Rising Sun: Meiji's Technological Revolution
Rising Sun: Meiji's Technological Revolution by J.D. Moynihan
English | March 7, 2025 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B0DZTH5J35 | 171 pages | EPUB | 0.30 Mb
English | March 7, 2025 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B0DZTH5J35 | 171 pages | EPUB | 0.30 Mb
In the tumultuous decades before the Meiji Restoration, Japan faced an existential crisis as Western powers forced open its doors after centuries of isolation. This book chronicles Japan's remarkable transformation from a fragmented feudal society to a unified modern nation-state through the eyes of those who lived it.
As samurai privileges crumbled and ancient traditions clashed with foreign technologies, competing visions for Japan's future emerged. The young Emperor Mutsuhito—later known as Emperor Meiji—became the symbolic center of this revolution from above. Through strategic adaptation rather than wholesale imitation, Japan's visionary leaders selectively borrowed Western knowledge while preserving their cultural essence.
From the dramatic overthrow of the shogunate to industrial awakening, constitutional governance, and military triumphs against China and Russia, this captivating narrative reveals how Japan accomplished in mere decades what took the West centuries. It's an extraordinary story of national reinvention that continues to offer profound lessons about balancing tradition and innovation in our rapidly changing world.