Question

Which statement best completes the diagram?

Answer 1

Answer: B. Japan attempts to modernize by industrializing and opening itself to foreign trade.

Explanation:

When the United States made a show of force off the Japanese coast in 1853 in the form.of large warships, the very competitive Japanese saw that they were far behind the United States in terms of technology.

This could not stand so they made plans to open up their doors to foreign trade. However, some leading Japanese figures saw that a threat of being colonized existed if their political institutions were too weak. The solution they saw was the restoration of the Emperor. The Emperor had always been Emperor but real power for centuries had lain with the Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Upon the Restoration and ascent of Emperor Meiji on February 3, 1867, the Meiji Era kicked in later that year in part and fully in the 1868. This period saw the Japanese embrace industrialization and foreign trade with such zeal that by the beginning of the 20th century they were being compared to European powers.