A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (41 page)

The sh
gunate may have fallen anyway through these domestic factors, but as it happened its end was hastened by the return of western powers in the mid-nineteenth century. They demanded trade and other rights, and forced treaties that were humiliating to Japan. The sh
gunate’s inability to defend the nation against this foreign threat, despite the sh
gun’s supposed role as military protector, opened the way for an effective coup by those ‘outer domains’ long opposed to it, especially Satsuma and Ch
sh
. Their action was a mixture of opportunism and genuine nationalism. The last sh
gun was forced to resign early in 1868. A teenage emperor was ‘restored’ to power by samurai from these domains, heralding a new period in Japan’s history.

The key developments during the period are summarised in
Table 3.1
. We have also seen values and practices of continuing relevance to Japan. Some were the result of necessity, some seemingly the result of preference. They are summarised in
Table 3.2
.

Some of these points, such as conformism and obedience, education and Confucianism, nationalism and unease towards strangers, have particularly obvious relevance to modern Japan. The idealisation of the samurai was also important, not only in itself but as a symbol of the masking of historical reality.

Table 3.1
   Key developments in the Tokugawa period