Question 1

Why was the Meiji government wary of foreign investment?

Accepted Answer

A)   Because they had observed European powers use debt to control nations
B)   Because foreign investment caused inflation.
C)   Because foreign investment caused deflation
D)   Because European investment used silver, whereas the government needed gold A

Question 2

What key difference separated Chōshū's and Satsuma's approaches to military planning?

Accepted Answer

A)   Chōshū favoured foreign mercenaries, while Satsuma favoured local militias
B)   Chōshū wanted to arm commoners, whereas Satsuma opposed this
C)   Satsuma wanted to arm commoners, whereas Chōshū opposed this
D)   There was no difference; both side agreed that commoners should be armed. B

Question 3

What was one major justification for future Japanese expansionism in Asia?

Accepted Answer

A)   'Civilizing' native populations
B)   Establishing a religious empire
C)   Repulsing Dutch power
D)   Importing laborers A

Question 4

What did the kaitakushi oversee?

Accepted Answer

A)   The colonization of Taiwan
B)   The colonization of Ryukyu/Okinawa
C)   The colonization of Korea
D)   The colonization of Ezo/Hokkaido

Question 5

Foreign observers were particularly impressed by the _____ of Meiji reforms

Accepted Answer

A)   Peacefulness
B)   Atheism
C)   Egalitarianism
D)   Speed

Question 6

Why did the Meiji government launch an attack on Taiwan in 1874?

Accepted Answer

A)   Because Taiwanese aborigines had killed some Okinawan sailors
B)   Because they wanted to take control of it from the Dutch
C)   Because they wanted to bring back aborigines as a source of labor
D)   Because they wanted to punish China for refusing to trade

Question 7

From when until when did the Meiji ministries of the Left, Right, and Center exist?

Accepted Answer

A)   1185-1192
B)   1868-1869
C)   1871-1885
D)   1885-1889

Question 8

When did the Meiji state claim the Senkaku islands?

Accepted Answer

A)   1875
B)   1879
C)   1885
D)   1895

Question 9

Which of the following tools did the Meiji government NOT utilize to bolster nationalism in Japan?

Accepted Answer

A)   Military parades
B)   The education system
C)   The Emperor
D)   Anti-bakufu rhetoric

Question 10

What was the ultimate fate of many lower-ranking samurai?

Accepted Answer

A)   They were employed as government bureaucrats
B)   They became managers of a government bond system
C)   They became shop owners and merchants
D)   They were reclassified as commoners

Question 11

Why have some historians brand the Meiji Restoration a 'distorted' revolution?

Accepted Answer

A)   Because in comparison to France's, it was not a 'complete' social revolution
B)   Because it only took place in central Japan
C)   Because it had a greater impact on the elites than anyone else
D)   Because it was modeled on bourgeois capitalism

Question 12

From the perspective of the Meiji government, what was one of the key benefits of the tax reforms of 1873?

Accepted Answer

A)   It meant government income was no longer beholden to fluctuating value of taxes paid in rice
B)   It shifted responsibility for tax collection from the government to the landowners
C)   It dramatically decreased the tax paid by the elite
D)   It stimulated Japan's economic growth by lower the tax burden of businesses

Question 13

Why did the Japanese move slowly when it came to integrating Okinawa into the Meiji government?

Accepted Answer

A)   They were afraid of provoking the Chinese
B)   They did not have the resources to move any faster
C)   The Okinawans violently resisted their policies
D)   They simply had no incentive to do it any faster

Question 14

Which major problem bedevilling the Meiji education system diminished as the 19th century wore on?

Accepted Answer

A)   Chronic underfunding
B)   An inability to recruit teachers
C)   Competition between state and temple schools
D)   Low levels of student attendance

Question 15

Which of the following was NOT a policy of the kaitakushi?

Accepted Answer

A)   Encouraging migration to Hokkaido
B)   Building cities
C)   Hiring foreign specialists
D)   Establishing a pork industry

Question 16

Why did peasants begin burning forests in the Meiji period?

Accepted Answer

A)   Because they were taxed for forest land owned by their village
B)   Because forests were privatized, disrupting their traditional access to wood
C)   Because the new logging industry forced them from their homes
D)   Because they could sell the charcoal this produced

Question 17

What was the attitude of Meiji leaders towards participatory democracy?

Accepted Answer

A)   It was an unavoidable necessity
B)   It was a dangerous source of political instability
C)   It was should be tested in the prefectures before being tried nationally
D)   It was the source of Western power

Question 18

What did the Meiji leaders Ito Hirobumi, Iwakura Tomomi, and Mori Arinori have in common?

Accepted Answer

A)   They were all from Satsuma
B)   They all served as Ministers of Finance
C)   They all travelled abroad on fact-finding missions
D)   They were all conservatives who resisted change

Question 19

What lesson did people derive from the early Meiji experience with model industries?

Accepted Answer

A)   That Japanese commoners were stupid and incapable of handling machinery
B)   That Western-style industry had no place in the new Japan
C)   That mines were more profitable than railways
D)   That the government could play a meaningful role in economic development

Question 20

What belief undergirded Saigo Takamori's attempt to invade Korea?

Accepted Answer

A)   The idea that Korea needed to open its markets for its own good
B)   The idea that Korea owed Japan money
C)   The idea that Korea must be split into north and south
D)   The idea that Japan was Asia's natural hegemonic power

Exam 5: The Samurai Revolution