Mutsuhito (1852-1912) during his rule of forty-four years introduced far-reaching changes in Japan. He decided to fight the west with the western arms without changing his mind on the fundamentals. He started by moving his capital from Kyoto to Yedo, which he renamed as Tokyo. He abolished feudalism and organized bureaucracy along western lines. The Parliament and other representative institutions were also introluced in the country.
Universal education and universal military training was introduced in the country and army was organized along Prussian lines. Mutushito also founded Japanese navy with the help of the English advisers. He introduced western industry in Japan, primarily to manufacture arms. However, later on this industry began to be used for other purposes as well. He also built railway.
As most of these reforms were introduced by Mutsuhito within a short span of ten years, they evoked strong protests from certain sections of society, specially the nobility which rose in rebellion in 1877. However, the emperor crushed the opposition.
In 1882 the emperor sent a commission to various countries of the world to study their governmental systems and to write a new constitution for Japan. The Commission was particularly impressed by the system prevailing in Bismarck’s Germany and recommended its adoption in Japan. Accordingly, the new constitution of Japan which was promulgated in 1889 provided for a Premier in Japan and given a position analogous to that of the Chancellor in Germany.
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The constitution maintained the dominant position of the emperor and made the cabinet responsible to him. The constitution also accorded predominant position to the military by providing that army and the navy could appoint their respective ministers. The army and the navy could bring about the downfall of cabinet by withdrawing their ministers. Earlier in 1876 Japan had introduced national conscription and modernized military machine with the help of French and German officials.
The Japanese even adopted new methods and new ideas of the West to promote their military interests. Japan also went through a quick process of industrialization, which did cause some social and cultural problems, but the Mejji rulers successfully tackled these problems and held the country together. Thus by the end of the nineteenth century Japan emerged as a highly industrialized country in the modern world.
Japan also changed to the modern calendar which symbolized her entry into the modern age. It may be observed that though Japan learnt a lot from Europe and America in the direction of modernization, most of these changes were affected under the Japanese leaders,.
Thus telegraphs, light-houses and dockyards might have been constructed by foreigners and the warships might have been made in England bat the control always remained with the authorities in Tokyo.
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According to the authors of Civilization Past and Present, though on the surface, the Japanese government was liberal and parliamentary, in reality it was ultraconservative with the emperor and the cabinet enjoying dominant powers.
Though Japan achieved a high degree of literary, education remained the tool of the government. The army was used as a means of instilling conscripts with unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the emperor. The Japanese were ready to seize the new methods and new ideas of the West to serve their own military ends.