Meiji Era Japan by Kyle Chin

Washington D.C., DC

ilin271 — 2024-11-26 17:33:09 UTC

The Iwakura mission during 1871 was a major reason why Washington D. C. was important to Japanese development. During this mission, Japanese scholars and officials visited Washington D.C. to study their political, economic, and educational systems. This was a significant factor in the modernization of Japan.

Taiwan

kchin271 — 2024-11-26 17:33:41 UTC

An Chinese island that lies roughly in between the Chinese mainland and Japan.

Japan took control of Taiwan at the end of the first Sino-Japanese War, demonstrating that Japan had also caught up to and surpassed China via their modernization. The Japanese victory also demonstrated to the Western imperial powers that they would have some competition, although none of them realized just how soon Japan would prove themselves equal...

Kyoto, Japan

jkeller271 — 2024-11-26 17:35:02 UTC

Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan, but it lost its title to Tokyo in 1868. This movement displays the commitment to change that the Japanese had. They wanted to establish new government and societal systems so they altered locations entirely for a fresh start

Indonesia

2024-11-26 17:35:19 UTC

Indonesia acted as a middle man for the Dutch during the period where the Dutch were the only European country that Japan allowed trade with because they never forced their region on the Japanese.

Portsmouth, NH

kchin271 — 2024-11-26 17:35:51 UTC

Site of the peace negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War with the Treaty of Portsmouth. Resulted in recognition of Japan as a power on par with and even stronger than some of the European powers. Within the treaty were territorial concessions, such as South Sakhalin and Port Arthur. Russia was also required to recognize Japanese control of Korea. However, there were no war reparations, which soured the Japanese opinion of the US.

Tokyo Bay, Japan

jkeller271 — 2024-11-26 17:36:33 UTC

US naval ships sailed into the harbor of Tokyo Bay in 1853. This marked the beginning of Japan’s quest for modernization and the time at which they were forced open for trade with the world

Beijing, China

jkeller271 — 2024-11-26 17:40:26 UTC

Beijing is a major Chinese city that Japan took over. The first Sino-Japanese war began when Japan successfully invaded and took over the sea approaches to Beijing. It resulted in Japan gaining control over Taiwan.

Port Arthur, Dalian, Liaoning, China

kchin271 — 2024-11-26 17:40:32 UTC

A treaty port in China that was leased out to Russia.

It was also the site of the Russian Pacific Fleet, which was destroyed by the Japanese, signaling that Japan had technologically caught up with the Europeans in terms of naval prowess.

The port was turned over to Japan in the Treaty of Portsmouth, firmly establishing Japan as a power who could compete with Europeans in China.

Netherlands

2024-11-26 17:43:02 UTC

The Dutch were the only people allowed to trade with Japan for a long time, because they were only interested in trade with Japan unlike many other European countries who wanted to convert the Japanese is Christians which the Japanese did not like

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

kchin271 — 2024-11-26 17:43:26 UTC

A port roughly 20 miles south of Tokyo.

Japan’s first railroad connected Yokohama and Tokyo, turning the port city into one of the symbols of Japanese modernization. Yokohama was also the first Japanese port to be opened up to foreign trade.

Moscow, Russia

jkeller271 — 2024-11-26 17:44:45 UTC

Moscow is a large Russian city that Japan captured. The Russo-Japanese war ended in a Japanese victory, and showed the entire world that Japan was a formidable imperial force. It became known that they were the strongest Asian power, and they were able to defeat European nations.

Satsuma, Kagoshima, Japan

2024-11-26 17:45:57 UTC

Satsuma was a feudal domain that played a crucial role in overthrowing the feudal system, the Tokugawa shogunate. This was the start of the Meiji restoration because if the Shogunate was still in power then Japan would have been imperialized. Since they helped bring the emperor back into power, Japan was able to imperialize.

Britain, United Kingdom

ilin271 — 2024-11-26 17:46:22 UTC

During the Meiji restoration, Britain provided Japan with a lot of information and technical assistance to the introduction of Western Technology like railroads and the telegraph. This helped Japan modernize better and more efficiently.

Tsushima Strait, Japan

2024-11-26 17:47:01 UTC

A channel in between Japan and Korea, and was where the final naval battle of the Japanese Russian war took place. This shows how much more powerful the Japanese became in just a few decades. It showed how far Japan , an asian country, has come from almost being imperialized to defeated an already established EUROPEAN country, which was not what any country would have expected especially because they were so new.

Germany

ilin271 — 2024-11-26 17:48:04 UTC

Germany played a significant role in the modernization of Japan during this era by providing jobs for the many Japanese students who traveled to Germany to study. Additionally, many German people were hired to work in Japan.

France

ilin271 — 2024-11-26 17:51:02 UTC

Japan’s legal system was influenced by France’s. France also introduced more modern technologies to Japan in many fields. French political thought was also a key influence in forming Japan’s politics.

Scarsdale High School, Post Road, Scarsdale, NY

kchin271 — 2024-11-26 17:52:36 UTC

By making this map, our group was able to visualize some factors that played a role in Japan's history through the Meiji period. For example, they are the furthest from all of the Western Powers- separated by the vast Pacific Ocean from the United States, and across the Eurasian continent, it's easy to see why Japan was isolated for so long, even nearly a century after industrialization started. In a similar way, this map also helps visualize the scope of power that the imperial powers had, being able to set up colonies across the entire world. Another factor the annotated map helped us to realize is where each city and location stands relative to the others- for example, it is difficult to gather the distance between the numerous Japanese cities from readings alone. The map helps put the gradual industrialization of Japan into perspective.

Russia

2024-11-26 17:58:47 UTC

Russia started expanding the Trans Siberian Railroad into Asia, which caused the Russo-Japanese War. The railroad was a huge source of pride for the Russians and it started to approach Asia. This made Japan nervous and started tensions between the two countries which eventually led to the war in which Japan beat Russia by a huge margin and decreased Russian nationalism