Customer Reviews

The Meiji Restoration

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This book seems to me the best book on the topic. It tells you why and how the revolution took place in Japan in the mid 19th century. It doesn't compare different ways of modernizing but tells the story from the Japanese side only. By this revolution Japan became a modern industrialized state. Beasley explains also why it isn't called a revolution but a restauration. The book starts with the problems Japan was facing round 1850 and the different ways different classes reacted on these problems. It also pointed out in which way the West influenced the internal and foreign policies of the Bakufu and their advisaries. The revolution from above was followed by anarchy from below. After beating the power of those anarchists the upperclass lost their power to middle-grade samurai. The reason for this were the emotions the anarchists unleased in the people of Japan. All this was disguised by a formal appeal to the Emperor, who was in the end "restored" to his power. In reality a group of lower samurai sized power in name of the emperor. Beasley explaines why they used traditional ways to introduce a new kind of governement. The book is well written in a clear style. Beasley knows what he is talking about and knows well to tell a story. His explanation why things went this way is convincing. A great book about a difficult topic.

Beasley takes on an wide and very complex period of Japanese history with "The Meiji Restoration". Although the book is somewhat aged, and somewhat expensive, it is still a serious work on the period, and offers a fantastic introduction into the time of the Meiji Restoration and the end of Tokugawa rule.

Beasley basically views the Restoration from an "internal" perspective, attempting to see it from Japanese angles, rather than foreign angles. In so doing, he deals with a broad range of aspects including economic, social, military and political spheres. Seen from this viewpoint, you gain a very interesting insight into Japanese society in the late Edo period until the early Meiji. Despite this, Beasley does not neglect the massive impact contact with Western powers and the West's activities in China had on Japan.

The bewildering number of figures that come and go during the book presented me with some problems. It was difficult to keep track of which person came from what class and what domain, especially when they had similar names, likes Okuma and Okuba. This might require a bit of flipping through the index to refresh one's memory, as it did with me.

Particular points of interest for me included the increased social mobility between the classes in later Edo times, such as people moving into the lower Samurai ranks, and even Samurai leaving the class to become merchants and the like, to make more money. Additionally, I found the fact that many of the middle and lower Samurai survived and became major players in the Meiji government very interesting. It was not simply Samurai versus the merchant and village classes, but actually a lot of it was samurai working against the Bakufu.

Despite the age and the expense, this is one book anyone interested in the Meiji Restoration should get. This is definitely a book that upholds the adage "Don't judge a book by its cover". It doesn't look much, but the plain cover hides an excellent addition to your Japanese history collection. It is still an authoritative exposition on the time.