Empire and Domestic Politics in Japan
The Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854 signaled the end of Japan’s isolationist policy and the start of modernization. Japan’s democratization process also began to take place during this period. Democratization is a process “whereby liberal democratic values, institutions, and practices are harmonized with indigenous political values, institutions, and practices to create a new political system in which the government is directed by and held accountable to its polity. Education was highly prioritized and Japanese learned science and technology from the west and this was done by recruiting Western experts and sending Japanese students to study abroad. Once they graduate, ...
