Meiji Restoration /Japan’s Opening to

the West
Sources:
1. Primary:
a. Political/Social: https://repository.kulib.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125396/1/ecb0221_023.pdf
b. Economic: https://repository.kulib.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125281/1/ecb0122_063.pdf
2. https://illustrationchronicles.com/a-crazy-sake-fuelled-trip-to-kawanabe-kyosai-s-
school-for-spooks Art
3. https://www.nippon.com/es/views/b06902/ Tertiary

Title of the Revolution and Reform in Meiji Restoration

source:
Author(s) of Horie Hideichi
the source:
Type or Pdf
source:
Reference in Hideichi, H. (1952, Abril). REVOLUTION AND REFORM IN MEIJI
APA: RESTORATION. KURENAI. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125396/1/ecb0221_023.pdf
Source
analysis
variables
Relevance: High as it is written by someone from Japan and certificated by a local
university, it is not a simple publication, it is a whole research of the era
that includes tables and references from other people’s research, which
gives a big relevance to the document
Reliability: It is an investigation endorsed by the Kyoto University and was written
by a native person from the country, who also made previous research of
the topic
Limitations: I can only find one limitation in the document which would be the lack of
other people’s point of view, which could enrich how the nations was
seen from the eyes of the country itself and other countries’ point of view
Select a part “No one will deny that the political upheaval commonly known as the
of your Meiji Restoration was a revolutional change in the history of the Japanese
Primary people.”
Source to
 identify: One This is an opinion as the author includes his opinion by assuming we will
opinion of know about what he is talking about. So, it is not a fact, as he cannot
the author know it.
(textually
copy the
fragment,
and justify it
by
answering:
"What part of
this
information
made you
think this was
an Opinion?
How so?)
Select a part “In 1839, the head of the Mito clan, Nariaki Tokugawa, fearing the
of your rapidly rising number and strength of the farmer revolts, recognized them
Primary as a sign of the times. The critical situation and unrest among the ruling
Source to military class began to show divisions within their ranks.”
identify: One
fact stated by This statement is a fact as it contains a date, and they cannot be changed
the author as they are stated facts.
(textually
copy the
fragment,
and justify it
by
answering:
"How did you
determine
this was a
Fact? How
so?)

Title of the A Crazy Sake-Fuelled Trip to Kawanabe Kyōsai’s School for Spooks
source:
Author(s) of Kawanabe Kawanabe Kyōsai
the source:
Type or Web Site - Secondary Source
source:
 Reference in Kawanabe, K. ō. (1874). School for spooks (Bakebake gakkō) no 3 1874.
APA: Art Gallery of NSW.
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/89.2018/

Source
analysis
variables
Relevance: Mid, as it is an abstract painting of the time or the oppression in the Edo
Period, which lead into chaos years after
Reliability: It is high as it tries to express the oppression at the time, by a simple
painting which with the use of the simplest way of evil; demons, tries to
interpret the corruption, the suffer from the people
Limitations: It has a big disadvantage that it is the lack of any words in this painting, which
allows the people to make their own judgement of the painting, lending itself to
interpretations

Key Activity Part 2

Through this text it will be analyzes different aspects such as the political and social
perspectives of Japan, specifically during the Meiji Revolution. After analyzing these
aspects, it will be shown how they influenced, or produced, this problem. The Meiji
Revolution was, as its name states, a revolution that was originally caused by a political event
that restored the Imperial Rule to Japan in 1868 under the first monarch, Meiji.

To start, it will be reviewed the social aspects that caused this revolution. The main cause
here were the previous rebellions and how they managed to control them, which was as
always, with violence. “During the 265 years under the control of the Tokugawa government,
not less than 1240 farmer insurrections broke out.” Hideichi, H. (1952, Abril), so we can
appreciate how the people tried to rebel not once or twice, but more than a thousand
times. Despite the internal conflicts happening, the people considered those rebellions as
something dumb, or without purpose, as Hideichi says in his investigation.

When analyzing an epoque more specifically a rebellion you should take a look at all the
factors that lead to a revolution. In this case it will be focus on the economic aspect, in which
it will be reviewed the economic causes that produced this inconformity in the people.

The economic aspect can be reflected in the various artworks made at the time, where the
ones at the top had many ornaments and jewelry, being shown in how they dressed; while
the other people, although not in such bad conditions, they did lack the money needed to
prosper; and only had what needed to survive. “The prices went up as the money made at the
time increased as well, so the real value of the samurai's bonds declined. The inflation
benefited the farmers whose land tax was at fixed monetary levels. They gained at the
expense of the samurai and the city dwellers.” like the author Horie Hideichi mentions in his
article “THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEIJI RESTORATION”. It can be
appreciated the constant rebellion against this oppressive government or feudal regime which
took advantage of their people.

I already talked about the social and economic aspects that were present in the Meiji
restoration, now it is only missing the most key factor, which is the political one. The process
in which the political feudal control that was held in Japan during the time, crumbled and
reformed into an empire after six hundred years of government. Many rebellions took part in
this revolution in various places. “In January 1866, Ryuma Sakamoto and Shintaro Nakaoka
of Kochi arranged a meeting between Takamori Saigo of Kagoshima and Koin Kido of
Yamaguchi, and Kagoshima clan and Yamaguchi form the defensive alliance against Shogun
government. The military strength of both clans was brought together. The daimyo and the
upper-class samurai could no longer resist the alliance.” Hideichi, H. (1952, Abril). The
outcome the Meiji Restoration of 1867-68 was made clear. It was a whole process in which
the people looked for the rights to have possession under their own lands. Many battles were
held during this time of revolution and a contract was formed in 1858 “Treaty of Amity and
Commerce” between Japan and the US.

Now that it has been presented a whole panorama about the Meiji restoration, it is time to
talk about something that motivated the people, what made them believe in, so that they were
able to withstand all those bad treats. We refer to a god, to an ideology. What inspired the
people to continue was the hope of the belief that they would succeed was the idea of
achieving a new form of government. The ideology that lasted in the Meiji restoration was
an oppressive, sick, and rotten Capitalism. “Capitalism in Japan developed out of a privileged
factory similar to the privileged manufacture under the absolute monarchs of France.” -Horie
Hideichi (1952, Abril).

The costume of representing and comparing something we fear has always been and will
always be a way of artwork, a way in which humans will represent what they see by linking
it to a devil for example. In the artwork “Kawanabe Kyōsai's Bake-Bake Gakkō (化々學校
), or 'School for Spooks' (1872)” we can see how the people associated the demons with
feudal lords, which represented the evil at the time. In this artwork we can appreciate how
the evil is teaching the humans and other kinds of evils something and the entrance of the
school receiving even more evils. We could interpretate this as a way in which the lords ruled
over the other people and how they oppressed them.
“The parasitic form of land ownership which became common from the Meiji period had
[…] Hideichi, H. (1952, Abril). REVOLUTION AND REFORM IN MEIJI
RESTORATION. KURENAI. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125396/1/ecb0221_023.pdf” I can determinate this is a
judgement as the authors refers to the way the land ownership was inherited had a parasitic
increase. This judgement expresses the author’s point of view by writing a qualifying
adjective to describe a specific event or process.

Topics Causes Effects

Social Lack of responsibility towards the Inconformity and revolts
people More union between the people
Constant revolts
Political Violence and oppression Constant revolts
Constant revolts Similar goals and more organized
revolts
Economic Increasing taxes More poverty
The landlords became more rich and Revolts and coup d’état
powerful

Key Activity Part 3

1. Looking at this artwork, what do you interpret the original intention of the author to
be? Why do you think that? [Indicator]
I think it was a response to the suffer they had endured before the Meiji Restoration, a form
of revolution in which they represent how they felt and how they saw the world that
surrounded them. It was a manner of expressing their actual situation.

2. Multicultural Reflection Questions. Having researched about your own or another

country, including artwork:
a. What kind of research do you need to do when you're going to visit another
city or country in order to know about their culture? Where and how do you
have to look for it? [Multicultural Knowledge]
I think that the best way to get familiarized with another country, for stance, is to
search for primary sources that can answer what you need, via internet of local. I
refer to local people or documents created by them and supported by an
organization. You need a historical, political, and social research to get
familiarized with a country, with these actions you can prevent a situation in
 which the different cultures differ in something and commit anything you will
regret.

b. Do/Did you have any prejudice regarding your researched topic in this Key
Activity, or the people involved in this historical event? Having already
researched about it, how do you feel about the people who experienced the
events seen in your topic? Why? [Multicultural Social and Emotional
Learning]
At first, I got influenced by the fact that the higher ups threated the people with
injustice as if they were nothing, although they were both humans. Then I realized
how the feudal lords did not want their territories to be taken away and lose their
wealth, which can be understandable up to a point, however it does not justify
their actions. I am very moved due to the fact that the people still wanted a change
even though their constant revolutions were taken down anew and were punished
once more

Kawanabe Kyōsai's Bake-Bake Gakkō ( Emiliano Gonzalez Luna

化々學校), or 'School for Spooks' Interpretation of the Artwork “School
(1872). Source: 獺祭書屋 of Spoks” by Kawanabe Kyosai
 APA References:

• Hideichi, H. (1952). REVOLUTION AND REFORM IN MEIJI

RESTORATION. Economic Review, XXII, 23–34.
https://doi.org/10.11179/ker1926.22.23
• Kyoto University Economic Review. (1927). Economica, 19, 129.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2548375

• Hideichi, H. (1937). THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEIJI

RESTORATION. Economic Review, XII, 63–81. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/125281/1/ecb0122_063.pdf
• La Restauración Meiji y el establecimiento del Estado moderno. (2020, May 31).
nippon.com. https://www.nippon.com/es/views/b06902/
• Kyōsai, K. (1872). Bake-Bake Gakkō [Illustration]. ILLUSTRATION
CHRONICLES.