Question

What factors lead to the Meiji Restoration?

Answer 1

IF U WANT TO KNOW IN TERMS OF SOCIAL, ECONOMICAL & POLITICAL :
- Feudalism
- Figurehead emperor
- Treaty of Kanagawa signed when Matthew Perry came into Tokyo Bay made the Japanese people feel like their emperor was selling out to "hairy barbarians" (Europeans)
- Once Europeans got into Japan, they made them sign unfair treaties much like the situation with the Opium wars in China (History does repeat itself)

Economical:
- Isolated, only the Dutch could trade by 1640 to the Port of Deshima
- Feudal, basis of trade was between the islands
- Needed to industrialize to keep up with the WEst so they don't fall under the wrath of European imperialism as the Chinese did

Social:
- Feudalism
- Samurais got unfair privileges and only a selected few could join the military
Rate

Fearing European control of Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867) limited contact with foreigners and adopted a policy of isolation. The shoguns restricted trade and prohibited European clergy from entering Japan. Japanese were not allowed to travel overseas. Japan's isolation was shattered in July 1853 when a fleet of American ships sailed into Edo Bay, demanding trading rights.
Recognizing the superiority of the United States Navy, the shogun opened Japanese ports to the Americans. Britain, France, and Russia quickly followed and acquired trading rights of their own. Upset
with the shogun for allowing foreign influences in Japan, the daimyo and samurai overthrew the shogun in 1867 and "restored" the emperor to power. Up to then, the emperor had been nothing more than a figurehead. The young emperor took the name Meiji, meaning "enlightened rule." This period in Japanese history is called the Meiji Restoration.