich country, strong army" and everyone worked had to achieve this goal which resulted in bringing everyone together to achieve one goal. There were disadvantages of military development during the Meiji period. There was a riot against the conscription law that the new government made because they did not listen to what people wanted. Also, during that time if rich citizens paid enough money to the government, they would not have to serve in the army. That created an inequality between rich and poor. The biggest disadvantage of having the military was that it led Japan to become a war- focused country …show more content…
This goal was a driving force in Japan's industrialization and modernization. Developments that occurred during the Meiji Restoration have lasting positive effect such as improvement of technology and science, establishment of Bank of Japan, railroad transportation, education, government structure, laws, society, civilization and enlightenment. These factors made base of modern Japan and was a big turning point from the Edo period when Japan was closing country for 200 years. There were some negative effects such as during the land tax reform people were suffering and frustrated to pay tax, however, as a result it increased it gdp percapital and made a country richer. Japan involved in many wars after the Meiji Restoration however it was necessary for Japan to have military to protect own country from the West's imperial expansion. Japan made mistakes for use of military after the Meiji period but history cannot changed and it is important to learn from the past to not make same mistake. Over all, the Meiji Restoration was important event that happed in Japanese history in terms of development of the country and without this event Japan might have been a totally different country as it is