TABLE1 Reasons for decline in sh̄ogunate power Topic Details Tokugawa sh̄oguns and isolation Unable to completely isolate Japan; Rangaku study increased in popularity Rangaku European discoveries in science and technology beneficial to Japan Tokugawa sh̄oguns and daimȳo Limited wealth and power of daimȳo; decline in power affected feudal role Merchant class Low on feudal pyramid; vital role with more trade opportunities Crop failures and famine Early nineteenth century; four-year famine; peasant rebellions; fire in Osaka Treaty of Kanagawa Forced on sh̄ogun by Commodore Perry; showed sh̄ogun’s weakness Emperor Meiji and modern Japan When Emperor Komei died in 1867, his 15-year-old son Prince Mutsuhito became emperor of Japan. He took the reign name Meiji. In 1868, several samurai clans and some important court nobles forced the resignation of Sh̄ogun Yoshinobu, the last of the Tokugawa sh̄oguns. The clans seized the imperial palace in Kyoto and declared the ‘restoration’ of the emperor to full power. The sh̄ogunate forces tried to defeat them but fell back to defend Edo. Recognising the strength of the imperial forces, Sh̄ogun Yoshinobu surrendered the city. 9.9.3 The new emperor was carried in a heavily guarded royal palanquin from Kyoto to his new home, the sh̄ogun’s palace, Edo Castle. The city of Edo was renamed Tokyo, meaning ‘eastern capital’. It was the beginning of a new age. The transfer of power from the sh̄ogunate to the emperor is known as the Meiji Restoration. Although the emperor was still the spiritual leader of Japan, he did not take control of the country. Emperor Meiji and over 760 daimȳo signed a document called the Charter Oath, a five-point statement introducing a new democracy. However, the main decisions were still made by the same samurai groups who had restored the emperor as the head of government in Japan.
SOURCE6 An illustration of Emperor Meiji as a youngman
TOPIC9 Japan under the sh̄oguns 249
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