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1 CE
Japan Changes
- The Japanese overthrew the last Shogun and put their emperor in charge
- Japan ended its policy of isolationism
- Emperor Meiji’s government decided the only way to avoid China’s fate was to modernize through selective borrowing from the Western nations
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China's Unequal Treaties
After the Opium War of 1839-1842, Japan was convinced they had to open up to the West. -
Internal Problems
- Declining agricultural productivity
- Periodic crop failures, famine, and starvation
- Harsh taxes on peasants
- Samurai and daimyo are in debt to merchants
- West arrives demanding trade with Japan
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The Meiji Restoration
Japanese period beginning in 1853 when Japan went from a non-industrial feudal nation to a modern, industrial and imperial power