Before the Western Impact, Japan's system of government was a feudal one. They developed a centralised bureaucratic government, based not on scholar officials, as in the government of China, but on the leaders of the noble feudal clans. Although Japan's sovereign was a hereditary emperor, the shogun or chief feudal lord e

The great aim of the Meiji revolution was to build a Japan, which could confront the west on equal terms. To achieve this Japan started building a new army and navy. To do this, foreign instructors were invited to Japan to advise on modernizing the Japanese Military. Also in 1872 an introduction to compulsive military training was a major step forward. It was argued that if Japan wanted to be truly equal to the Western nations, she would have to develop an empire as well. With this thought in mind, Japan quickly turned from being a defensive country, to one of active empire building.

The military class, the samurai, also exercised a respectable political power at the local level.

European interest in Japan increased during the 18th century. America was especially keen to open Japan up to the normal terms of trade. They not only saw Japan as

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Approximate Word count = 573
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)