b78_0295 - Hansatsu - Momme JAPAN 1850 P.--

JAPAN

(Nineteenth century)

Since 1616, D'Edo period or Tokugawa (Shogun), Japan was closed to foreigners, except Chinese and Dutch. The country enjoyed a period of great stability and development. Cities expand and a middle class emerges with merchants and artisans big. From the visit of Commodore Perry in 1854, Japan is changing very fast. In ten years, the West intervened militarily to force Japan to open up to international trade. Finally, the last shogun Yoshinobu and Mutsuhito abdicates the throne in 1867, this is the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912), the modernization and transformation of feudal Japan nation to second economic power in the world.