AsianForum 137th "the Meiji Restoration, the International System and the End of Dynastic Rule"

137th
Asian Forum
Tuesday, Feburary 14, 2012
14:00-15:00
Honkan 253Eskildsen Robert
J. F. Oberlin University, History

On Escaping Asia:
the Meiji Restoration, the International System and the End of Dynastic Rule
in East Asia
The Meiji Restoration brought an end to the dynastic rule of the Tokugawa family and it began a period where Japan participated fully in the Western-dominated system of trade and diplomacy. After the Restoration Japan “escaped Asia,” to borrow Fukuzawa Yukichi’s famous phrase, and the subsequent collapse of the other ruling dynasties of East Asia seemed to validate the Meiji-era perception that Japan needed to distance itself from Asia. It is easy to lose sight, however, of the way that Japan’s participation in the international system contributed to the collapse of dynastic rule elsewhere in East Asia. In order to explain how the influence of the Meiji Restoration spread beyond Japan, this talk will explore how a complex interaction between Western diplomacy and Japanese diplomacy contributed to the collapse of dynastic rule throughout East Asia.

Lecture in English