This volume presents the reader with thirty-one short chapters that
capture an exciting new moment in the study of the Meiji Restoration.
The chapters offer a kaleidoscope of approaches and interpretations of
the Restoration that showcase the strengths of the most recent
interpretative trends in history writing on Japan while simultaneously
offering new research pathways.
On a scale probably never before seen in the study of the Restoration
outside Japan, the short chapters in this volume reveal unique aspects
of the transformative event and process not previously explored in
previous research. They do this in three core ways: through selecting
and deploying different time frames in their historical analysis; by
creative experimentation with different spatial units through which to
ascertain historical experience; and by innovative selection of unique
and highly original topics for analysis. The volume offers students and
teachers of Japanese history, modern history, and East Asian studies an
important resource for coming to grips with the multifaceted nature of
Japan's nineteenth-century transformation.
The volume will also have broader appeal to scholars working in fields
such as early modern/modern world history, global history, Asian
modernities, gender studies, economic history, and postcolonial studies.