Notes
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The issues that Japan had to face to make it into a modern industrial nation were:
-Military Reforms -Political Reforms -Economic challenges -Foreign Policy directions -Enfranchising the people -The Role of the Emperor -Japanese ‘enlightenment’ -Genyosha (Black Ocean Society), later BlackDragon Society ultranationalist groups -Liberal Party (Jiyuto) -Progressive Party (Kaishinto) To make the Constitution work Japan needed a: -Emperor -Privy Council -Army and Navy Generals -House of Representatives The Japanese really cared about their National identity -They wanted equality with the west -They incorporated Nationalism as their system -The Sino-Japan war was from 1894 to 1895 -They occupied Taiwan in 1895 -The Russia-Japan war from 1904 to 1905 -They occupied Korea in 1910 -The Legacy of the Samurai died out -Emulation of the West -Iwakura Mission was very successful -Other countries culture influenced Japans Rise of the Zaibatsu -Zaibatsu means "financial clique" -It was a Great family enterprise -Responsible for much of Japan’s rise as a world power -Known as "combines" -They exercised huge political influence -The families were: -Mitsui -Yasuda -Mitsibishi -Sumitomo The most significant individuals were: Ito Hirobumi -He was the first genro (oligarch) -Japan’s first prime minister 1885 -He headed Privy Council Yamagata Aritomo -He was the prime minister of Japan two times -He was the Field Marshal in the Imperial Army of Japan -He Dominated the genro after Hirobumi’s death in 1909 -He chose the prime ministers from 1909 to 1922 -He was Militarist -He Distrusted democracy The Genro -They were the trusted advisers of Emperor -They all served as Cabinet members or prime minister -Came from original Meiji leaders -They had no official status, yet they made all the big decisions (War, Peace, PM etc.) -The Last Genro, Prince Saionjo, died in 1940 (The genro decided the prime ministers all the way up to this date) Some of the Socio-cultural and Economic issues that Japan Faced were: -A Population Increase -What the Role of women were in the society -An imperial re-script on education -Landlords and tenants -Rural-urban migration -Commoners -Religion |