5.8: Illiberal Modernizers - Japan

Crisis and Reform in Japan 

There are several similarities between Germany and Japan that go back to the 1800s. Part of the nation-building process entailed promoting the idea of racial superiority. The German government targeted Slavs to the east as racially inferior and the Japanese government saw as inferioe non-Japanese Asians such as the Chinese and Koreans. Both nations successfully underwent an industrial revolution. Neither country established a liberal political system, because elected officials had very limited powers. Instead, both countries had powerful monarchs. The USA and Britain were not democracies, but the institutions in place were liberal institutions where elected officials were firmly in power. Finally, each country successfully addressed the problem of worker poverty by taking steps to improve the lives of the working classes.

The Japanese, like the Germans, did not live under a unified nation-state until the late 1800s. Beginning in the late 1100s, the Japanese emperor ruled indirectly, ceding power to the Shoguns, who commanded an army of lesser nobles known as samurai. In the 1600s, the Japanese government tightly controlled commerce with the outside world only allowing the Dutch and Chinese to transact foreign trade. Foreign culture was not seen as inferior and by the 1800s the Japanese embraced Dutch learning which was the study of European ideas. This self-isolation ended in the mid-19th century when the United States forced the Japanese to sign the “Treaty of Peace and Amity.” Japan had to open its ports and agree to low tariffs. Americans also gained extra-territoriality which meant if US citizens broke the law in Japan, they would be tried in US courts. The Japanese government then had to sign similar treaties with Britain, the Netherlands, and Russia.

Shimazu Nariakira, a Japanese official stated, “If we take the initiative, we can dominate; if we do not, we will be dominated.” Modernization and the embrace of new technology went hand in hand with the reorganization of the national government in what became known as the Meiji Restoration. Direct control of government was restored to Emperor Meiji. In 1868 the emperor proclaimed the Imperial Charter Oath which stated that knowledge shall be sought from all over the world to strengthen the empire. Overall, there was a real sense of urgency to undertake major changes. The challenge from the USA and Europe created a sense of crisis which allowed a new government elite to put in place major reforms.  The Meiji Restoration was driven by reformers who wanted to use Western learning to defend Japan. Many in Japan promoted “Eastern ethics and Western science.” They argued that Japan required Western technology to defend itself and should look beyond Confucianism.

The Meiji Restoration consisted of a series of reforms that established a constitutional government and modern economy. The new government sent out an official mission to the USA and Europe to examine the sources of Western power and wealth to strengthen Japan.  They concluded that Japan could catch up because the West was not that advanced technologically. The government then invited to Japan over three thousand foreign advisors which included military consultants, teachers, engineers, technicians, and legal and financial advisors. They were in Japan for about fifteen years and then the Japanese themselves took over. The Western calendar and metric system were also adopted.  In education, the government created an extensive public school system. Western languages and scientific and technical training replaced the classical Confucian curriculum.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Scene of the Diet by Toyohara Chikanobu, in the Public Domain

The Japanese reformers also wanted to put in place legal and administrative institutions so that the West would perceive Japan as a “civilized” country where foreigners were confident that they would be properly treated. So, the government drafted a constitution with Germany as its model. The emperor exercised all executive power. He also appointed all ministers and had supreme command over the army and navy.  There were elective officials in a legislature called a Diet which was responsible for approving laws and taxes. Only five percent of the population was eligible to vote for Diet members and government officials would use bribery and force to fix elections. Figure 5.8.1 depicts the Japanese parliament in the late 1800s. Several Male cabinet members dressed in western-style suits are sitting on chairs in semicircular rows. A few women, dressed in kimonos, are seated in the gallery and are facing the speaker on the dais. What image did Japan want to present to the world with the establishment of a legislature?

A major goal was to modernize the military. Germany provided the guidance for the new army and the British helped build a new navy. The government established factories to mass produce weapons as well. However, the Japanese understood that military modernization could not be separated from overall economic modernization. Just building a factory that produced guns would not be enough.  The government created the necessary infrastructure of communication, transportation, and financial institutions which made economic development possible. The Meiji reformers sought to follow the example of Germany and implement tariffs to protect industries. The government provided low-interest long-term loans and tax breaks to businesses which adopted the most advanced technology. Overall, the government sought to make Japan a major exporter of cotton and silk textiles. The Japanese had a standard currency and railroads and the telegraph linked the nation by 1900. Agriculture was also modernized with new schools in agronomy.      

The late 1800s was a time of cultural change in Japan. Baseball, Western clothing, Western-style haircuts, and top hats became popular.  The samurai elites no longer carried swords or wore traditional clothing. They popularized fashion from Europe by wearing Western business suits and learning to waltz.  At the same time, the Japanese national government sought to make the Japanese loyal to it and foster a sense of national unity. One way by which the government sought to foster loyalty and national identity was by creating strong bonds between the people and the emperor.  So, the elites promoted loyalty through the Confucian family-state ideology. The emperor was like the father of the nation and the subjects were like his children. The government sought to promote a national form of Shinto with official state shrines all over Japan.  This new form of Shintoism stressed the divine nature of the emperor and Shinto priests were put under the control of the government.  The education system was then used to spread nationalist ideologies.

Japanese Expansion and the Working Class

The Japanese government also adopted scientific racism which justified imperialism and expansion. During this time, the Japanese government viewed China and Korea as less civilized.  By the 1890s, the unfavorable foreign treaties were revised and Japan had independence from the West. Japanese leaders now wanted to be perceived as a major power with its own colonies. Japanese imperial expansion was spurred by the demand for raw materials and access to markets in East Asia.  Japanese defeated China in 1894-1895 in a war for control of Korea. In a treaty, Japan would exercise economic dominance over Korea.  However, the Japanese government then sought to expand into Manchuria.  Japanese expansion then created another war in 1905  in which Japan soundly defeated Russia. Japan then controlled Korea and Manchuria.

Survey of 580 women who worked in a silk factory in Japan conducted by Yamamoto Shigemi

Response	Poor	Average	Good
Food	0%	10%	90%
Pay	0%	30%	70%
Overall Experience	0%	10%	90%

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Japanese Silk Worker Survey, by Jordan Stanton is licensed CC BY and is modified from Peasants, Rebels, and Outcasts: The Underside of Modern Japan (1982) by Mikoso Han, in the Public Domain 

Discussion Question 

Why would Japanese factory workers be so satisfied with the food they were given? 

Workers in Japanese factories worked long hours for low pay. However, these workers typically did not quit and remained loyal to their employers.  By the early 1900s, Japanese businesses provided substantial welfare services for their employees including medical services, loans for housing, retirement benefits, and sports and social facilities. Factory owners believed that their company was like a family. They had a moral obligation to take care of their workers just as fathers took care of their children.  For this reason, most Japanese workers did not embrace radicalism. In 1911, the government passed a factory act which provided for minimum safety standards for manufacturing establishments. Also, the government from time to time would arbitrate between labor and employers and there would be some worker gains.  In the 1920s the government even provided health insurance for urban workers.

Primary Sources: The Meiji Constitution, 1889

The Japanese elites drafted a constitution during the Meiji Restoration to show the West that Japan had become a modern nation which was fully capable of governing itself and foreigners living in Japan.

Discussion Questions

• Where are there liberal components of this constitution?
• Where are there illiberal components?

Chapter 1

The Emperor

ARTICLE I. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal.

ARTICLE III. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable.

ARTICLE IV. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution.

ARTICLE V. The Emperor exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet.

ARTICLE VI. The Emperor gives sanction to laws and orders them to be promulgated and executed.

ARTICLE VII. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, closes and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.

ARTICLE X. The Emperor determines the organization of the different branches of the administration, and salaries of all civil and military officers, and appoints and dismisses the same.

ARTICLE XI. The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and Navy.

ARTICLE XII. The Emperor determines the organization and peace standing of the Army and Navy.

ARTICLE XIII. The Emperor declares war, makes peace, and concludes treaties.

Chapter II

Rights and Duties of Subjects

ARTICLE XXIII. No Japanese subject shall be arrested, detained, tried or punished, unless according to law.

ARTICLE XXIV. No Japanese subject shall be deprived of his right of being tried by the judges determined by law.

ARTICLE XXV. Except in the cases provided for in the law, the house of no Japanese subject shall be entered or searched without his consent.

ARTICLE XXVIII. Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief.

ARTICLE XXIX. Japanese subjects shall, within the limits of law, enjoy the liberty of speech, writing, publication, public meetings and associations.

Itō Hirobumi, Commentaries on the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, translated by Itō Myoji, University of Toronto, in the Public Domain 

Review Questions

• What were some major similarities and differences between the nation-building projects of Japan and Germany?
• How were there policies of both inclusion and exclusion?