Japanese History 18501930 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Japanese History 18501930 - Essay Example At the same time, they contributed to Japan's national project. In this paper I shall discuss why have concepts of restoration, reform reconstruction and revitalization dominated the thoughts and actions of Japan's ruling elites from the 1850s to the 1930s How have these ideas manifested themselves in governmental or elite-level policies over the same period What does the resilience of these ideologies tell us about state-society relations in Japan over the years 1850-1930 Japan has been packaged as a potential model over two periods: 1890s to 1930s and 1950s to 1970s. In between these two periods, during the 1930s and 1940s, Japan was considered as having been a failure. Ian Inkster has pointed out that in the earlier period - the period with which this paper is concerned - there was an emphasis on the role of government or the Japanese mentality2. This was certainly so in the case of Dyer. The message was that Western politicians and bureaucrats should act. In the latter period, the significance of the role of Meiji bureaucrats has been downplayed. The message to developing nations even today is that cultural traits, individuality and democracy are the best way of ensuring socioeconomic progress3. Lets analyze Japan through the eyes of the historians to understand the era better. Japan has, throughout this century, meant different things to different people. Through a close reading of one of Historian's' books, this paper will attempt to identify the historical context in which it was written and read. Historian's' writing clearly shows how their attitudes to issues, such as race, were transformed into a complex narrative about the origins and history of the Japanese people. As Prasenjit Duara has persuasively argued, "social Darwinism joined race and History to the nation-state". As George Wislon rightly states so that the histories of the nation-states which are written tend to "narrate the evolving unity of the nation" This paper argues that for Historian's, science educator and clergyman, Japan provided strong evidence of how race was the key to understanding national evolution, and how science could serve as a civilizing influence. Race was equated with nation, and by understanding Japanese racial superiority one could understand the basis for their military and economic success. In this way, Historian's' writings reveal more about himself and their times, than they do about Japan. Historian's, in short, argues that human biology (Aryan blood) can account for much of the success of the Japanese, and that power struggles between nations can be viewed as an evolutionary struggle between races. Dyer, the engineer, sees nations as competing with each other too, but in a struggle to be efficient. He attributes Japanese success to their environment, an environment, which he points out, is not unlike that of Britain! Japan however had bushid" (the way of the samurai) which helped galvanize the nation, s omething which the British could learn from. Lets see the impact of the imperialists during this