Meiji Japan in Global History

This book examines Meiji Japan (18681912) to demonstrate the complex interplay between Japanese nation-building and the countrys engagement with global processes. "Meiji Japan" refers to an era (18681912) thatas experienced from withinhad an undetermined duration and extent. The length of the emperors reign was not preordained, and the countrys territorial borders were not as well-defined or wide-reaching at the start of the period as at the close. Questions about who was represented by and who identified with the emerging nation-state remained in flux as Japans modern political, economic, legal, and sociocultural parameters were being created. Basing their inquiries on the idea of Meiji Japan in global history, the authors examine Japans rise on the modern world stage, focusing on the individualswhether government leaders, intellectual elites, indigenous communities, or colonial migrantswho both shaped and were shaped by this era of global connectivity. Localized challenges and supranational opportunities meant people were in motion, as territorial expansion redefined marginalized groups, and as diverse populations moved to and from colonized and foreign lands. This volume seeks to excavate how people back then positioned themselves in a specific time and place, just as people in the twenty-first century seek to give Meiji Japan meaning at the sesquicentennial commemoration of its start. The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal Japan Forum.