💰 Money
The government first cut samurai incomes. In 1876 it ended them and paid a lump sum in government bonds instead. Many samurai found the bonds gave them far less than their old income, and some slid into poverty.
Transformation, 1867-1895 » Meiji Japan: A New Economy and Society
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B3, Key topic 2
- What the new Meiji government promised in the Charter Oath of 1868
- How it ended the domains and took away the privileges of the samurai
- How conscription, the land tax, schools and railways changed economy and society
- What the Iwakura Mission was for and what it found
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Unlock This CourseA new government with a promise
In 1868 the Tokugawa shogunate was over and the young Emperor Meiji was the symbol of a new government. The men who ran it were mostly samurai from Satsuma and Choshu, together with a few court nobles. They used the emperor's name for everything they did, but they made the decisions. Edo was renamed Tokyo ("eastern capital") and became the capital.
In April 1868 the emperor swore the Charter Oath, a list of five promises. The new rulers said that assemblies would be set up and important matters decided by public discussion, that people of all classes would work together, and that knowledge would be sought from all over the world to strengthen Japan. The Oath was not a law. It was a statement of direction, but it showed that the new government did not plan to shut Japan away again.
Key terms:
- Charter Oath: the five promises made in the emperor's name in April 1868, including seeking knowledge from all over the world.
- Prefecture: an area of government run by an official sent from Tokyo. Prefectures replaced the domains.
- Conscription: a law that forces people to serve in the army.
- Land tax: a tax on the value of land, paid by its owner in money.
- Iwakura Mission: the group of Japanese leaders and students who toured the USA and Europe from 1871 to 1873.
The end of the domains, 1871
The new leaders knew that Japan could not be strong while it was split into some 260 domains, each with its own daimyo, tax collectors and army. In 1869 the daimyo of Satsuma, Choshu and two other domains offered their lands to the emperor, and the others were pressed to follow. In 1871 the government went further and abolished the domains. Japan was divided into prefectures, each run by an official sent from Tokyo. The daimyo lost their power over the land but were given pensions and lived on in comfort.
The result was one government, one tax system and one set of laws for the whole country. It was a huge political change, and it was done with very little fighting.
The end of samurai privileges
The samurai made up less than one in ten of the population, but under the Tokugawa they were the top class. They alone could wear two swords, and they received a fixed income in rice from their lord. Paying this to hundreds of thousands of samurai cost the new government a very large part of its money.
⚔️ Status
The old class system was swept away, and in 1871 the outcast groups were freed from their special status. In 1876 the samurai were banned from wearing swords in public. They were no longer a separate fighting class.
This was a revolution carried out by samurai against samurai. The men who made these laws were samurai themselves, but they decided Japan could not be modernised while one class kept its privileges.
Conscription, the land tax, schools and railways
🎖️ Conscription, 1873
A new law said that men of every class would serve in the army from the age of twenty, for three years. Fighting was no longer only for samurai. Yamagata Aritomo, a Choshu samurai, was the main organiser. Some farmers protested, because they lost young workers.
🌾 Land tax, 1873
Before this, taxes were mostly paid in rice and varied from place to place. The new tax was based on the value of the land, was set at 3 per cent, and was paid in money by the owner. The government now had a steady income it could plan with. But farmers still had to pay when harvests were poor, and there were protests.
🏫 Schools, 1872
The Education Order of 1872 set out a plan for schools across the country for all children, boys and girls, copying ideas from Western countries. Families had to pay fees, so at first many children did not attend. But the aim was clear: an educated people to serve a modern state.
🚂 Railways, 1872
Japan's first railway opened in October 1872 between Tokyo and Yokohama, about 29 kilometres. Foreign engineers helped to build it. Railways moved people, goods and soldiers faster and showed what the new Japan wanted to be.
The Iwakura Mission, 1871-73
In late 1871 a large group of leaders left Japan, led by Iwakura Tomomi, a court noble, with senior ministers such as Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi and Ito Hirobumi. They also took a number of students, some of whom stayed abroad to study. They visited the USA and several European countries. They had two aims: to ask the Western powers to change the unequal treaties, and to study how the West ran its governments, factories, schools and armies.
The first aim failed, because the Western governments would not give up the unequal treaties yet. The second aim succeeded. The members returned in 1873 convinced that Japan needed industry, a strong army and a modern government if it wanted to be treated as an equal.
Change and continuity
🎌 What changed
Domains became prefectures, the army was open to all men, tax was paid in money, a school system was planned and railways were built. The samurai lost their income, their swords and their special place.
🏯 What stayed the same
The emperor was a stronger symbol, but the real rulers were a small group of former samurai. Most people were still farmers, and many were poor and angry about the new burdens.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Charter Oath was a law or a constitution. It was a set of promises.
- Thinking the emperor ran the reforms. They were carried out by the new leaders in his name.
- Mixing up the dates: the domains were abolished in 1871, the Education Order and the first railway came in 1872, and conscription and the land tax in 1873.
- Forgetting that the reforms did not please everyone. Samurai and farmers both lost out in some ways.
Exam-style question
Explain TWO ways in which the position of the samurai in 1876 was different from their position in 1853. [6 marks]
Remember: each way must say something about BOTH years. One way alone scores no more than 3.
Model answer
One difference was their income. In 1853 samurai received a fixed income in rice from their daimyo, which gave them a secure living. By 1876 the government had ended this and paid a lump sum in bonds instead, and many samurai now had to find other work or fell into poverty.
A second difference was their special status. In 1853 only samurai could wear two swords and fight, and they stood at the top of the class system. By 1876 they were banned from wearing swords in public, and since the conscription law of 1873 men from every class served in the army, so they were no longer the only fighters.
What lifts this to the top level: each difference gives a precise fact about both 1853 and 1876 and sets them side by side.
Exam tip
Pick two clearly different areas, such as money and status, and give a fact for each date in every paragraph.