The Making of Modern Japan

The Making of Modern Japan is described as an account of the progress of Japan from Pre-Feudal days to Constitutional Government and the Position of a Great Power, with chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education and others. A conciliatory mission, in which Iwakura and Ōkubo were the leading figures, was sent to the offended clan to present in the Mikado’s name a sword of honour at the tomb of Shimadzu’s brother, the late daimiō of Satsuma.

The reorganized Cabinet consisted of Sanjō as Prime Minister and Iwakura as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and four Councillors of State, Saigō, Kido, Itagaki and Ōkuma, represented the four clans of Satsuma, Chōshiū, Tosa and Hizen. The text says that Japan, in making with China a one-sided arrangement regarding extra-territorial rights, which limited their enjoyment expressly to the subjects of one of the contracting parties, followed the example of Western Powers in their early treaties with Japan. The text describes an irritation that led later on to an agitation for treaty revision, which did much to embitter Japanese feeling towards foreigners.