Social Chapter 15 section:5

1. Social 8: Chapter 15
A Changing Order
Section:5
By: Nikita, Alyssa, Akiela, Hana.

2. A Changing Order
Mutsuhito selected a new name during the
first year of his reign.
 Meiji meaning “enlightened rule”.
Emperors had been in the background during
the years of Tokugawa shogunate. They lived
secluded lives in the imperial palace in Kyoto
hidden away from people.
The Emperor was the supreme ruler of Japan,
but the shogun had all the power.
The three year period beginning in 1867 when
the young emperor came to the throne is
known as the Meiji Restoration.

3. A Changing Order Cont’d
The government emphasized the importance of
the emperor. He had been restored to his
rightful place.
The government emphasized the importance of
the emperor; he had been restored to his
rightful place as head of Japan.
Emperor Meiji’s reign lasted until his death in
1912; this is known as the Meiji period.
The spread of education, wealth of the
merchant class, and the increase in commerce
during the last century of the Edo era has set the
scene for change in Japanese society.

4. New Ideas About Government
The samurai who had led the fight to defeat the
shogunate and restore the emperor now became his
advisors.
This oligarchy unelected group of powerful leaders
took control of the government and ruled the
country.
The advisors then realized that Japan would have to
change, in order to keep westerners from taking over
Japan as they had done to China.
Japan needed economic, and military power that
could take its place proudly in the modern world.

5. New Ideas About Gov’t Cont’d
The Meiji leaders had 2 goals:
To create a strong central government that could
unite the country and rule effectively.
 To create a form of government closer to the
democracies of the west.
Rallying around the emperor:
The emperor had always been a powerful
symbol to the Japanese people.
He was traditionally believed to be the
descendent of the sun goddess Amaterasu.

6. New Ideas For Gov’t Cont’d
The Meiji leaders began their transformation by
ensuring the importance of their emperor of a
strong nation.
Their first step was to move the imperial court
from Kyoto to Tokyo new name for Edo, the
capital.
The Meiji leaders believed that with the
emperor and the government in the same place,
the connection between the two would be
obvious to the people.

7. Losing Power
In order to increase the power of the emperor and
the government, the Meiji leaders encouraged the
daimyo to turn over their lands to the state.
The daimyo were given pensions as compensation
, the Meiji leaders pointed out that the land had
actually always been the property of the
government.
The samurai system was abolished by the
government.

8. Losing Power Cont’d
The Samurai were given a tax-free income, but
this did not last long.
It was clear the samurai had to get jobs.
The feudal system in Japan had now come to an
end.
In the future, only the government would have
the right to collect taxes.

9. Opportunities For The Common
People
Commoners were given new rights after the
Charter Oath.
They were allowed to choose where they
would live and the occupation they would
pursue.
For centuries they were known only by their
given names and the work they did, they
were given names and work, they were now
allowed to have a family surname.

10. Opportunities For The Common People
Cont’d
The old rules about dress were no
longer enforced.
Peasants were made the outright
owners of their land.
Legislation was passed to end
discrimination against the outcasts.

11. Education Reform
The Meiji leaders wanted to reform the
Japanese education system to bring it close to
those of the west.
It was modeled on the American and the French
Systems.
In the early 1880’s, the leaders decided that
education needed to be based on traditional
values and centred on developing respect for
the emperor.
Educated Individuals would make rich and
strong country.

12. Education Reform Cont’d
Japan stayed the same, despite the Charter Oath.
Traditional family patterns did not change. Fathers
continued to have legal authority for their families.
This made family decisions about education,
marriage, jobs, property.
Family members who defied father’s authority
became a nonentity non-person.
Class distinctions remained. Common people still
looked up to their superior. Old upper classes still
held prejudices about common people.

13. Education Reformed Cont’d
Rural peasant’s lives remained the same. Land
taxes were very high, a lot of the country ended
up in the hands of money lenders or
landowners.
Peasant framers ended up renting or
sharecropping land owned by others and had to
pay rent even when crops failed.
Many could not afford to send their children,
especially their daughters to school.
In rural areas, many remained illiterate until the
end of the Meiji period.

14. Pictures