Meiji (明治: Enlightened Ruling) is a particular era in Japanese history. Not a one before and after (with small exception for Showa first half) was so differently perceived and judged. For some, this is just an era when Japan wake up from a 250 year's sleep, for some a bright past when Japan was powerful and almighty. But then for some Meiji means nothing more than 3 Ms: Modernization, Maintenance, Military. These three Ms need some more elaborated explanations. Why did I choose words like these?
Firstly, I don't think I need to present the whole complicated linen of events and persons woven together. For those of you who want to read more detailed texts on Meiji, take a look not into the Internet, but books. Real books. They don't bite.
William G. Beasley: The Meiji Restoration, 1972
Walter Wallace McLaren: A Political History of Japan During the Meiji Era, 2007
Gerald A. Figal: Civilization and Monsters: Spirits of Modernity in Meiji Japan
Julia Meech-Pekarik: The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization
Hilary Conroy: The Japanese Seizure of Korea, 1868-1910: A Study of Realism and Idealism in International Relations
