The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Mathew Perry was an American and a commodore who traveled in many ships. He threatened to destroy Japan. Mathew Perry bullied the Japanese by forcing them into singing a treaty.This treaty impressed the Japanese with the technologies that the Americans used in their everyday life. He used America’s technology because it was advanced and better than those of the Japanese. They sent many ships in order for Japan to open it to trade and for them to "get on the map".The Japanese were very impressed by the technology of the American steam ships. On March 31, 1854 a treaty was signed between the Americans and Japanese; that opened two ports to the United States to trade with the Japanese. Japan is an archipelago which means that it is made up of many different little islands.

Japan had been in isolated from the rest of the world for so many years that their army and technology was very weak and if they got attacked for their land they would lose it. The Meiji Era had a great effect on Japanese economy. A new emperor came in charge called Meiji. He wanted to bring back the divine right to rule instead of an actual government. The Meiji Restoration was to turn Japan into a modern country. The Meiji period ended, with the death of their emperor in 1912, by this year the Japanese economy became better because of there trading with the United States. They were able to have more contact with the outside world; "putting them on the map," which got them modernized because it seemed as if they were living in a completely different generation. They were able to modernize because they established a government, and different methods of transportation as well as methods of communication.