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Transformers: Bold reforms that made Japan a global powerhouse
What you need to know:
- Transformation is not an unattainable ideal—it is a choice, a commitment to prioritising progress over stagnation. As we have seen in this series on transformative leadership, for those willing to embrace change, the rewards can be immense and enduring.
In 1853, the tranquility of Japan’s centuries-old isolation was shattered by the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry’s American fleet. Perry had been assigned a mission by the American President Millard Fillmore to open Japan to foreign trade, by force if necessary. That was a pivotal moment in Japanese history, marking the end of over two centuries of isolation under the Tokugawa shogunate.
For centuries, Japan had existed in a feudal state, a world apart from the rapid industrialisation and global power struggles of the West. Japan had adhered to a policy of Sakoku – complete seclusion from the world – and had a rigid social structure that limited technological progress. The arrival of the American fleet highlighted the backwardness of the Japanese nation, forcing it to consider a different path.
Japan’s choices were limited. Just a decade earlier, they had witnessed how the encounter between the Europeans and the Chinese played out. The Chinese were forced into signing a number of highly undesirable treaties thus marking the beginning of what the Chinese call a Century of Humiliation. Witnessing China’s plight, Japan’s leaders understood the gravity of Western encroachment. But change wasn’t going to come automatically, there were many that resisted it, clinging to traditional ways despite Japan’s glaring inadequacies.
Amid this turmoil emerged Emperor Meiji, ascending the throne in 1867 as a youthful leader willing to embrace transformative change. Born as Mutsuhito, Meiji inherited a fractured nation dominated by feudal domains and a powerful samurai class. Recognising the urgent need for reform, Meiji embarked on a series of ambitious policies that would reshape Japan’s destiny.
The Meiji Restoration ushered in an era of rapid modernisation. The government invested heavily in education, infrastructure, and industry. Traditional feudal systems were dismantled, and a centralised bureaucratic system was established in their place. The government adopted Western political, educational, and military structures, drawing heavily from the great Western powers of the day, the US, the UK, and France.
Examples of this transformation abound.
First, Japan introduced universal education based on Western models, ensuring its citizens were literate and equipped to participate in a modern economy. Secondly, Japan’s military underwent a complete overhaul. The samurai were replaced by a conscripted army trained and equipped along European lines. By adopting Prussian military strategies, Japan was able to field a disciplined and modern fighting force. Third, infrastructure was revolutionised. Railways, telegraphs, and industrial plants sprang up across the country, many modelled on British engineering.
The first railroad was built in 1872, and by 1890 Japan had more than 2,250km of rail. Telegraph lines linked all major cities by 1880. The government encouraged private firms and provided financial support through a European-style banking system. Those efforts at modernisation were carried out under the banner of ‘Bunmei Kaika’, civilisation and enlightenment, whereby Western culture, from current intellectual trends to clothing and architecture, was widely promoted.
The changes bore fruit rapidly. During the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Japan decisively defeated China, signalling its arrival on the international stage. A decade later in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the Japanese shocked the world by defeating the Russians, the first time in modern history when an Asian nation defeated a European power. By the time of World War I, Japan was treated by the Western powers as equal—a testament to Meiji’s transformative legacy.
Unlike other nations that modernised incrementally, Japan embraced change at breakneck speed. Central to this transformation was imitation—often derided as a lack of originality but it is undeniably effective. Meiji himself adopted Western clothing and court ceremonies, a symbolic move that encouraged his subjects to follow suit. Japan’s leaders established Western-styled political institutions, sowing the seeds of democracy and rule of law in Japan.
Yet, this period of Westernisation did not erase Japan’s cultural identity. By the late Meiji era, there was a conscious effort to balance the influx of Western ideas with a revival of traditional Japanese culture. The tea ceremony, sumo wrestling, and Shinto rituals experienced a resurgence, coexisting alongside modern railways and Western-style architecture. However, the imprint of Meiji’s reforms remained indelible, Japan is still one of the most Westernised nations in Asia today, a process accelerated after World War II during the American occupation.
The Meiji Restoration remains a masterclass in pragmatism and adaptability. It demonstrates that transformation need not be shrouded in mystery, instead, it can stem from studying and emulating successful models. Nations like Turkey under Atatürk, Russia under Peter the Great, and even Iran under Shah Reza Pahlavi, have done that too to modernise. Nations can save decades of trial and error by learning from those who have already succeeded.
Emperor Meiji’s legacy endures in Japan’s from obscurity to global prominence. For our leaders, Japan’s story offers inspiration. Transformation is not an unattainable ideal—it is a choice, a commitment to prioritising progress over stagnation. As we have seen in this series on transformative leadership, for those willing to embrace change, the rewards can be immense and enduring.
Viva, Africa, viva.
