Wait, what? Korea became a Japanese vassal state after the Qing-Japanese war? The treaty defined the Joseon kingdom only as a "free state" thus eliminating the tributary status(which is different from a vassal state) and Chinese influence from Korea. Korea arguably only became an Japanese vassal by 1905 with the Eelsa-treaty, when Russian influence was removed from the nation after the Russo-Japanese war.
the subtitles are horrible and you're everything else then "easy to understand". where the fuck is shirvan??????? HE was easy to understand, speaking slow & clear! free dislike. got me? GET SHIRVAN BACK or the sub is gone!
Sorry to point out three errors I found. First one at 8:38: Korea did not officially become a protectorate of Japan until the Russo-Japanese War broke out ten years later. Japan simply released Korea from Chinese control and put it instead under her own informal sphere, which was later challenged by Russia. So they made war not just because of their interest in Manchuria, more importantly, it was about control of Korea. The second one at 9:10: although the Boxer rebellion initially was anti-Qing authority, it soon cooperated with Qing authority after the authority realised their common interest against foreign influence. Therefore the Qing authority was later heavily punished by great powers for its cooperation with Boxers. The third one at 10:18 is less obvious and clear, but I doubt that the rise of Japan could be attributed to the Meiji Emperor. Although his support was necessary, most of the long-term planning and implementation of Japanese modernisation was carried out by those so-called Meiji statesmen. The actual role of the Japanese emperor in the system was never as great as his German counterpart. His only contribution was doing nothing against the modernisation policy of his government.
@@qwertyuiopzxcvbnm9890 This kind of sounded like Shirvan trying to sound more British. I too realised I quite liked hearing Shirvan after watching this video.
Japan, one of the few countries which remained unconquered by the European/US Empires, during the Era of Imperialism. Instead making an incredible display of will-power and effort to become an Empire itself. It is really one of the most interesting and fascinating events in history. Yet very similar to both the German and Italian Empires, their formation created and extreme imbalance of power which could only be solved by war, and the same ambition which created them ultimately destroyed them. But even after their complete destruction they managed to rebuilt everything even better and stand once again as major powers in the world.
@@daddy_1453 That is far from reality, the US has military bases which serve both US and Japanese interests, primarily to keep China under control. Yes the same China which would probably annihilate Japan if they had the chance to do so. And no Japan is not under occupation by the US, Japan can do whatever it wants whenever it wants, the only treaty they have to comply is that they allow US bases in designated areas and that they don't start a war of aggression. If you want to see what a county in occupation look like, just look at Poland during WW2 that's occupation. Japanese military power is extremely important, they cannot expect a foreign power to protect them forever, and they know that, that's why they are building their navy up. A strong military is a necessity if you are being surrounded by hostile nations, and the US is starting to focus inwards more than outwards, they are no longer so willing to intervine in foreign affairs.
@@billybob-ik5yv Yes, this guy is clearly sucking up to an entire country in a comment section in the hopes of receiving premium hentai in the mail. Because that's how comment sections work.
@@billybob-ik5yv well it was the soviet invasion of mantsuria that convinced the japanese to surrender more than the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki.
@@daddy_1453 Actually Japan still has a fairly strong military. They just call it the 'Self-Defense Forces', but an army by any other name is still an army.
@류기현 Korea was literally one of the reasons japan had to industrialize and go imperialistic. The incompetence of Qing and Joseon threatened the existence of Japan as a free country. If was not for Japan, all of Ásia and Africa were still western colony until to this date.
Don't think America has a clean history. I recalled the bloody civil war and the skills of native Americans whose lands were stolen and they were massacred as well. Not to mention the long history of African American slavery.
The Meiji Restoration saved Japan from ending up like China. The Tokagawa Shogunate could not have resisted foreign powers and then turned it around on them to become an empire. It would have been carved up like coastal China. Thanks to the Empire of Japan, the country ended up doing some of the carving instead of being carved. Now it didn’t end well but the empire is really what allowed Japan to avoid China’s “century of humiliation”.
Rubbish. The industrialization of Japan by western powers was to keep China in check and also prevent the soviets having too much influence in the area. The western countries realized early on that an industrialized China would be the end of the smaller western countries imperialism. Much of like what you’re seeing now… The Japanese caught on too and tried their best to cause harm but even a poor China is just too huge. The Chinese knew time was on their side if they learn to do things right, it would naturally go back to the way things were when China and India accounted for most of the worlds wealth before the west starting setting out and colonizing countries. We are slowly going back to those time because China and India are too big of a civilization. Let me put a quote from Napoleon during his capture: It would be the worst thing you (note: Britain) have done for a number of years, to go to war with an immense empire like China, and possessing so many resources. You would doubtless, at first, succeed, take what vessels they have, and destroy their trade; but you would teach them their own strength. They would be compelled to adopt measures to defend themselves against you; they would consider, and say, 'We must try to make ourselves equal to this nation. Why should we suffer a people, so far away, to do as they please to us? We must build ships, we must put guns into them, we must render ourselves equal to them! They would, get artificers and ship-builders from France and America, even from London; they would build a fleet, and, in the course of time, defeat you. Now great commercial advantage may be lost to England, and perhaps a war with China be the consequence. If I were an Englishman, I should esteem the man who advised a war with China to be the greatest enemy to my country in existence. You would in the end be beaten, and perhaps a revolution in India would follow.
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
Let's not forget that they had a civil war during this period and later became ambitious in its power that we had to nuke them twice. Not to mention the horrible war crimes against the Chinese and every other nation in South East Asia.
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
A new/different narrator. I was so used to Shirhan I was at first convinced I had clicked on the wrong link. ;-) With that said, this was an excellent bridge between the history classical Nihon and that of modern Nippon. Thanks for posting!
I find the total make-over that Japan was able to execute in 30 years to be one of the most interesting events in history. By 1900 it is a thoroughly modern (but not Western) society, with developments parallel to other modern nations at the time, like women suffrage, labour rights, the role of the media and modern comforts. They often found different solutions than those in the west, because of their unique culture. Japan was able to do in 30 years, that which a lot of developing countries still struggle with today.
@@rahilvig8185 that certainly speaks volumes, I honestly think diversity and freedom are inherently bad things, people dont always know what to do with freedom and diversity can always be seen as invasive like plants and weeds Nowadays the west is childishly seeking to find who is the most or least racist and start conflict with their own, its facism masquerading as manners. We were more successful and powerful when we weren't obsessed with this like in the 50s/60s/70s etc. Its really a hard question, diversity and racism are things nature promotes. Racism keeps numbers in check and diversity evolves and sustains numbers. I think the west has made a huge mistake by completely trying to purge racism as a concept biologically it's kind of important as diversity is, the people we are trying not to be racist to are more than racist toward us and nobody does anything about it. We are now tearing ourselves apart and fighting over identity politics while china is amassing power, territory and financial control. We are absolutely divided. Asia definitely knows how to operate a society. I myself struggle to understand why people care about racism so goddam much, it barely affects them or comes up in their lives. I think the rich have cooked this division up to stall the poor.
One of the easiest languages to pronounce. Consonant vowel, consonant vowel, ... sometimes consonant, consonant, vowel ... Difficulty comes from the honorifics.
I can see certain parallels between the Japan of this period and the China of today. Enduring humiliation at the hands of Western powers, industrialisation and ambitions of regional, if not global, greatness through empire.
China had to deal with way worse than the slight tickle Japan went through. When China calls it the Century of Humiliation they ain't kidding. Only places like India and Southeast Asia (or most of Africa) can compare with that, not what Japan went through.
@8:47 "and large sums of silver" is a MAJOR understatement. The amount of silver they got from China was more than 3x the size of their economy. Nice overview though
Romantic non-sense. Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
I miss any mention of the *Dutch history* with Shogunate and early Imperial Japan. Because of the Dutch trade post of *Dejima* , located in/near Nagasaki 1641-1854, the Dutch were instrumental in the early modernization of Japan, as it was the only western country that feudal Japan had a relation with, in education, trade and language. The Royal Dutch Navy got asked to run the Nagasaki Naval Training Centre from 1855, a year after Perry, and provided Japan's first steam ship, the Kanko Maru. The en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangaku , or study of western technology and medicine during sakoku, literally translates to "Dutch learning". Dutch-Japanese dictionaries and translated Dutch scientific books were largely the only western language material available to Shogunate Japan.
A total change of the society within 30 years. The social structure, the technology, the law, the direction of the nation, everything changed so fast. What a time to be alive, that was.
Great video! It's interesting how Prussia and Japan both undergo a process of "revolution from above", modernizing the country in order to preserve the core of the traditional structure. "All recognized that preservation implied transformation" (Hobsbawm, 1996, The Age of Capital, p.150). It's important to mention that, since the discovery of gold in California and Australia, there had been a development of commerce in the pacific (China, Peru, Chile, etc.), and Japan was becoming a target for British merchant navy, so modernization was absolutely necessary for them.
Satsuma and Choshu eventually became the core of the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy (or the other way around, can't remember). They were very distrustful of each other :D Almost enemies.
Exactly Reuentahl Satsuma had gotten information of the west through Okinawa Choshu was defeated by the UK navy So they realized they had to modernize ,and they had Bakufu as a enemy in common
no he didn't do great, it's frankly impossible to understand his strong accent along his fast speaking and with the bullshitty subtitles. that's literally the opposite of "great". but who am i to expect any naturally english speaking folks to care for others... (trump, brexit)
Sorry to point out three errors I found. First one at 8:38: Korea did not officially become a protectorate of Japan until the Russo-Japanese War broke out ten years later. Japan simply released Korea from Chinese control and put it instead under her own informal sphere, which was later challenged by Russia. So they made war not just because of their interest in Manchuria, more importantly, it was about control of Korea. The second one at 9:10: although the Boxer rebellion initially was anti-Qing authority, it soon cooperated with Qing authority after the authority realised their common interest against foreign influence. Therefore the Qing authority was later heavily punished by great powers for its cooperation with Boxers. The third one at 10:18 is less obvious and clear, but I doubt that the rise of Japan could be attributed to the Meiji Emperor. Although his support was necessary, most of the long-term planning and implementation of Japanese modernisation was carried out by those so-called Meiji statesmen. The actual role of the Japanese emperor in the system was never as great as his German counterpart. His only contribution was doing nothing against the modernisation policy of his government.
The fascinating thing is the speed of their transition from a medieval country to a modern one. I heard that two years after the Americans came they were able to build their own ship as well.
Just a note: sakoku was not a complete isolation, as trade continued with many other Asian countries, namely China and Korea. Sakoku was against Christian countries (except Dutch) as a result of anti-Christian sentiment and not a small amount of racism.
I’m just gonna say this right now, Japan was lucky it was America knocking on its door and not some European country, had it been a European country it most likely would have invaded and colonized it as they had done the rest of Asia, but America didn’t have as strong a push to gain colonies as they did. This was mainly because they didn’t want to integrate foreign races into the population but even then it still played in Japan’s favor.
Meiji's experience sounds absolutely unique. It's as if we lived to see ourselves go from information era to freaking flying saucers in 50 or so years forward.
More than a century before Commodore Perry forced Japan to open up to the outside world, there already was a Western presence in Japan, although it was only a Dutch presence in Dejima, which is part of Nagasaki.
Even before that there were already christian missionaries spreading christianity on the island, as a mean to conquer japan through religion by European powers, that's why the shogunate sought to expel all foreigners, banned christianity and persecuted it's followers, which concluded with the isolationist policy, but allowed trade only with the Chinese and Dutch through Dejima. The movie *Silence* (2016) offers a truthful depiction of this historical event...
Romantic delusions. Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
There is a distinct lack of Azerbaijani accent in this video. Also I have a degree in asia studies focusing on Japan so I'll be sure to write any points I might have once I'm done watching
Excellent pronunciation of Japanese! One thing that maybe debated it the word order of the names. Tokugawa Yoshinobu (traditional order, now re-established by PM Abe Shinzo) in that order would be like Churchill Winston. It can be understood that we in the West refer to him as Yoshinobu to distinguish him from the prior 14 shoguns, but this way, it is like referring to Churchill always as Winston. Because there are so many other Churchills =)
Lost into the short synthesis is the price of blood and subjection that (logically) the local Japanese population paid for such speedy modernization; at a glance it can be read as a “miracle” (as it is almost unheard of a medieval feudal society that transitioned into a modern-for-those-times society in such an incredibly fast time). Even the victory against Russia provoked riots and revolts across Japans because the terms of “victory” didn’t yield the promised benefits people accepted in exchange of the very bloody price they had to endure and pay. In a creepy parallel with modern day pseudo-communist China, only by the iron fist of persecution and prosecution by the goverment the population would comply “or else” while imitating those Western powers that seemed so successful into dealing with international matters. Nationalism and "national identity" was the easy part to imitate as ethnocentrism is a natural anthropological human trait, the problem was to acquire the very technological knowledge the West had as a clear advantage over Japan, the said could be said about China today that tries to acquire the top notch technology even by stealing it. All in all, when they come to it, they became (seemingly) even better than the Western nations, so did Japan, so does China. The problem in both cases is that no speed change comes without certain political notions that only a matured (by decades if not centuries) of experience can give: if you impose changes too fast on others while giving too little, they will resent you and, no matter how strong you seem to be, they will turn against you. That is also what it seems to be happening with China right now with the increasing anti Chinese mood (not like there aren't ample reasons to justify such distrust, both locally on how Chinese tries their citizens and internationally).
I mean you have to bring people from a feudal society to a modern state within a generation. I mean no history comes without sacrifices I mean as the old saying goes if you want to make an omlett you're going to have to crack a few eggs.
Because Japan never had a central government, so the alien ideas of Westernization were able to permeate through. Vietnam and China were offered a similar agreement of free trade with the West, but their Emperors declined due to arrogance and strict conservatism. I also want to add that Japan was technically colonized when Perry arrived. The Tokugawa Shogunate was so weak that its military was simply outmatched by Russia, the US, Britain. The Shogunate basically signed an instrument of surrender that had unequal terms in favor of Western powers. The three powers occupied different parts of Japan, and this fact angered the Imperial faction who quickly overthrown the Shogunate. The leaders of Imperial faction later made concessions and negotiated skillfully for Western powers to leave, if not, Japan would have been an American territory, Russian colony or British colony divided equally. If people ever said that Japan was never colonized, they are wrong technically.
I feel like you overstated samurai rebellions a bit, there were some yes, but the decline of the samurai was almost intentional by the Meiji government, evidenced by the bonds they were given and supported by the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei. Some of Japan’s economic success came from the overturning of the previous caste system that painted dealings with money as “dirty” so by giving samurai these bonds, which a percentage could be paid for in advance, lead many to charter banks and change public perception of money (but also a lot of these banks flopped). Some of these banks still exist today.
That sense of entitlement is why all great empires meet the same fate. There's a reason why most people are drawn to being humble because in the end the only way continues to be great through the triumph and trials of time.
writing-reading-calculation Japanese education level of the nation was better than europeans-americans, Japan has the best education in the world from oldtime.
Nice synopsis. It was kind of rushed towards the end. Having a Chinese historical perspective definitely helps when talking about NE Asian late 19th century.
Tokugawa shogunate was a 17th-19th century shogunate. A shogunate was a very common political institution in feudal Japan where a military ruler (or, "military-dictator") is the head-of-state in-lieu of the Emperor directly. Shogunate existed from the time of the failed attempted Mongol invasions (Kamakura shogunate) up until the end of the Tokugawa w/ "Meiji restoration" that ended the shogunate system, replacing the feudal military-dictatorship w/ a mix of both a) Chinese Neo-Confucian emperor-worship and b) British-style royal Victorian-era institutions.
Good question! The restoration refers to the return of power to the Emperor, who until that point had just been a largely ceremonial head of state, with all actual power being monopolised by the shogun.
@@Mrjmaxted0291 But but but !!! I had always heard that during WW2 the emperor was mostly just a puppet of the generals/admirals - and that these guys, not the emperor, were responsible for Japan's military aggression. But if the emperor was restored, then the emperor was responsible. Unless the Meiji Restoration actually was only temporary - doesn't that mean that the restoration was a failure?
@@fusion9619 not really, to understand Japan during the 30s and WWII, you need to understand the chaos that was the Japanese political system in the 1920s. Meiji restoration had created a strong autocracy with the emperor as it's head, the Meiji restoration refers to the period in which emperor Meiji was in power and the reforms undertaken by him, the Japan created following the Meiji restoration is the one that became the Japan of the 20th century. It was a success in that it succedeed in creating a new Japan, in place of the feudal shogunate. Regardless the emperor's powers started to weaken following the end of Meiji period. And Emperor Hirohito's involvement in WWII is a controversial subject.
A great time in Japanese history. I respect their power at that Tim as they were not taken over by euros and saves most of Asia from continued euro imperialism.
@Gandhiwadi what? Japan also had similar problems. Had one power ruled entire India, ofcourse India would have had it. Italy, Thailand all were able to do it.
Link to Vincent from History of China:
ua-cam.com/channels/LY-NCXA2dQKyEVKDZ7quHw.html
Wait, what? Korea became a Japanese vassal state after the Qing-Japanese war? The treaty defined the Joseon kingdom only as a "free state" thus eliminating the tributary status(which is different from a vassal state) and Chinese influence from Korea.
Korea arguably only became an Japanese vassal by 1905 with the Eelsa-treaty, when Russian influence was removed from the nation after the Russo-Japanese war.
subscribed to your channel :) keep making good videos and knowledgeable stuff..
the subtitles are horrible and you're everything else then "easy to understand". where the fuck is shirvan??????? HE was easy to understand, speaking slow & clear!
free dislike. got me? GET SHIRVAN BACK or the sub is gone!
Except the Netherlands though it's the only country that trade Japan
Sorry to point out three errors I found. First one at 8:38: Korea did not officially become a protectorate of Japan until the Russo-Japanese War broke out ten years later. Japan simply released Korea from Chinese control and put it instead under her own informal sphere, which was later challenged by Russia. So they made war not just because of their interest in Manchuria, more importantly, it was about control of Korea.
The second one at 9:10: although the Boxer rebellion initially was anti-Qing authority, it soon cooperated with Qing authority after the authority realised their common interest against foreign influence. Therefore the Qing authority was later heavily punished by great powers for its cooperation with Boxers.
The third one at 10:18 is less obvious and clear, but I doubt that the rise of Japan could be attributed to the Meiji Emperor. Although his support was necessary, most of the long-term planning and implementation of Japanese modernisation was carried out by those so-called Meiji statesmen. The actual role of the Japanese emperor in the system was never as great as his German counterpart. His only contribution was doing nothing against the modernisation policy of his government.
We appreciate every video and each narrator contributing to Caspianreport.
We appreciate every narrator. Still, many subscribers really like Shirvan's voice.
@@qwertyuiopzxcvbnm9890 This kind of sounded like Shirvan trying to sound more British. I too realised I quite liked hearing Shirvan after watching this video.
+1
Ofc we do, but we're also spoiled brats and we **Need** Shirvan's voice.
No
Japan, one of the few countries which remained unconquered by the European/US Empires, during the Era of Imperialism. Instead making an incredible display of will-power and effort to become an Empire itself. It is really one of the most interesting and fascinating events in history.
Yet very similar to both the German and Italian Empires, their formation created and extreme imbalance of power which could only be solved by war, and the same ambition which created them ultimately destroyed them. But even after their complete destruction they managed to rebuilt everything even better and stand once again as major powers in the world.
@@daddy_1453 That is far from reality, the US has military bases which serve both US and Japanese interests, primarily to keep China under control. Yes the same China which would probably annihilate Japan if they had the chance to do so. And no Japan is not under occupation by the US, Japan can do whatever it wants whenever it wants, the only treaty they have to comply is that they allow US bases in designated areas and that they don't start a war of aggression. If you want to see what a county in occupation look like, just look at Poland during WW2 that's occupation.
Japanese military power is extremely important, they cannot expect a foreign power to protect them forever, and they know that, that's why they are building their navy up. A strong military is a necessity if you are being surrounded by hostile nations, and the US is starting to focus inwards more than outwards, they are no longer so willing to intervine in foreign affairs.
@@billybob-ik5yv Yes, this guy is clearly sucking up to an entire country in a comment section in the hopes of receiving premium hentai in the mail. Because that's how comment sections work.
@@billybob-ik5yv well it was the soviet invasion of mantsuria that convinced the japanese to surrender more than the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-German_cooperation_(1926%E2%80%931941)
@@daddy_1453 Actually Japan still has a fairly strong military. They just call it the 'Self-Defense Forces', but an army by any other name is still an army.
*Open your country. Stop having it be closed*
-Matthew Perry
The U.S Govt is holding the Japanese govt military or they would have benn superpower.
Could it be any more closed?
From the "history of japan" video? :D
'cause we are bringing 'democracy' with us for your people.
USA: open your country!
Japan: eh, sure...
...
some time later...
USA: WW2? what's that?
Japan: all your islands are *MINE!*
The modernization of Japan is a work of art, painted in blood.
Adonis damn
no its blood painted in art
Koreans had it rough man real rough
@류기현 Korea was literally one of the reasons japan had to industrialize and go imperialistic. The incompetence of Qing and Joseon threatened the existence of Japan as a free country. If was not for Japan, all of Ásia and Africa were still western colony until to this date.
Don't think America has a clean history. I recalled the bloody civil war and the skills of native Americans whose lands were stolen and they were massacred as well. Not to mention the long history of African American slavery.
"I' found that it is far more difficult to raise a new era than it is to break an old one..." - Okubo Toschimichi in Rurouni Kenshin.
Oooh damn that anime was gold, especially the movie
Hmm
@@TheTariqibnziyad That it is.
Wow good quote
The Meiji Restoration saved Japan from ending up like China. The Tokagawa Shogunate could not have resisted foreign powers and then turned it around on them to become an empire. It would have been carved up like coastal China. Thanks to the Empire of Japan, the country ended up doing some of the carving instead of being carved. Now it didn’t end well but the empire is really what allowed Japan to avoid China’s “century of humiliation”.
Rubbish. The industrialization of Japan by western powers was to keep China in check and also prevent the soviets having too much influence in the area. The western countries realized early on that an industrialized China would be the end of the smaller western countries imperialism. Much of like what you’re seeing now…
The Japanese caught on too and tried their best to cause harm but even a poor China is just too huge. The Chinese knew time was on their side if they learn to do things right, it would naturally go back to the way things were when China and India accounted for most of the worlds wealth before the west starting setting out and colonizing countries. We are slowly going back to those time because China and India are too big of a civilization. Let me put a quote from Napoleon during his capture:
It would be the worst thing you (note: Britain) have
done for a number of years, to go to war with an
immense empire like China, and possessing so
many resources. You would doubtless, at first,
succeed, take what vessels they have, and destroy
their trade; but you would teach them their own
strength. They would be compelled to adopt
measures to defend themselves against you; they
would consider, and say,
'We must try to make
ourselves equal to this nation. Why should we
suffer a people, so far away, to do as they please
to us? We must build ships, we must put guns into
them, we must render ourselves equal to them!
They would, get artificers and ship-builders from
France and America, even from London; they
would build a fleet, and, in the course of time,
defeat you.
Now great commercial advantage may be lost to
England, and perhaps a war with China be the
consequence. If I were an Englishman, I should
esteem the man who advised a war with China to
be the greatest enemy to my country in existence.
You would in the end be beaten, and perhaps a
revolution in India would follow.
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
You can say this about Japan: they respect strength. By respecting strength, they master it for themselves and adapt very quickly.
Let's not forget that they had a civil war during this period and later became ambitious in its power that we had to nuke them twice. Not to mention the horrible war crimes against the Chinese and every other nation in South East Asia.
Mexiball Nation it doesn’t cancel out their impressive achievements in the 19th century. Even I respect that, and I’m Chinese
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
A new/different narrator. I was so used to Shirhan I was at first convinced I had clicked on the wrong link. ;-) With that said, this was an excellent bridge between the history classical Nihon and that of modern Nippon. Thanks for posting!
I find the total make-over that Japan was able to execute in 30 years to be one of the most interesting events in history. By 1900 it is a thoroughly modern (but not Western) society, with developments parallel to other modern nations at the time, like women suffrage, labour rights, the role of the media and modern comforts. They often found different solutions than those in the west, because of their unique culture.
Japan was able to do in 30 years, that which a lot of developing countries still struggle with today.
Extreme homogeneity and respect for authority make things easier...
@@rahilvig8185 that certainly speaks volumes, I honestly think diversity and freedom are inherently bad things, people dont always know what to do with freedom and diversity can always be seen as invasive like plants and weeds
Nowadays the west is childishly seeking to find who is the most or least racist and start conflict with their own, its facism masquerading as manners. We were more successful and powerful when we weren't obsessed with this like in the 50s/60s/70s etc.
Its really a hard question, diversity and racism are things nature promotes. Racism keeps numbers in check and diversity evolves and sustains numbers.
I think the west has made a huge mistake by completely trying to purge racism as a concept biologically it's kind of important as diversity is, the people we are trying not to be racist to are more than racist toward us and nobody does anything about it. We are now tearing ourselves apart and fighting over identity politics while china is amassing power, territory and financial control. We are absolutely divided. Asia definitely knows how to operate a society.
I myself struggle to understand why people care about racism so goddam much, it barely affects them or comes up in their lives. I think the rich have cooked this division up to stall the poor.
China last 30 yrs?
@@theentity5201 kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
No offence, but I think Shirhan chose Vincent to narrate because he knows he's gonna butcher the pronunciation of Japanese words haha
the sun is a deadly laser
I thought it was because it was another British accent
SyncOut I always cringe when western speakers try to pronounce Japanese words.
He seems to have a better pronunciation of Chinese names such as Beijing.
One of the easiest languages to pronounce. Consonant vowel, consonant vowel, ... sometimes consonant, consonant, vowel ...
Difficulty comes from the honorifics.
”Open the country, stop having it be closed“
Nonchalant lmaooo
ua-cam.com/video/mlU5sPDagSM/v-deo.html
@@transforgoku Lol, didn`t know that one. I thought of this: ua-cam.com/video/FTs8qiOMh_o/v-deo.html
@@nonchalant3969 That's a classic, I must admit it...
epic
I can see certain parallels between the Japan of this period and the China of today. Enduring humiliation at the hands of Western powers, industrialisation and ambitions of regional, if not global, greatness through empire.
Japan was not humiliated really, they were just shown that they are backward thinking xenophobes and had to open
The only parallel I'd see in todays setting is if DPRK changed governments, opened up and conquered all of Asia in a half century or less.
China had to deal with way worse than the slight tickle Japan went through. When China calls it the Century of Humiliation they ain't kidding. Only places like India and Southeast Asia (or most of Africa) can compare with that, not what Japan went through.
@S C "Pathetic beings." lol it seems that you haven't taken African history classes nor any classes on political and/or economic development :)
@Hoàng Nguyên Vietnam is awesome. Love Vietnam!
@8:47 "and large sums of silver" is a MAJOR understatement.
The amount of silver they got from China was more than 3x the size of their economy.
Nice overview though
God damn!
As a Chinese who can speak Japanese, this guy from Caspian Report can speak Chinese and Japanese words with accuracy!
Thanks :)
Your English is fine, too.
I barely speak one language. I honor those who encompass a broader field of communication.
true
from Japan
I really admire japan on this, the leaders are really doing things for the sake of their country not self interests.
yeah, they were awsome. wish we had people like that
@@Alistar608 Hating your own country is cool now >.>
The main reason many Asian countries fail to modernize themselves is their corrupt leader.
Because in Japan.
Xenophobia is stronger than greed.
Can let your country be carved up by the west
Romantic non-sense.
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
I miss any mention of the *Dutch history* with Shogunate and early Imperial Japan. Because of the Dutch trade post of *Dejima* , located in/near Nagasaki 1641-1854, the Dutch were instrumental in the early modernization of Japan, as it was the only western country that feudal Japan had a relation with, in education, trade and language.
The Royal Dutch Navy got asked to run the Nagasaki Naval Training Centre from 1855, a year after Perry, and provided Japan's first steam ship, the Kanko Maru.
The en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangaku , or study of western technology and medicine during sakoku, literally translates to "Dutch learning". Dutch-Japanese dictionaries and translated Dutch scientific books were largely the only western language material available to Shogunate Japan.
A total change of the society within 30 years. The social structure, the technology, the law, the direction of the nation, everything changed so fast. What a time to be alive, that was.
Wow. Japan learned the modernization from Europe after US Navy had used gun diplomacy.
Great video! It's interesting how Prussia and Japan both undergo a process of "revolution from above", modernizing the country in order to preserve the core of the traditional structure. "All recognized that preservation implied transformation" (Hobsbawm, 1996, The Age of Capital, p.150). It's important to mention that, since the discovery of gold in California and Australia, there had been a development of commerce in the pacific (China, Peru, Chile, etc.), and Japan was becoming a target for British merchant navy, so modernization was absolutely necessary for them.
Satsuma and Choshu eventually became the core of the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy (or the other way around, can't remember). They were very distrustful of each other :D Almost enemies.
Choshu clan was the army, and satsuma controlled the Navy.
@@jeromesolomon9093 Thank you
Exactly Reuentahl
Satsuma had gotten information of the west through Okinawa
Choshu was defeated by the UK navy
So they realized they had to modernize ,and they had Bakufu as a enemy in common
Nice Profile Pic
Another informative and well-researched video. Thank you.
I had a little mind f**k when the video started. I was so expecting Shirvan. Vincent did great tho. I would see him do more of those.
no he didn't do great, it's frankly impossible to understand his strong accent along his fast speaking and with the bullshitty subtitles. that's literally the opposite of "great". but who am i to expect any naturally english speaking folks to care for others... (trump, brexit)
@@Dichtsau What are you talking about?
@@Dichtsau all I have to say is that my first language is not English and I'm neither British nor American
@@Dichtsau I understood him quite clearly. You're just too used to American accents...
Personally, I quite liked Shrivan’s English..
Nice, Fantastic, Marvellous, Concise and Precise.
One of your Best's episodes.
Keep it up to higher heights in your craft.
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏💪💪💪👍👍👍
Sorry to point out three errors I found. First one at 8:38: Korea did not officially become a protectorate of Japan until the Russo-Japanese War broke out ten years later. Japan simply released Korea from Chinese control and put it instead under her own informal sphere, which was later challenged by Russia. So they made war not just because of their interest in Manchuria, more importantly, it was about control of Korea.
The second one at 9:10: although the Boxer rebellion initially was anti-Qing authority, it soon cooperated with Qing authority after the authority realised their common interest against foreign influence. Therefore the Qing authority was later heavily punished by great powers for its cooperation with Boxers.
The third one at 10:18 is less obvious and clear, but I doubt that the rise of Japan could be attributed to the Meiji Emperor. Although his support was necessary, most of the long-term planning and implementation of Japanese modernisation was carried out by those so-called Meiji statesmen. The actual role of the Japanese emperor in the system was never as great as his German counterpart. His only contribution was doing nothing against the modernisation policy of his government.
the only thing Wilhelm I. did right was not interfering with Bismarck's plans. Wilhelm II. wasn't that smart, unfortunetely.
Honestly incredible how quickly Japan went from being a medieval feudal state to a modern empire in just 30 years.
The fascinating thing is the speed of their transition from a medieval country to a modern one. I heard that two years after the Americans came they were able to build their own ship as well.
Just a note: sakoku was not a complete isolation, as trade continued with many other Asian countries, namely China and Korea. Sakoku was against Christian countries (except Dutch) as a result of anti-Christian sentiment and not a small amount of racism.
sakoku is to catholic nation
Considering how many cultures christianity has erased, the Japanese were right to be distrustful of christians.
@@KungKras definitely
Christianity caused a rebellion between China and Japan. Taiping Rebellion, Amakusa Shiro's Ran
They were right though. First they start sending christians missionaries then the whole country become a colony.
I’m just gonna say this right now, Japan was lucky it was America knocking on its door and not some European country, had it been a European country it most likely would have invaded and colonized it as they had done the rest of Asia, but America didn’t have as strong a push to gain colonies as they did. This was mainly because they didn’t want to integrate foreign races into the population but even then it still played in Japan’s favor.
And usa genocided civilians in japan.
The US literally had the whole Phillipines as a colony at this time lol.
This came out literally hours after I had to do an essay about it.
@Hoàng Nguyên True.
When I was in school UA-cam didn't exist and wikipedia was not considered an acceptable source.
5:56 "ryuugakusei", in other words, exchange students
Ryugakusei isn’t a historical buzzword it just means exchange student lol
*Kazakhstan's geopolitics please*
1st come out of putin's sphere of influence
cossacks don't have geopolitics since the day cavalry went out of business.
Zamanbek Ergaliuly borat
Is very nice
@@Dichtsau 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
Short, brief and very clear!
Damn, that was a good video.
Meiji's experience sounds absolutely unique. It's as if we lived to see ourselves go from information era to freaking flying saucers in 50 or so years forward.
It happened faster in USSR during the Stalin era or any other ex socialist country after ww2
Caspian Report is my favourite channel on UA-cam. Thanks Shirvan.
I know a Professor who calls the
Meiji Restoration
Meiji Revolution
I've seen a UA-cam comment calling The Meiji Restoration "The Meiji Restauration".
@@yusufemir8314 🤣🤣🤣👌
@Hoàng Nguyên OK with the first part. Less so with the second. That's killing your culture. Though, I don't think Japan's culture has eroded at all.
@Hoàng Nguyên Ah, shit, lol! That sounded real because that is Turkey in about the same era.
@@yusufemir8314 you assassinated there buddy. 🤣👍👍🤣👍
More than a century before Commodore Perry forced Japan to open up to the outside world, there already was a Western presence in Japan, although it was only a Dutch presence in Dejima, which is part of Nagasaki.
Even before that there were already christian missionaries spreading christianity on the island, as a mean to conquer japan through religion by European powers, that's why the shogunate sought to expel all foreigners, banned christianity and persecuted it's followers, which concluded with the isolationist policy, but allowed trade only with the Chinese and Dutch through Dejima. The movie *Silence* (2016) offers a truthful depiction of this historical event...
I'm into the idea of having more people available to cover more topics like this one, good job!
I'm disappointed by the lack of Tom Cruise jokes in the comments.
This video is extremely well done, one of the best Caspian Reports yet. I highly approve of this narrator, gonna check out their channel.
I respect the Japanese for their adaptive spirit. No nation is perfect so we always need to learn from each other.
Damn talk about a restructuring of infrastructure... Modern Japan is really, really young. Younger than USA basically.
Just stumbled across your channel! Great videos for my History classes. Great work.
This channel is the top geopolitical channel IMO. Vox borders is really good as well as far as history.
Great video as always CR. Personally I find Shirvans voice to be so iconic to the channel, that this video felt a bit weird
No civilization could just Speedrun technology like the Japanese.
*Meiji Era would not be possible if not for the efforts of one man. The Legendary Hitokiri Battousai.*
1:30 How many arches you want? - Yes.
Amazing what the Japanese achieved in short time, not only in Meji period but through history.
Romantic delusions.
Japan during the Meiji restoration became an atrocious murderous colonialist killing, injuring millions of other Asians, learning in record time all the worst things and behavior from Western Empires including the use of chemical weapons, in just 40y's. It also figured out how to get an atom bomb, actual 2 bombs, faster than anybody else except the USA. Stop the romantic delusion that Japan was some miracle flower of history. And no, it did not give the world rice, or silk, or tea, or Zen ... Long before Meiji Resotration it invaded Korea several times unsuccesfully. In Hodeyeshi era it tried even to invite China via Korea. It fought hundreds of years of civil war. It was agruablly the most brutal and barbaric societies which ever existed and the modern Japan film industry is not afraid to portrait it that way.
There is a distinct lack of Azerbaijani accent in this video.
Also I have a degree in asia studies focusing on Japan so I'll be sure to write any points I might have once I'm done watching
@BartVanLinschoten I did. I was pleasantly surprised to have no actual issues with the episode. Very well researched
Could you do a report on V4 countries, please?
this was a very cool and informative video. thanks!
I don't know why I do not enjoy Japanese Caspian report videos.
Jamaicas Geopolitics? Very interesting how many diverse cultures have unraveled in the west indies.
Mr. S yes!
Japanese took "If you can't beat them, join them!" Too seriously.
Excellent pronunciation of Japanese! One thing that maybe debated it the word order of the names. Tokugawa Yoshinobu (traditional order, now re-established by PM Abe Shinzo) in that order would be like Churchill Winston. It can be understood that we in the West refer to him as Yoshinobu to distinguish him from the prior 14 shoguns, but this way, it is like referring to Churchill always as Winston. Because there are so many other Churchills =)
Geopolitics of Rwanda please.
Hell yea
ruanda has no geopolitics since "spearhunting" ain't up to date anymore.
@@Dichtsau hahahhah
Lost into the short synthesis is the price of blood and subjection that (logically) the local Japanese population paid for such speedy modernization; at a glance it can be read as a “miracle” (as it is almost unheard of a medieval feudal society that transitioned into a modern-for-those-times society in such an incredibly fast time). Even the victory against Russia provoked riots and revolts across Japans because the terms of “victory” didn’t yield the promised benefits people accepted in exchange of the very bloody price they had to endure and pay.
In a creepy parallel with modern day pseudo-communist China, only by the iron fist of persecution and prosecution by the goverment the population would comply “or else” while imitating those Western powers that seemed so successful into dealing with international matters. Nationalism and "national identity" was the easy part to imitate as ethnocentrism is a natural anthropological human trait, the problem was to acquire the very technological knowledge the West had as a clear advantage over Japan, the said could be said about China today that tries to acquire the top notch technology even by stealing it. All in all, when they come to it, they became (seemingly) even better than the Western nations, so did Japan, so does China. The problem in both cases is that no speed change comes without certain political notions that only a matured (by decades if not centuries) of experience can give: if you impose changes too fast on others while giving too little, they will resent you and, no matter how strong you seem to be, they will turn against you. That is also what it seems to be happening with China right now with the increasing anti Chinese mood (not like there aren't ample reasons to justify such distrust, both locally on how Chinese tries their citizens and internationally).
I mean you have to bring people from a feudal society to a modern state within a generation. I mean no history comes without sacrifices I mean as the old saying goes if you want to make an omlett you're going to have to crack a few eggs.
Very informative. Thank you!
Excellent video, thanks!
Excellent. I like the breadth of your information.
Meanwhile in Korea at that time: Fuck my life.(...)
I learned about this through Samurai X , or Ruroni Kenshi , the best anime EVER.
I appreciate all narrators and contributors to this great channel, but I was kinda bummed not to hear Shirvan narrating lol
Great job! I wait for the next episode
This is one of the best videos I've ever seen
Emperor Meiji indeed was Japan's greatest emperor
I think that the Showa was
Because Japan never had a central government, so the alien ideas of Westernization were able to permeate through. Vietnam and China were offered a similar agreement of free trade with the West, but their Emperors declined due to arrogance and strict conservatism.
I also want to add that Japan was technically colonized when Perry arrived. The Tokugawa Shogunate was so weak that its military was simply outmatched by Russia, the US, Britain. The Shogunate basically signed an instrument of surrender that had unequal terms in favor of Western powers. The three powers occupied different parts of Japan, and this fact angered the Imperial faction who quickly overthrown the Shogunate. The leaders of Imperial faction later made concessions and negotiated skillfully for Western powers to leave, if not, Japan would have been an American territory, Russian colony or British colony divided equally. If people ever said that Japan was never colonized, they are wrong technically.
''Free trade'''
I feel like you overstated samurai rebellions a bit, there were some yes, but the decline of the samurai was almost intentional by the Meiji government, evidenced by the bonds they were given and supported by the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei. Some of Japan’s economic success came from the overturning of the previous caste system that painted dealings with money as “dirty” so by giving samurai these bonds, which a percentage could be paid for in advance, lead many to charter banks and change public perception of money (but also a lot of these banks flopped). Some of these banks still exist today.
One day the US showed up in Edo bay... and 90 years later the Japanese showed up in Pearl Harbor.
Thank you history teacher. I really wanted to watch this...
That sense of entitlement is why all great empires meet the same fate. There's a reason why most people are drawn to being humble because in the end the only way continues to be great through the triumph and trials of time.
Great video, thank you
Another video so quick thank god
Truly a unique country in many ways.
It's always a surprise to find a voice other than Shervan's voice
writing-reading-calculation Japanese education level of the nation was better than europeans-americans,
Japan has the best education in the world from oldtime.
Curious, I consistently dont get notified when you upload a new video, but the algorithm does not count on me being alert of when will you upload
Matthew Perry was alive back then? Must have been before he was in "Friends".
Really good japanese pronunciation, well done!
You misrepresented something though, the Shogunate did not really get "defeated" rather he didn't want more bloodshed and gave up.
Merci Vincent, très bien expliqué.
Nice synopsis. It was kind of rushed towards the end. Having a Chinese historical perspective definitely helps when talking about NE Asian late 19th century.
@CaspianReport can we have an episode about the Boxer Rebellion?
Also, why is the "Meiji Restoration" a restoration? What was restored?
Tokugawa shogunate was a 17th-19th century shogunate. A shogunate was a very common political institution in feudal Japan where a military ruler (or, "military-dictator") is the head-of-state in-lieu of the Emperor directly. Shogunate existed from the time of the failed attempted Mongol invasions (Kamakura shogunate) up until the end of the Tokugawa w/ "Meiji restoration" that ended the shogunate system, replacing the feudal military-dictatorship w/ a mix of both a) Chinese Neo-Confucian emperor-worship and b) British-style royal Victorian-era institutions.
The emperor's power.
Good question! The restoration refers to the return of power to the Emperor, who until that point had just been a largely ceremonial head of state, with all actual power being monopolised by the shogun.
@@Mrjmaxted0291 But but but !!! I had always heard that during WW2 the emperor was mostly just a puppet of the generals/admirals - and that these guys, not the emperor, were responsible for Japan's military aggression. But if the emperor was restored, then the emperor was responsible. Unless the Meiji Restoration actually was only temporary - doesn't that mean that the restoration was a failure?
@@fusion9619 not really, to understand Japan during the 30s and WWII, you need to understand the chaos that was the Japanese political system in the 1920s. Meiji restoration had created a strong autocracy with the emperor as it's head, the Meiji restoration refers to the period in which emperor Meiji was in power and the reforms undertaken by him, the Japan created following the Meiji restoration is the one that became the Japan of the 20th century. It was a success in that it succedeed in creating a new Japan, in place of the feudal shogunate. Regardless the emperor's powers started to weaken following the end of Meiji period.
And Emperor Hirohito's involvement in WWII is a controversial subject.
Nice video dude. Pls cover japan during and after WW2 in your next video
Time for a Geopolitics of Portugal video!!
Japan so great. You had done something 1860s which Subcontinent was unable to do. Rrspect 🇳🇵🇳🇵🇳🇵
Just doesn't feel right without Şirvan's terrible, beautiful English.
Well done, Vincent.
Good contribution.
A great time in Japanese history. I respect their power at that Tim as they were not taken over by euros and saves most of Asia from continued euro imperialism.
Vincent you're awesome but Caspian Report needs Shirvan's exotic accent
Well done Vincent 👌🏿
Most of it was because of his advisors and ministers, consisting almost fully of zaibatsu business empires.
Tommorow Shirhan will host a Chinese modernisation and an end of isolation by opening their door at 1978.
Only if India too underwent a similar phase. But India was too decentralised for that.
@Gandhiwadi what? Japan also had similar problems.
Had one power ruled entire India, ofcourse India would have had it. Italy, Thailand all were able to do it.
9:05, I believe you meant to say the humiliating defeat of "China" not Japan.
This is such an interesting era of history
Please do videos in 1080p