The Japanese
Difference: The Rise of a New East Asian Power
During the
19th century, Japan was ruled through a central bureaucracy,
Tokugawa Shogun, that tied alliances to Daimyos and Samurai. Many factors bought change to Japan’s
development thereafter. The
Okugawa shogunate was against opening the country up for trade. Previously, Japan had refused trade with Russia around the
1800s. The Tokugawa Shogun was
overthrown and the Meiji government took over.
However, Japan didn’t want to end up like China and not trade with the
U.S. Meanwhile, Japan continued to allow
the Dutch to trade in their port of Nagasaki.
Commodore Mathew, representing United
States, wanted Japan to open up trade with America. Eventually, Japan realized
opening up trade to foreigners introduced new ideas and Japan’s industrialization
began. Through changes in law codes,
tax systems and currencies, Japan borrowed reforms from the West but also
wanted to keep their own culture. As
Japan industry expanded in textiles, steel, and shipbuilding, this lead to
growth. With shipbuilding, this created
Japan with a modern Navy. Additionally,
this moved the Japanese from farming jobs into factory and office jobs. Finally, Japan’s trade with the United States produced
advantages of the new access to modern technological developments. This trade allowed Japan to modernize.
In my opinion, Japan’s reaction to United
States’ pressure to open up trade proved beneficial. This allowed tension to ease; however, it
brought up differences in attitude. Additionally,
this allowed Japan to be more powerful than China as China opposed borrowing
other cultures’ ideas at that time. I
conceive that China’s rulers failed to understand that achievements meant
embracing change to institute modernization.
I believe that Japan’s interest in gaining knowledge from the West, led
their expansion ahead of China. This was
due to China’s rulers who wanted to preserve traditional beliefs and discouraged
contact with foreigners during the 19th century.
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