33.6 The far east: a.d. 1801 to 1900  (Page 4/6)

The aims of modern Japan were set at that time. Although the imperial family had always had a goal of expansion to eventually conquer the world, the group who wanted to first start north against Russia were represented by Iwakura and his clan and they were now out of favor. The apostles of the strike south concept, moving against the West through Singapore and Manila, were in the ascendancy and along with that the policy of exclusion of foreigners from the sacred soil was continued. In 1865, as Japan was preparing for civil war between the Shogun Tukugawa and the Lord of Choshu, the Perry treaty remained unfulfilled and the nation came to a standstill. It was not until the old emperor was assassinated in 1868 and the new Emperor Meiji took over that the troops of the Tokugawa Shogun were defeated and a new era of reform, including some breakdown of class distinction, transfer of the capital to Edo (now Tokyo) and the restrictions against westerners were temporarily lifted. The theory was that Japan must grow strong, expand overseas to establish a defense perimeter outside the sacred soil and only then expel the barbarians. Iwakura, back in power as an adviser, went overseas for 2 years to see what Japan had to contend with in the rest of the world, while the homeland began to industrialize. An anachronism is that even in this l9th century sugar cane was still milled by manpower, in Japan. (Ref. 260 ) Returning from abroad, Iwakura gradually forced Korea to open her ports to Japanese commerce by gun-boat diplomacy and at the same time, by getting hoarded gold from wealthy merchants, he stabilized Japan's economy and established public confidence in his currency and bonds. In a sense Japan became westernized by fiat. Militarism was reinforced, conscription was adopted late in the 1870s after a brief but brutal civil war and the army was organized on the Prussian model. (Ref. 279 ) Japanese merchants became the shipping magnates, the money lenders the financiers and the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Kokura became great industrial centers. When the strong man Iwakura Tomoni died, Emperor Meiji himself, although remaining in the background, carefully continued the industrialization. His sons were educated in Europe at Sandhurst and St. Cyrl, the Polytechnique,- etc. learning the military physics and western arts of war. Saion ji Kinmochi, a prince of the Fujiwara family had gone abroad to study also in 1871 and remained in Paris 9 years. On his return home, he helped draft a constitution based primarily on Bismarck's for Germany, although he retained all-encompassing power for the emperor. It was presented to the people in 1889; (Ref. 139 , 12 , 8 , 242 )

The population of Japan in 1888 was 39,500,000 and the proportion living in cities of over 100,000 was small. This population was to double in the next 30 years, even though the Japanese islands are smaller than California, with only about 1/6 of the land arable. The Sino-Japanese War, beginning in 1894, had developed over the control of Korea and Taiwan and was simply a part of the long range plan of conquering both China and Russia. It started Japan on its course as a great power. Using their adequate coal deposits and their long standing copper industry, Japan launched heavy industry on a large scale after 1895. The ultimate result of all these political and commercial changes was a decline of the shoguns and a regaining of supreme powers by the emperors in a more overt manner. The Shinto religion was revised, the emperor was considered divine by lineage and wisdom and the country underwent an amazingly rapid transformation into a modern nation. There was improved agriculture as well industrialization and an improved silk worm culture allowed independence from the Chinese silk producers. Japanese settlers migrated throughout their empire, including the newly won Taiwan, obtained in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895). Universal military service had been introduced in 1872 and the Gregorian calendar had been adopted in 1873. (Ref. 8 , 46 , 68 , 242 )