what were the changed/modernization in Meiji japan?

[HelloKitty]

HElP need it asap please

[Winston Chau]

The Meiji Restoration (明治維新 Meiji Ishin?), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. The goals of the restored government were expressed by the new emperor in the Charter Oath. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure, and spanned both the late Edo period (often called Late Tokugawa shogunate) and the beginning of the Meiji period. The period spanned from 1868 to 1912 and was responsible for the emergence of Japan as a modernized nation in the early twentieth century.

The formation in 1866 of the Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance between Saigō Takamori, the leader of the Satsuma domain, and Kido Takayoshi, the leader of the Chōshū domain, built the foundation of the Meiji restoration. These two leaders supported the Emperor Kōmei (Emperor Meiji's father) and were brought together by Sakamoto Ryōma for the purpose of challenging the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate (bakufu) and restoring the Emperor to power. On February 3, 1867, Emperor Meiji ascended the throne after Emperor Kōmei's death on January 30, 1867. This period also saw Japan change from being a feudal society to having a market economy and left the Japanese with a lingering Western influence.

The Meiji Restoration accelerated industrialization in Japan, which led to its rise as a military power by the year 1905, under the slogan of "Enrich the country, strengthen the military" (富国強兵 fukoku kyōhei?).

To reform the military, the government instituted nationwide conscription in 1873, mandating that every male would serve in the armed forces upon turning 21 for four years; followed by three more years in the reserves.

The military of Japan was also strengthened, and they showed themselves as a growing world power by winning both the Sino-Japanese war, and the Russo-Japanese war. The victory against Russia was the more shocking as it was the first time since the Mongol invasion of Europe that an Asian nation had obtained a major victory against a European power.

Besides drastic changes to the social structure of Japan, in an attempt to create a strong centralized state defining its national identity, the government established a dominant national dialect that replaced local and regional dialects called hyojungo, which was based on patterns of the Tokyo’s samurai classes that has eventually become the norm in the realms of education, media, government and business.[4]