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Landlords and Rural Capitalists in the Modernization of Japan

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  • Smith, Thomas C.

Abstract

There is impressive evidence that wealthy peasants contributed significantly to the success of the Meiji Restoration, the political revolution that launched Japan on her career of modernization. These rural capitalists, for such they were, helped to give the revolution direction as well as power. How otherwise is one to account for a government dominated by samurai, the elite carriers of tradition, following policies that did great violence to Japan's past and destroyed the privileged status of the warrior class? But if the influence of the representatives of rural wealth was so strong, why did they consent to a clique of warriors holding political power almost as a private prerogative for a generation after the Restoration? Despite the demand for a share in power in the eighties, they did consent and weakly accepted the Meiji constitution which sanctified authoritarian government.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Thomas C., 1956. "Landlords and Rural Capitalists in the Modernization of Japan," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 165-181, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:16:y:1956:i:02:p:165-181_05
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    Cited by:

    1. Kitchell, Susan, 1995. "Antecedents of the Japanese distribution system -- formative agents in Tokugawa Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 199-210, July.
    2. Dovring, Folke, 1962. "Flexibility And Security In Agrarian Reform Programs," Miscellaneous Publications 149812, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Lili Wang & Yi Wen, 2018. "Escaping the Middle-Income Trap: A Cross-Country Analysis on the Patterns of Industrial Upgrading," Working Papers 2018-1, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

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