Before Meiji Restoration, Japan was a closed and backward country, which was opened by western cannons. At the end of the shogunate, capitalism sprouted economically, and at the same time, the so-called rich peasants and rich businessmen appeared. The innovative forces among the lower samurai and noble-minded people joined hands with powerful princes in the southwest and royal officials in conflict with the shogunate, and put forward the slogan of respecting the king and resisting foreign countries, that is, respecting the emperor and driving away foreign invaders. Collaborate with western forces to assassinate the shogunate; Attacking western businessmen and diplomats in Japan; Attacking ships of western powers, etc. During this period, the revered faction still had illusions about the shogunate, did not explicitly demand the overthrow of the Tokugawa era, was severely suppressed by the shogunate army and western powers, and finally failed.

The new government, headed by the Emperor, issued five vows with political programmatic nature on April 6, 1868, and issued a constitution in June1. On September 3rd, the Emperor issued a decree to change the name of Edo to Tokyo. 654381October 23, the year number was changed to Meiji. 1869 moved its capital to Tokyo on May 9th. And promulgated a series of reform measures:1June, 869, Meiji government enforced the policy of "returning official titles" and "abolishing vassals and establishing counties", divided Japan into three prefectures and 72 counties, and established a centralized political system. In the social system, the identity system of "scholar, agriculture, industry and commerce" in the traditional era was abolished, and the nobles such as officials and princes in the past were renamed as "China people", the samurai below the name of "gentry", and other occupations engaged in agriculture, industry and commerce, untouchables and so on were called "civilians"; In order to reduce the financial burden related to "returning officials", the government gradually recovered the feudal salaries of China people and gentry through the form of public debt compensation; In addition, the samurai's "scraper order" and the "household registration law" which laid the foundation of the household registration system were promulgated.

In terms of social culture, we advocate learning western social culture and habits and translating western works. In the calendar system, stop using the lunar calendar and use the solar calendar (except the year number). Introduce modern western industrial technology; Reform the land system, abolish the original land policy, allow land sales and implement a new local tax policy; Abolish the checkpoints set by governors; Unify the currency and set up the Bank of Japan (the central bank of the country) at 1882; Cancel the guild system and monopoly organizations in the industrial and commercial circles and promote the development of industry and commerce.

In terms of education, the development of modern compulsory education divides the whole country into eight university districts, including 65,438+0 universities, 32 middle schools, 65,438+0 middle schools and 265,438+00 primary schools. Each middle school district has eight primary schools, including eight public universities, 245 middle schools and 53,700 primary schools. Educational institutions promulgated Kao Yu Yi Yu, inculcating ideas such as Kao Dao, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism (some people think this is intended to strengthen the centralized social system and pave the way for future external expansion). In addition, we also send overseas students to study in advanced countries such as Britain, America, France and Germany.

On the military side, reform the military establishment, with the army referring to German training and the navy referring to the British navy; In 1872, the draft order was issued, and all adult men over the age of 20 were required to perform military service. General service is 3 years and reserve service is 2 years. Later, the general service and reserve increased to 3 years and 9 years respectively, totaling 12 years. 1873, the number of mobilized combat troops can reach 400,000. In addition, the Meiji government also developed the state-owned arms industry; In the middle and late Meiji period, the military budget increased sharply, accounting for about 30% ~ 45% of government funds, and militarism and bushido were practiced.

In terms of transportation, improve local transportation and build new railways and highways. 1872, the first railway-Tokyo (Xinqiao) to Yokohama (Sakuragi-CHO).

The road is open to traffic; By 19 14, the total mileage of Japanese railways has exceeded 7000 kilometers. In the judicial aspect, following the western system, 1882 enacted the French criminal law, 1898 enacted the Franco-German mixed civil law, and 1899 enacted the American commercial law. Religion, for political reasons, the government strongly encourages Shinto, because it promotes the idea of loyalty to the emperor and helps the emperor to govern the country. At the same time, other religions are allowed to exist. 1873, Japan lifted the ban on Christian missionary work.

187 1 year, the Meiji government sent a large-scale envoy headed by right minister Iwakura Tomomi to visit Europe and the United States to inspect the capitalist country system. Under the slogan of making Qiang Bing a rich country, achieving prosperity through industrialization and moving towards civilization, the government actively introduced western science and technology, carried out large-scale primitive accumulation in the form of high land tax, and established a number of state-owned enterprises focusing on military industry, mines, railways and shipping. At the same time, introduce modern equipment such as silk reeling and textile, establish demonstration factories and popularize advanced technology; Hire foreign experts, send overseas students abroad and train senior scientific and technological talents. Due to the heavy financial burden, the financial crisis was once triggered. In the early 1980s, the government sold a number of state-owned enterprises and mines to privileged capitalists (so-called political businessmen) who colluded with the government, encouraged Chinese, landlords, businessmen and upper-class gentry to invest in banks, railways and other enterprises with generous protection policies, and trained a number of chaebols. Since the mid-1980s, the climax of the industrial revolution began to appear, centering on the textile industry.