The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Japan is a archipelago because it is made up of many islands. Before Japan opened its trade routes to any other foreign countries they were isolated. In their state of being isolated they had no contact or communication with countries. Due to the fact that they were isolated for so long, they were trapped in time with their old technology, not knowing about all the new technology that was actually out there. Mathew Perry bullied Japan into signing a trade treaty due to their opposition towards the American. When Mathew Perry brought the ships to the ports of Japan, the Japanese were shocked to see the technology the Americans had, such as steamboats and rifles. The American needed to Japan to open their trade ports so that American ships could use Japan as a refill station. American ships would use these ports to refill in food, water, and coal. During the Meiji Era, Japan threw away the whole idea of feudalism. In 1668, the emperor Mutsuhito took back his thrown in Japan. He believed in order for Japan to be equal in political and economically was by sending Japanese scholars to America to learn and bring back the Western ways to Japan. They began to modernize and industrialize by the teachings of the Western ways. The scholars brought back the ways of industrializing railroads and factories to produce goods.