The Making of Modern Japan An Account of the Progress of Japan from Pre-feudal Days to Constitutional Government & the Position of a Great Power, With Chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education, &c.

In preceding pages some account has been given of the steps by which a Far Eastern nation has risen to its present position of a Great Power. The period occupied by this transfo...

The signature of the Treaty was loudly condemned by the Court party, the ex-Prince of Mito being conspicuous amongst those who protested. He addressed a violently worded remonst...

The changes introduced after the Restoration group themselves broadly into two kinds—those borrowed from abroad, and those due to the inspiration of the reformers themselves. Th...

The threatening attitude of Russia, who no longer made any pretence of masking her designs in China, was regarded with increasing anxiety in Japan, where the necessity of prepar...

The origin of the activity displayed by Japan in the reorganization of her army and navy, the efficiency of which was so strikingly demonstrated in the war with China, may be tr...

The Peace Preservation Regulations provided, as we have seen, amongst other things, for the removal of persons suspected of designs to disturb the public peace from areas in the...

Much space has been given in the preceding chapter to the Tokugawa period of administration. For this no apology is due to the reader. The period in question, held in grateful r...

In addition to the various Agreements for the occupation of Chinese territory mentioned in the preceding chapter, negotiations were conducted with the Chinese Government about t...

The rule of Hidéyoshi was followed by that of a new line of Shōguns. The circumstances under which it was established are well known. At the death of Hidéyoshi in 1598 the gover...

The abolition of the feudal system formed one of the subjects of discussion in the embryo parliament, the _Kōgisho_, soon after its creation in 1869. The way had been prepared f...

The decree announcing the Imperial decision to establish a Parliament in 1890 was issued on the 12th October, 1881. In this decree the Emperor refers to his intention from the f...

The abolition of feudalism came as a boon to the peasantry. If it inflicted much hardship on the _samurai_, who formed the bulk of the military class, while the verdict as to it...

In the spring of the following year (1869), when order was finally restored and the young Mikado had held his first audience of foreign representatives, an attempt was made to g...

The numerous measures called for by the abolition of feudalism did not prevent the new Government from turning their attention to foreign affairs. In the same year (1871) which...

The year 1894 marks a memorable stage in the rise of Japan to the position in the world she has since attained. It witnessed two events of far-reaching importance: the revision...

When mentioning in a previous chapter the occurrence of dissensions in the Ministry soon after the Restoration, attention was drawn to a point of some importance—the division of...

When the main thread of our narrative was interrupted in order to enable the reader to form some idea of Japanese religions, and their relation to the modern progress of the cou...

With the return of the Itō mission in September, 1883, the task of framing a Constitution was commenced. By that time the conservative tendencies in the Ministry had become more...

Those who are at all familiar with Chinese history will scarcely have failed to notice one persistent feature of it—the suzerainty that China has either exercised, or claimed to...

Soon after the opening of negotiations for the re-establishment of friendly relations with China the Governments of Great Britain and Germany concluded an Agreement of a self-de...

Rise of Japan and Germany Compared—Renewal of Anglo-Japanese Alliance—Japan and the Great War—Military and Naval Expansion—Japan and China—The Twenty-one Demands—Agreement with...

More than once in the course of this narrative has reference been made to the Japanese family system, the influence of which is responsible for so much that is distinctive in th...

In the movement which swept away the Tokugawa Shōguns two cries were raised by the Imperialists: “Honour the Sovereign” and “Expel the foreigner.” They constituted the programme...

Attention has already been called to the very friendly relations existing for many years between Japan and the United States, relations so cordial as to be responsible for the d...

Before the Restoration the State concerned itself little with education. There were, indeed, in Yedo, as Tōkiō was then called, two or three Government schools open to youths of...

The fortunes of the first line of Kamakura Shōguns, so called from the seat of government being at that place, gave no indication of the permanence of duarchy, though it may hav...

The political considerations which have affected religious development in Japan are chiefly, though by no means entirely, connected with her modern progress. Under the Tokugawa...

The stage now reached in our narrative seems to be a suitable moment for giving a sketch of the main features which marked the proceedings of the Diet from the date of its first...

There is much speculation, but no certainty, regarding the origin of the Japanese people. It is, however, generally held that the Japanese race is made up of two main elements—o...

In the previous chapter the outbreak and suppression of the Satsuma rebellion were recorded. An outline was also given of the course of events by which the administration assume...

The simultaneous creation in Japan of a Parliament and a Constitution offers a contrast to the sequence of political history elsewhere. There is no essential connection between...

Rise of Japan and Germany Compared—Renewal of Anglo-Japanese Alliance—Japan and the Great War—Military and Naval Expansion—Japan and China—The Twenty-one Demands—Agreement with...