- MEIJI RESTORATION
- The Meiji Restoration refers to a series of events between 1854 and 1868, beginning with Japan’s opening to the West and culminating in the restoration of Japan’s hereditary ruling family to a central place in government. During the Tokugawa period, power was in the hands of the Tokugawa clan, whose title shogun included a mandate to protect the Imperial family. In reality, the Imperial family lived under a privileged house arrest in Kyoto while the Tokugawa clan ran the country. The deteriorating Tokugawa government’s vulnerability was revealed when Commodore Matthew Perry sailed a fleet of American warships into Edo Bay in 1854–55 and disgruntled fief leaders around Japan, particularly those from Satsuma and Choshu, seized the opportunity to unite and stage a coup in the name of restoring the Imperial family to rule. By 1867, these forces had succeeded in ousting the Tokugawa shogunate, and, on January 3, 1868, Emperor Meiji regained full power, with pro-Tokugawa troops finally subdued in 1869. The Meiji Restoration led to many changes in Japan, including rapid industrialization, open borders and trade with the West, the abolition of traditional societal divisions, land reforms, and a new government, essentially an oligarchy consisting of the emperor and leaders from the victorious fiefs. The impact of the Restoration on literature, though not immediate, was profound; social changes in particular led to rapid urban growth and the expansion of literary markets, while trade with the West brought a flood of literary adaptations and translations that triggered major literary developments.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.
