In 1853, four modern American warships sailed into Tokyo Bay, Japan’s great harbor. It was a show of power. The leader of those ships was Commodore Matthew Perry. Perry hoped to force Japan to change its trading policies and allow American imports to be sold. For two centuries, Japan kept its national economy mostly closed off to foreign trade. But the United States was now rapidly producing pots, cloth, and other goods for distribution. American businesses saw Japan, with its vast population, as a great new market. While it might not have been an act of war, the sudden appearance of U.S. warships was risky.

Did Perry’s aggressive marketing work? To get an idea of how Japan responded to this forceful display, check out this Japanese poster from 1887. It teaches the Japanese versions of “fashionable English words.” Japan in the late nineteenth century was already one of the most literate societies in the world. The fact that they were now learning English reveals how quickly—and intentionally—they prioritized international business.

The Tokugawa Shogunate

So why now? Before 1868, for about seven centuries, Japan had been under the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns. Japan had an emperor, but his role was purely ceremonial. Shoguns were military leaders (some would say dictators) whose job was to keep society stable in a certain territory. Japan’s rigid class system during this era put peasants at the bottom, farmers and makers (artisans) above peasants, and then a class of soldiers called samurai above artisans. The samurai served regional lords, called the daimyo. Stability was important, so the lines between classes were drawn very clearly. However, people were still able to move up and down these classes. In fact, peasants sometimes managed to become important lords!

Japanese society also highly valued intellectual pursuits. During this time, new kinds of Japanese art, literature, early forms of comics, and philosophy emerged. Japan had more people who could read than other regions around the world at this time, so literature and poems were highly prized. However, contact with the outside world was strictly regulated. Under the Tokugawa shoguns, Europeans were only legally allowed to trade at one port, Nagasaki. (That’s another reason Perry’s warships in Tokyo Bay were such a shocking sight.)

But Tokugawa Japan had an economic problem. The shoguns relied on taxation from agriculture to keep the country going and to stay in power. Over time, this did not produce enough money for the government, especially since the regional daimyo lords and samurai had to be paid. The only way to keep things going was to raise taxes on the peasants, who became increasingly angry. This weakened the government of Japan at a critical time.

Commodore Perry tried to force Japan to “do business,” literally at gunpoint. Japan’s leaders naturally feared a future invasion. Nearby, China was being defeated and torn apart by European states that were trying to force the Chinese to buy their products. This included the addictive drug, opium, which had negative and long-lasting effects on Chinese society. Japan’s leaders worried, with good reason, that something similar could happen in Japan if they did not modernize.

Hoping to protect Japan from a possible European threat, they began to demand military and industrial reforms in response. But these changes fed into the unrest already bubbling up within Japan from the peasants and samurai classes. The result was a period of political chaos. Many Japanese people did not want to copy the Europeans and Americans, wishing to preserve Japanese culture and way of life. In the mid-1860s, a brief civil war broke out. The reformers—those who wanted modernization in the style of those Western nations—won and took power. They were called the Meiji.

Meiji

The new government quickly tried to inspire popular support for their movement. They took control of the imperial palace and claimed they were merely restoring the emperor to power, rather than admitting that they were really creating a brand new government. That’s why this event is often called the Meiji “Restoration” though it was more of a revolution. This government—not afraid to use propaganda—sponsored new forms of national art and literature. These messages praised the new government, the emperor, and modernization.

To modernize, the Meiji studied European and U.S. political structures. But their innovations weren’t a total imitation. Japan’s leaders developed a new form of government that mixed Western industrial styles with their own traditions and needs. They built more schools and trained people to work in and run factories. The army was also re-organized and trained with new weapons.

As Meiji Japan rapidly industrialized and modernized, its rulers viewed the US and Europe as dangerous competitors. The West’s increasing interference in nearby China and elsewhere had Japan on high alert. Some Meiji leaders argued that only by industrializing could Japan protect itself. This idea is often called “defensive modernization.”

Unfortunately, Japanese industry was at a disadvantage. The island country lacked many raw materials, including that very important burnable rock called coal. The goods they were able to produce faced significant tariffs—import taxes—from already industrialized countries. Determined to see growth in industry as rapidly as possible, Japan took actions more drastic than anything that had been seen in Europe or the United States. Business leaders were brought into government. Tax money was poured into industrialization. Japan aimed for new markets for its goods, and resources to make the goods. Like industrialized societies elsewhere, they created some markets by forcibly taking colonies. Korea, with both a relatively large population (potential consumers) and many natural resources, was an early target.

Japan continues to be an industrial power today. However, because of its unique history, its industrial economy remains focused on very large companies. Many of them are closely tied to the country’s government. So, Japan does fit into the wider model of changes to production and distribution brought in by the Industrial Revolution. However, its particular place within this system is unique.