Meiji Period

Until the Edo period, Japan maintained a state of national isolation under the Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels, using force to drive away foreign ships approaching its shores. In 1853 (Kaei 6), Commodore Perry, commander of the U.S. East India Squadron, arrived suddenly off Uraga with four ships and demanded that Japan open to the world. Faced with overwhelming modern Western military power, the Tokugawa shogunate was compelled to open the country in 1854 (Kaei 7).

After Perry’s arrival, Japan split between the “expel the foreigners” faction and those who supported opening the country.
After a series of incidents, the sonnō jōi faction—loyal to the Emperor—overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867 (Keio 3).
At Nijo Castle in Kyoto, the 15th shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu carried out Taisei Hokan, returning political power to the Emperor. In 1868 (Keio 4/Meiji 1), the Meiji government was established, aiming to create a centralized state under the Emperor and transform Japan into a modern nation.
Edo was renamed Tokyo, and the era name became Meiji. The events from the late Edo period through the birth of the Meiji government are known as the Meiji Restoration.

In the early Meiji period, one of the government’s first priorities was to solidify a political system centered on the Emperor. The abolition of the han system ended the domain-based local rule that had lasted for over 250 years and replaced it with prefectures established by the new Meiji government.
During the Edo period, local daimyo governed their lands and people in a lord-vassal relationship with the Tokugawa shogun in Edo. To build a strong nation that could stand up to foreign powers, the Meiji government promoted centralization, consolidating authority dispersed across the domains under the Emperor’s name. This era also led to the basic framework of today’s prefectural system.

After Japan opened to the world, the gap between Japan and Western nations became undeniable. To catch up, Japan pursued wide-ranging reforms.
The key figure driving fukoku kyohei within the Meiji government was Okubo Toshimichi, one of the “Three Great Nobles of the Restoration.”
Three signature reforms he championed were the education system, the tax system, and the military system.

The first focus was education. The government believed that strengthening the nation required improving the learning and skills of its people.
Issued in 1872, the education system enabled anyone to attend school regardless of social status or gender.

Another major challenge for the Meiji government was unstable finances. Policies required huge funding, yet the tax system relied largely on nengu, payments in crops, so revenue fluctuated with each year’s harvest.
To stabilize income, the government introduced the Land Tax Reform, taxing land itself rather than harvest yields. This created a more predictable revenue stream and helped stabilize national finances.
The reform also recognized private land ownership and made buying and selling land possible, leading to a new land market.

At the time, Japan lacked a true national army. Even the “imperial forces” in the Boshin War were largely made up of samurai gathered from various domains.
The government issued the Conscription Ordinance, recruiting soldiers from the general population. In principle, men aged 20 and older were required to serve for three years.

Western clothing spread early among the upper classes as uniforms and formalwear, but kimono were still common among ordinary people at the time.
Hairstyles, however, changed dramatically. The Haircutting Order required men to cut off their chonmage topknots, leading to the short, Western-style hair seen today.

In the Meiji period, the upper classes gradually began eating more Western food, but everyday meals at home were still mainly Japanese cuisine.
One dish that became popular among the general public was gyunabe, similar to sukiyaki, seasoned in a Japanese style with miso, soy sauce, and sugar. Until then, influenced by Buddhism, eating meat had not been common in Japan.
Around this time, chabudai (low dining tables inspired by Western tables) also appeared, and families began gathering around the same table to eat together.

Lamps and matches began to be used as convenient new items in daily life. Compared with andon oil lanterns and candles used through the Edo period, kerosene lamps were much brighter. In busy districts such as Ginza, gaslights were installed along streets, lighting up the city.

In the early Meiji period, Western styles flourished as Western culture entered Japan. But as nationalism rose, the value of traditional art was reassessed, leading to a renewed return to traditional arts. Japanese traditional art and Western art often clashed over which should be favored, but in 1907 the Ministry of Education established an official art exhibition, steering the two toward coexistence. Let’s look back at Meiji-era artists who worked across these styles.

Takeuchi Seiho was a pioneer of modern nihonga (Japanese-style painting), born in Kyoto to a family that ran a small restaurant.
He was known for lifelike yet delicate depictions, especially of animals-so vivid it was said he could even paint their scent. He also traveled across Europe and painted Western animals such as elephants and lions, earning high acclaim in Japan and abroad.

Shimomura Kanzan was a nihonga painter from Wakayama Prefecture.
His work is known for tarashikomi, a technique of dripping one color into another before it dries to blend on the paper, as well as bold compositions that make strong use of negative space. He also combined traditional methods such as hori-nuri (painting around lines without filling them) and tsuketate (creating shading and volume in a single stroke without outline lines).
He was one of the artists who created new works by blending classic nihonga techniques with color sensibilities influenced by the West.

Kawai Gyokudo was a nihonga painter who loved Japan’s nature and depicted mountains, rivers, and seasonal landscapes from the Meiji through Showa periods. While his compositions could be modern and geometric, his work also carried an ink-painting feel. His depictions of natural beauty earned high praise both in Japan and overseas. Beyond landscapes, he also compiled poetry collections, showing deep cultural refinement.

An open-air museum with 67 historic buildings, including 11 Important Cultural Properties. You can ride a Kyoto streetcar or steam locomotive, take photos in Meiji-era dresses, and even try gyunabe, making it a great place to experience Meiji culture firsthand.

A stone-built restaurant originally constructed as the villa of American trader F.W. Horn, said to have introduced the phonograph to Japan. Enjoy excellent Western cuisine in an atmosphere that evokes the Meiji era.

Housed in a building constructed in the Meiji period as a thermal power plant, this museum preserves its original brick exterior and now operates as the Mint Museum. Learn about the history of currency and how coins and money have changed in Japan and around the world.