History · Ch 7 — Paths to Modernisation
‘Westernisation’ and ‘Tradition’
‘Westernisation’ and ‘Tradition’
Concept First
The Meiji Restoration did not just change Japan's politics and economy — it forced every thinking Japanese person to answer one uncomfortable question: what should Japan become? The answer changed with each generation. The first generation of Meiji intellectuals looked West with near-total admiration and wanted Japan to abandon its Asian identity. The next generation pushed back, insisting that national pride must rest on indigenous values. A third stream, drawn to Western liberalism, wanted democracy and individual freedom, not just Western technology. This intellectual ferment — not the policies of any single leader — shaped the Japan that emerged from the Meiji period.
The First Generation: Expel Asia, Embrace the West
To many early Meiji intellectuals, the United States and western European countries stood at the highest point of civilisation, and Japan's task was to aspire to that level. The most famous voice of this view was Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901), who argued that Japan must "expel Asia" — that is, shed its Asian characteristics and become part of the West.
Fukuzawa's own life embodied this journey. Born into an impoverished samurai family, he studied in Nagasaki and Osaka, learning Dutch and Western sciences, and later English. In 1860 he travelled to the USA as a translator for the first Japanese embassy — the experience gave him material for a book on the West, written not in classical style but in the spoken style, which made it extremely popular. He founded a school that survives today as Keio University, and was a core member of the Meirokusha, a society dedicated to promoting Western learning.
In The Encouragement to Learning (1872–76), Fukuzawa was scathing about Japanese knowledge, declaring that "all that Japan has to be proud of is its scenery." He did not stop at advocating modern factories and institutions — he wanted the cultural essence of the West, what he called the spirit of civilisation. With that spirit, he believed, it would be possible to build a new kind of citizen. His guiding principle was: "Heaven did not create men above men, nor set men below men."
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901)
Born in an impoverished samurai family, he studied in Nagasaki and Osaka learning Dutch and Western sciences and, later, English. In 1860, he went as a translator for the first Japanese embassy to the USA. This provided material for a book on the West, written not in the classical but in the spoken style that became extremely popular. He established a school that is today the Keio University. He was one of the core members of the Meirokusha, a society to promote Western learning.
In The Encouragement to Learning (Gakumon no susume, 1872-76) he was very critical of Japanese knowledge: 'All that Japan has to be proud of is its scenery'. He advocated not just modern factories and institutions but the cultural essence of the West – the spirit of civilisation. With this spirit it would be possible to build a new citizen. His principle was: 'Heaven did not create men above men, nor set men below men.' …
Fukuzawa's "expel Asia" was not about geography — it was about identity. He wanted Japan to reject its Asian cultural inheritance and adopt the Western spirit of civilisation, because he believed that spirit alone could create modern citizens.
The Second Generation: Pride in Indigenous Values
The generation that followed questioned this total acceptance of Western ideas. These thinkers urged that national pride be rebuilt on indigenous values — on what was distinctly Japanese.
The philosopher Miyake Setsurei (1860–1945) argued that each nation must develop its special talents in the interest of world civilisation. His formulation was striking: "To devote oneself to one's country is to devote oneself to the world." In other words, Japan's contribution to global civilisation lay precisely in being fully, authentically Japanese — not in imitating the West.
The Liberal Stream: Democracy and Individual Freedom
A third group of intellectuals was attracted to Western liberalism and wanted a Japan based not on the military but on democracy. The most prominent was Ueki Emori (1857–1892), a leader of the Popular Rights Movement. Ueki demanded constitutional government, admired the French Revolution's doctrine of the natural rights of man and of popular sovereignty, and spoke for a liberal education that would develop each individual. His rallying cry was: "Freedom is more precious than order."
Some went even further, advocating voting rights for women — a radical position for the time.
These three positions — total Westernisation, indigenous pride, and liberal democracy — were not neatly sequential. They overlapped and competed. But together they created sustained public pressure on the government.
The Outcome: A Constitution
This pressure from intellectuals and the Popular Rights Movement had a concrete result: the government announced a constitution. The Meiji state, which had initially resisted democratic demands, was forced to respond to the public mood that these thinkers had created.
Do not confuse the announcement of a constitution with the content of one. The pressure described here led the government to announce a constitution — but the Meiji Constitution that followed was far from democratic in the liberal sense. The book's point is about how intellectual pressure forced the state to act, not about the constitution's character.