The Tokugawa Shogunate: The Modernization Of Japan

Since its society was created in 10,000 BC, Japan has been an unrelenting force of modernization. The country formed around 400 AD by building a centralized state under one imperial dynasty and borrowing law codes and other institutions from China. After setbacks due to the rise of the samurai class, which broke the country into competing factions, the arrival of Europeans prompted Xenophobia across the nation. In the early 17th century, the Japanese actively protested and discriminated against Christianity and European culture. The country began to militarize and entered a period of “self-petrification” established by the Tokugawa Shogunate by the mid-17th century. The Tokugawa Shogunate is the period, which spanned about 260 years from 1608 to 1868, where Japan completely isolated itself from European …show more content…
The country picked up a policy of defensive modernization, where it strengthened the military, education system, and other institutions in order to succeed and develop. Commodore Perry and his Black Fleet opened the trading ports, giving the West closer access and communication with Japan, leading to treaties between the Japanese and both the European powers and the United States. By 1890, Japan became the first non-Western country to successfully modernize. Japan’s expansionist policies spread deeper into Asia, specifically into Manchuria and Korea. This incites protests and sends the country into the Russo-Japanese War, a war that Japan goes on to win by a high margin. Beating Russia on both the battlefield and through their naval control, Japan becomes the first non-Western country to beat a Western power. Japanese imperialism continues on to World War II, which does not end as well for the country. Despite this, Japan successfully grows through the usage of exports and becomes one of the largest economies in the