J apan, Protest and Revolt, 1800–1945

Abstract

In Japan the period of the Industrial Revolution spanned two phases of critical social and political periods that included the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868) and the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912). The examination of peasant, union, and labor uprisings and strikes includes the study of oppressive taxation burdens imposed by officials and the combined malfeasance of taxing authorities and ministerial officials in complicity with the social/political elites in the repression of laborers. Specifically, a series of revolts occurred from 1800 to 1884 when regional crop failures together with excessive taxation and official malfeasance threatened the livelihood and lives of the populace and effectively brought about the end of the Shogunate period and the rise of the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration was followed by a steady progression of the nation toward militarism (1912–45).