Meiji Restoration: The Opening of Japan
Seeking for Knowledge
In order to modernize economically, the Japanese found it important to increase their knowledge of the world. Soon after Perry's departure from Japan, bureaucratic Japanese officials proposed the establishment of an institute of the "Study of Barbarian books." Within a few years the name changed to the "Institute of Western Books," and later the "Institute for Development."
Japanese Ambassadors that traveled abroad
- Institutional studies led to the Japanese traveling abroad to the U.S and Europe.
- The voyagers were increasingly sophisticated in the information they brought back.
- From their voyages, the Japanese realized that it was industrial development that distinguished strong nations from the weak.
One Japanese ambassador, in the late 1860s observed that,
"Paris might be more beautiful than London, but England, for all its dirt,
noise and squalor of its urban poor, generated more power. When it
comes to trains, telegraphs, hospitals, schools, armories, and industries,
England must have 20 times what France has."
This exhibits the Japanese realization of how important industry is to a successful economy.
"Paris might be more beautiful than London, but England, for all its dirt,
noise and squalor of its urban poor, generated more power. When it
comes to trains, telegraphs, hospitals, schools, armories, and industries,
England must have 20 times what France has."
This exhibits the Japanese realization of how important industry is to a successful economy.
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