Japan's Modernization and the Meiji Restoration

Vocabulary flashcards covering the opening of Japan, the Meiji Restoration reforms, key historical figures, and Japan's rise as an imperial power.

Sankin-kotai

A system that drained daimyo finances and reduced military capacity, contributing to the structural instability of the Bakufu.

Black Ships

The term for the eight ships led by Commodore Perry in $1853$ to intimidate Japan into opening its ports.

Treaty of Kanagawa ($1854$)

An agreement that opened two minor ports to American ships, ended the isolationist policy of sakoku, and permitted a $US$ consul.

Treaty of Shimoda ($1855$)

The diplomatic treaty signed between Russia and Japan following Russia's diplomacy attempts at Nagasaki.

Edwin O. Reischauer

An American scholar of Japan and $US$ Ambassador to Japan ($1961$-$1966$) who established Japanese studies as an academic field at Harvard University.

Sakoku

Japan's isolationist policy maintained since the $1630\text{s}$ which was ended by the Treaty of Kanagawa.

Satcho Alliance

The alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu domains that seized Kyoto and successfully defeated shogunal forces by $1868$.

Charter Oath ($1868$)

A Five Article Oath that outlined goals for declarative assemblies, pursuit of global knowledge, and the end of outdated customs.

Meiji Constitution ($1889$)

A document proclaimed as a gift from the Emperor that established a bicameral system known as the National Diet.

Genro

Unofficial elder statesmen, primarily samurai from the Satsuma and Choshu domains, who held significant political influence from the late $19\text{th}$ century to the early $1930\text{s}$.

Yamagata Aritomo

The Choshu leader who built the modern imperial Japanese army using universal conscription introduced in $1873$.

Shibusawa Eiichi

Known as the 'Father of Japanese capitalism,' he introduced Western-style banking, joint-stock corporations, and modern accounting.

Iwasaki Yataro

A former samurai born into a peasant family in $1835$ who founded the Mitsubishi corporation.

Zaibatsu

Wealthy, well-connected individuals or groups who bought factories from the government and invested in heavy machinery and international trade.

Education Act of $1872$

Legislation that established compulsory nationally funded primary education and organized the country into school districts.

Iwakura Mission ($1871$-$1873$)

A diplomatic voyage to the West that served as a blueprint for Japan's internal reforms and modernization.

Russo-Japanese War ($1904$-$1905$)

A conflict sparked by interests in Manchuria and Korea where an Asian power defeated a European power for the first time in centuries.

Admiral Togo Heihachiro

The Japanese naval commander who led the successful attack on Port Arthur and the Battle of the Tsushima Straits.

Battle of the Tsushima Straits

A decisive naval engagement in May $1905$ where the Japanese fleet outnumbered and crippled the Russian navy, leading to their surrender.

Treaty of Portsmouth ($1905$)

The peace agreement ending the Russo-Japanese War; negotiated with President Theodore Roosevelt, it denied Japan significant territorial concessions.

Treaty of Shimonoseki

The $1895$ treaty ending the Sino-Japanese War in which China ceded Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan.

The Triple Intervention

The action by France, Germany, and Russia that humiliated Japan by forcing the return of the Liaodong Peninsula to China.