Our theory from class was that through putting down other countries, Japan gained power. However, our thesis was not very accurate, because it was not through interaction with other countries - even indirect interaction - that Japan gained power. Japan gained power through the peaceful way they accepted change and were able to avoid conflict among their nation. They also learned from China’s mistakes, and instead of resisted Western influence, during the Meiji Restoration they were able to use its ideas to strengthen their government and their people.
Part of the reason why Japan was so peaceful was because the people wanted change, but at the same did not want to disrupt their lifestyles, which were, for the most part, successful. For example, merchants had low status but a lot of money. They wanted their status to change, but did not want their money to disappear.
The documents we read in class showed how much Japan hated foreigners and turned them away. This was true for a time, when their only port was Dutch and they turned away even shipwrecked foreigners. But this was not what ended up giving them power. If they had continued along this path, they would have failed just as China did. Instead, they saw recognized China’s mistake and slowly allowed more foreigners to influence them while maintaining a strong sense of national pride.
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