Meiji Restoration
In July 1853, a squadron of American warships sailed into Edo Bay with the mission to open Japan to the world. Little did they know that this event would precipitate a crisis in Japanese society, the effects of which would be felt for decades to come. In the ensuing period of civil conflict, a power struggle between the Emperor and the Shogun would turn into a battle between the forces of modernization and the forces of traditionalism for the future of Japan.
This is the story of the Meiji Restoration.
Cover Image: Illustration of a Military Review by Toyohara Chikanobu, 1887
Episodes (listed in reverse order)
Woodblock print depicting the Battle of Shiroyama, the final engagement of the Satsuma Rebellion. Nagashima Mōsai, 1877.
Bibliography
Beasley, W. G. The Meiji Restoration. Stanford University Press, 2019.
Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World 1852-1912. Columbia University Press, 2002.
Hillsborough, Romulus. Samurai Revolution: the Dawn of Modern Japan through the Eyes of the Shogun's Last Samurai. Tuttle Publishing, 2018.
Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000.
Ravina, Mark. The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011.
Sansom, George. A History of Japan 1615-1867 Stanford University Press, 1998
The Imperial government moves to suppress the Satsuma Rebellion- the desperate last stand of the former samurai class against the forces of modernization. With the deaths of the last mastermind of the restoration, a new generation takes charge of events in Japan.