Official Strategies for Fostering Citizenship in Japan During the Meiji Period - Literature review Example

Official strategies for fostering citizenship and national belonging in Japan during the Meiji period Since the establishments of the various islands comprising the nation of Japan, the country kept silent vigil encompassed in the far extends of the Pacific Ocean for nearly 250 years. Notably, by the early years of the 1600s, there were no foreigners in the country, as they all constituted the expelled and outlawed constituents of the nation. Further, the aspects of a foreign religion among other freedoms and influences of establishment remained prohibited in the nation of Japan. The islands lived in isolation, oblivious of the activities occurring in the external world. The astounded populations remained confined to their islands and those who left the islands to engage with the foreign worlds without permission met severe consequences including expulsion from the nation. The rule of the Tokugawa clan, headed by the shogun ruled the nation from 1603 until 1853, when the uprising of the anti-sentiments against the Tokugawa rule overthrown from power and the Meiji period began under the leadership of Emperor Meiji (Nakamura, 1966, p 78). This marked the beginning of the ‘enlightened rule’ as the era would later in history come to imply. This dissertation evaluates the success of the Meiji era in fostering the development of Japan towards establishing the features of citizenship and national belonging of the citizens. The existent policies in the era of Tokugawa entailed that any of the Japanese people leaving the country would serve the punishment of death. The policy replicated for foreigners that would come into the nation. Thus, from the establishment of the government structure as it sought to foster national unity and citizenship of the populations, this initial government applied the policies of constraining the people (Nakamura, 1966, p 28). The people remained enclosed within the nation, only engaging and interacting among themselves. The only means of contact with the external world was a small island from which the Japanese merchants met and interacted with the Dutch, Chinese, and Korean nations to trade. Thus, the initial establishments, before the rule of Emperor Meiji for fostering citizenship and national belonging were dictatorial and less liberating. The realization of this activity by the class of the Samurai, the elite warriors of Japan, created anti-sentiments against the rule (Hillsborough, 2005, p 143). The opponents of Tokugawa joined forces with the eventual arrival of diplomatic American fleet under the instruction of the U.S. President, which fostered the opening of the Shogun government to the foreigners for trading. The initiative for change in Japan took effect from this stage, until later, the Shogun, who was a military leader stepped down and sixteen year old emperor Meiji regained power, fostering Japan towards progression to catch up with the West in the development. The pivotal moment for Japan after the regaining of power by the imperial family meant that the Meiji and his supporters had to establish the government into nationhood and foster the processes of citizenship and belonging to the country. In the time of the restoration of the Meiji rule, the country was facing heavy challenges in the aspects of unity among the various constituent islands of Japan (Beasley, 1981, p 86). The leadership sought to establish procedures for emancipating the people and engaging them accordingly towards the processes of engaging as a nation rather than as groups of islands. The independence of each of the islands was at stake as they compared the past government with the new imperial rule. The constituent populations of Japan had fears of the features of another dictatorial rule and oppression among the people. Further, the factor of the change of government also constituted several challenges to the unity of the nation. The allies to the overthrown leadership and the Samurai group belonging to the Shogun sought to regain power, creating uprisings and encouraging divisions among the people of the nation. However, in fostering the unity of the country towards a similar development agenda, Emperor Meiji established outstanding measures to foster unity and crash the opposition (Beasley, 1981, p 89). For instance, to avert the aspects of the division brought by the Samurai opposition to its rule, the new government established brutal force against them. This aspect of using force to counter the military might of the opposition helped accordingly in establishing the rule of unity and national belonging in the nation. The units that dispelled fear and stirred commotion in the country faced the wrath of brutality until their eventual defeat. Thus, in view of this strategic approach to the military uprising of the internal units opposing the unity of the various islands into a single nation, the emperor successfully defeated all oppositions (Beasley, 1981, p 53). He installed the islands as a single nation and thus, establishing a sense of citizenship and national belonging of the people of Japan. This strategy aided accordingly in preventing future uprisings that would arise from within the nation to stir unrest among the citizens of Japan under the governance of the Meiji government. Another strategic approach of the Meiji governance to foster a sense of citizenship and national belonging as undertaken after the restoration is the fabrication of the Meiji Constitution. The establishment of the constitution for Japan specifically aimed at the factor of institution the aspects of national identity for the people of Japan (Takii & Noble, 2007, p 47). The constitution of the Meiji government for the country conveniently fabricated the nationalistic pride of the people of Japan. The constitution also presented the Meiji and his family as a Shinto divinity, which resulted in the eventual fanatical theocracy of deluded national patriotism. The people, under the delusion that the Meiji was a divinity and possessed religious significance to the country, developed religious fanaticism for his rule leading to the establishment of a nation-wide cult, for the people of Japan (Gluck, 1985, p. 40). This establishment, as much as it may appear a falsehood and lie to the Japan people, it worked positively towards the establishment of citizenship, patriotism and national identity of the people of Japan. The politics of the era entailed self-proclamation of the Japanese people as a conservative people unified under the rule of their emperor, fostering their citizenship and national belonging in their nation. Additionally, the constitution also established the country politically, fostering the masses towards the sense of citizenship and national identity. The 1889 constitution fabricated by the Meiji government saw the establishment of a parliamentary government, which was accountable to the emperor rather than the people. The political power remained centralized under the bureaucracy of the emperor (Takii & Noble, 2007, p 61). The feudal system that existed changed to allow for equality among the citizens and eliminated the classification of people with classes such as being elite warriors or merchants. These establishments marked the progress towards national unity of the people. United under equal rights, the people could relate accordingly, creating unity and a sense of national belonging in the nation. These establishments of sovereignty and freedoms of the people to trade and work accordingly like free countrymen without class stratifications allowed the Japanese people to develop citizenship; hence, growing the aspects of national identity among the populations of the nation. Another notable establishment of the constitution under the Meiji period is the implementation of the universal education system. Initially, the people of the islands constituting Japan received education directed in the various areas of engagement the person desired, such as business of merchants or warrior. Additionally, the initial education system entailed only the education of the elite families such as those belonging to the families of prominent merchants and classes of the royal families. This education system instituted divisions among the various social stratifications, fostering the aspects of disunity among the people (Dore, 2010, p 123). However, with the establishment of the constitution eliminating the stratifications of classes, the people had equal rights to the provisions of the constitution. The elimination of social classes allowed for the implementation of the universal education system, which saw the reforming of the education system to adopting the French system and later the German systems of education. The reforms in the education entailed compulsory public education towards encouraging the development of literacy and skills for fostering the growth of the nation. In essence, the education system taught skills needed for the new nation to inculcate the skills and knowledge that would foster the values of citizenship among all the Japanese people (Dore, 2010, p 83). Thus, the education system served accordingly in ensuring the progress of the government in the procedures of developing national belonging among the people. This strategy was the most influential in the context of the development of the nation. Since when the young generation who would form the future leadership gained the skills and knowledge that all people in the country have equal rights, future wrangles, which may dispel the established structures of national identity, would never arise. Additionally, education as a system has a way of instilling the development of the recipient towards emancipation and personal freedom from the confines and strict influences of group mentality. Thus, realizing these benefits associated with the establishment of education and process of gathering knowledge, it is notable that the Meiji era capitalized accordingly in the use of education to foster national identity development (Zachmann, 2009, p 130). The subject of learning the features of national belonging and affiliation, in addition to, the significance of national unity among the people, would facilitate the students in developing the skilful approach towards fostering citizenship and loyalty to the nation. Thus would eventually foster national belonging. Hence, in view of this establishment, the Meiji government successfully applied its official strategies in fostering the development of citizenship and national belonging among the people of Japan. Moreover, in fostering the development of Japan towards citizenship and national identity, the Meiji government through the constitution instituted the transformation of the economy of Japan. Japan faced financial crisis in the middle 1880s, a factor that contribute to the threat of eminent splits among the people (Zachmann, 2009, p 90). The various groups of islands that felt affected by the economic status of the nation considered separation. However, with the Meiji restoration period, the government established the economic stability of the country and its citizens. The revolution of the economic standing of the nation progressed tremendously, after the establishment of the currency system and the Bank of Japan. These developments fostered economic empowered, in the light of the education system among other factors in consideration. This factor fostered the loyalty of the people of Japan towards the nation accordingly. For instance, the opening of the trade industry to incorporate foreigners opened opportunities further for the citizens of Japan to trade accordingly. Moreover, eliminating the confines of families of merchants meant that all citizens at the same platform could trade. Additionally, the government developed the construction of the economy from the dependence on agriculture towards industrial development, allowing for the development of centres where the people could migrate and interact freely (Takii & Noble, 2007, p 117). The establishment of industrial development created the opportunity for the people of Japan to interact accordingly, fostering their cooperation and integration to eliminate the aspects of multiculturalism, which would affect the aspects of national unity. The interactions during the trade exchanges and working in the industries allowed the people to relate and appreciate each other, creating the capacity for citizenship and national belonging. In the use of arts, the government established the elements of the role of museum and schools of Technical Fine Arts to give the young Japanese people opportunity to appreciate the role of history of the country (Lublin, 2010, p 31). These facilities allowed the citizens of Japan to integrate and relate using art and historical collections from various sections of the nation. As the people appreciated these cultures and exhibitions from varied sections of the society, they developed a sense of national identity and common belonging. The arts and literary appreciation features as established by the government fostered the development of Japan towards growing the intense elements of citizenship and national belonging for all groups of the cultures that constitute the nation. However, in view of the various processes of modernization as employed by the Meiji rule in fostering national identity of the people and establishing the nation, some prospects viewed these developments negatively. The integral developments towards the development of the nation and its freedoms brought various conflicts such as aspects of gender disorder, cultural concerns, and political affiliations. For instance, in fostering the aspects of national belonging, the issues of gender inequalities and restrictions took root, widening the gap between the males and females. The social construction saw women restricted from participating in political activity in 1890 (Anderson, 2010, p 67). The primary duty of the women remained to serve as a good wife and wise mother. The education system allowed for education of the female gender. However, in their inclusion, in the context of the social affairs of leadership, the women felt they deserved equal treatment as the males, a factor that created a barrier to their national identity and consideration as equal citizens of the county of Japan. The fears of cultural degradation and adoption of westernization hindered the process of developing and structuring the citizenship and national belonging of the people. Those opposed presented fears such that the endeavour to establish national identity and belonging would result in the elimination of their traditions and cultures. Thus, they opposed the progressive developments initiated by the government, leading to slow adoption of the procedures established to foster the national belonging of the people. Further, in view of the rapid processes of modernization and adoption of the western practices and social structures, the critics of these establish cited the factor that here would be no unique identity of Japan as a nation. This fear emanated from the perception of the influence of the western powers in the procedures of establishing national identity and belonging for the people of Japan (De, Gluck, Tiedemann, Boot & Bodiford, 2006, p 56). Thus, they felt the cultural uniqueness of the people of Japan was getting extinct. Thus, in the wake of such fears, the people established the magazine, called ‘The Japanese’ to forge and foster preservation of the character and essential elements that form the Japanese people. These factors retarded the process of achieving the national belonging and citizenship affiliation of the people in Japan. Additionally, fears from opening Japan to the outside world envisioned that foreigners would introduce evil and Christianity among other religions in Japan. They said that these would demolish their identity and lose their cultural aspects (Reitan, 2010, p. 112). Such founded claims heightened the case for call for citizenship and national identity as the Meiji rule struggled to establish unity among the people of Japan. Lastly, fears over the political disorder, which would result in eventual challenging of the political control of the state led to the institution of the conservative constitution. The conservative constitution inspired the scarification of imperial authority, defeating the context of national belonging and citizenship in its entirety. The factors of fears challenged the process of the establishment of citizenship and national belonging in the Meiji period. The process of establishing citizenship and national identity remains a challenging factor in the context of development of many nations. The restricting factors to citizenship emanate from the perception that the proposed changes may bring undesirable changes to the society, in addition to personal interest in various issues. Similarly, as depicted in the case of establishment of Japan as a nation during the Meiji era, various factors constituted the challenges to establishment of national belonging among the citizens. Nonetheless, the government at the time instituted various measures fostering the development of national unity among the people. The establishment of national unity in Japan in the case of Meiji government was successful despite the various challenges that the process encountered. The features of the constitution instituted at the start of the rule of the Meiji government marked the leading factor for the success of the structures to establish citizenship and national belonging among the people of Japan. In addition to the processes of development engaged by the government, the Meiji rule was successful in developing citizenship and establishing a strong sense of national belonging in Japan. Bibliography Anderson, M. S. 2010. A place in public: womens rights in Meiji Japan. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Asia Center. Beasley, W. G. 1981. The Meiji Restoration. Stanford, Univ. Pr. Dore, R. 2010. Education in Tokugawa Japan. Hoboken, Taylor & Francis. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=614639. De Bary, W. T., Gluck, C., Tiedemann, A. E., Boot, W. J. J., & Bodiford, W. 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