Satsuma Dynasty

After nine bloody months of the Satsuma Rebellion, the Meiji Dynasty finally came to power in the late 19th century. With this new dynasty, came the need for not only a new emperor but also someone the Japanese people could identify themselves with or look up to during this time. The oligarchy believed that in order to save Japan from imperialism they had to modernize and become like the West. Emperor, Meiji, shared these progressive ideas. Japan began its period of revolutionizing which included everything from opening their trade ports to foreigners to creating a compulsory education system. With Meiji meaning enlightened ruler, it was clear that the dynasty planned on civilizing and enlightening its country; however, this modernization would slowly decrease the essence of what it meant to be a Japanese nation. Three important factors that contributed to Japan’s identity crisis were;
For example, during the Tokugawa period, the Japanese were isolated from foreigners and had closed all their trade ports minimizing any contact with the outside world in order to have complete control of Japan. Once the Meiji dynasty came to power, they opened all their trade ports in order to increase the country’s economy and allow Western influence to flow into Japan, which would greatly diminish any chances of imperialism by the West. The Japanese Land Tax Reform of 1873 was founded by the Meiji government in, which, it gave people the right of to own private lands in Japan for the first time. Different from the Tokugawa period, where taxes where paid in rice and crops, the new land tax reform generated a uniform system for taxing landowners who were now paid in cash and no longer in crops. Farmers were able to now own their own land rather than borrowing land from the emperor. This gave way for the development of capitalism in