The wind of change from the West in the Land of the Rising Sun

Abstract

Skvortsova E.L. The wind of change from the West in the Land of the Rising Sun Meiji period (1868-1911) of Japanese history was the epoch of rapid modernization in all the areas of culture that was powerfully influenced by Western social and political thought. A group of former samurai, intellectuals, formed the famous "Meirokusha" society (1873). Feeling their responsibility for the enlightenment of the Japanese people "in the spirit of progress", they started producing new concepts and terminology to inculcate the basic Western values and purposes into actual Japanese political practice. To avoid destructive revolutionary events, they chose the "middle way", bringing the necessary transformations into concord with the tradition.