IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : History Of China and Japan (1840-1949) - Japan and the West (Up to the Meiji Restroration)

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

History Of China and Japan (1840-1949)

Japan and the West (Up to the Meiji Restroration)

Structure

8.0 Objectives
8.1 introduction
8.2 Initial Contacts
8.2.1 Iberian Interlude
8.2.2 Sakoku
8.2.3 The Dutch Window
8.3 Black Ships off the Coast of Japan
8.4 External Pressure and Internal Debate
8.4.1 The Coming of Perry
8.4.2 The Aftermath
8.5 Anglo-French Rivalry in Japan
8.6 Let Us Sum Up
8.7 Key Words
8.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

8.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you will be able to:

know about the initial contacts Japan had with the Western countries,
learn why Japan adopted a policy of isolation,
understand the reasons behind the efforts of the Western powers to intervene in the internal affairs of Japan,
know the debates in Japan over relations with foreigners,
understand the pressures and circumstances under which Japan had to give up its policy of isolation,
know the impact of the opening up on its internal affairs, and
understand why Japan did not became a colony.

8.1 INTRODUCTION

Japan has had a long historical experience of interacting with different cultures and
societies. This has given it a tradition of acquiring new modes of thinking and using this
tradition for furthering its own objectives. The purpose of this Unit is to trace the
relationship that Japan had with the Western nations before the Meiji Restoration.
Japan's first experience with the Western nations was in the second half of the sixteenth
century and this encounter provided a tradition of scholarship on the West which was
effectively used in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The second encounter, during the high tide of Western imperialism in the middle of the I nineteenth century, ?Has marked by Japan's successful transition from a pre-modern society I
to a modem one without being colonized in the process. The national regeneration and I
preservation of na'tional independence was a product of the successful handling of Western
I imperialist incursions. This Unit discusses the main trends in the internal transformation of
I Japan and how they interacted with Western intrusions.