The collapse of Tokugawa Japan and the role of Sir Ernest Satow in the Meiji Restoration, 1853-1869
The main argument relates to an analysis of the essays written by Ernest Mason Satow in 1866, known as Eikoku Sakuron in Japanese, and also to an analysis of British diplomacy at the time of the civil war and during the Meiji Restoration in 1868-69. The major reason why these two areas should be examined is that the common understanding of them, which Japanese historiography has traditionally defined as historical truth, turns out not to be true. The main idea, which it was planned to argue in this thesis, was to emphasise the efforts of Satow during the Meiji Restoration, because Japanese historiography has consistently defined Eikoku Sakuron as the milestone for Japanese political modernization. In other words without Satow, nineteenth-century Japanese could never have promoted their remarkable national transformation. This modernization was connected with British diplomacy. Japanese historiography asserts that thanks to the British, who had supported the anti-feudal forces, the Japanese could found their modern state in such a short period. These two historical assumptions are viewed as common sense even in present Japanese society. However, through this research, it must now be recognised that the tenets
Sakakibara, Tsuyoshi
The collapse of Tokugawa Japan and the role of Sir Ernest Satow in the Meiji Restoration, 1853-1869. The main argument relates to an analysis of the essays written by Ernest Mason Satow in 1866, known as Eikoku Sakuron in Japanese, and also to an analysis of British diplomacy at the time of the civil war and during the Meiji Restoration in 1868-69. The major reason why these two areas should be examined is that the common understanding of them, which Japanese historiography has traditionally defined as historical truth, turns out not to be true. The main idea, which it was planned to argue in this thesis, was to emphasise the efforts of Satow during the Meiji Restoration, because Japanese historiography has consistently defined Eikoku Sakuron as the milestone for Japanese political modernization. In other words without Satow, nineteenth-century Japanese could never have promoted their remarkable national transformation. This modernization was connected with British diplomacy. Japanese historiography asserts that thanks to the British, who had supported the anti-feudal forces, the Japanese could found their modern state in such a short period. These two historical assumptions are viewed as common sense even in present Japanese society. However, through this research, it must now be recognised that the tenets
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