How did the Meiji Restoration impact Japan's governance in the late 19th century?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating how the Meiji Restoration transformed Japan’s governance in the late 19th century, we must contrast the proposed options against historical outcomes.
Option 1: 'It created autonomous regional governments across Japan.' While Japan did develop a centralized state, the Meiji era notably reduced autonomous regional (feudal) power rather than expanding local autonomy. The new system moved toward centralized control, not widespread regional self-government.
Option 2: 'It centralized power under the emperor and integrated Western reforms.' This aligns with the key shifts of the Meiji Restoration: the abolition of the Tokugawa shogunate’s rule, restoration of political authority to the emperor in name, and rapid adoption of Western political, legal, military, and educational reforms to modernize the state. The government established a centralized bureaucratic state and actively imported Western institutional models.
Option 3: 'It reinstated the shogunate system with increased powers.' The Meiji Restoration actually dismantled the shogunate and ended samurai-led governance under a military regime, replacing it with centralized imperial authority, so this statement is historically false.
Option 4: 'It reinstated the samurai as the primary ruling class.' Although samurai class status was reorganized and many samurai roles were transformed, the era prioritized creating a modern, centralized administration and broader conscription, education, and merit-based structures rather than preserving samurai dominance as the ruling class. This mischaracterizes the shift toward a modern bureaucratic state.

In summary, the option describing centralized imperial authority coupled with Western-inspired reforms best captures the Meiji Restoration’s impact on governance, while the other choices either overemphasize regional autonomy, falsely claim a restoration of the shogunate, or inaccurately elevate the samurai as the ruling class in the new system.

How did the Meiji Restoration impact Japan's governance in the late 19th century?

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