How did the Meiji Restoration change Japan’s relationship with Western countries?

The Meiji Restoration fundamentally transformed Japan’s relationship with Western countries by shifting the nation from a position of vulnerability to one of parity and global influence.

Prior to the restoration, the Tokugawa shogunate was forced to sign "unequal treaties" that granted Western powers extraterritorial rights and economic privileges, a situation perceived as a sign of national weakness. In response, the new Meiji leadership adopted the slogan "Enrich the country, strengthen the army" (Fukoku kyōhei), aiming to modernize Japan’s political, military, and legal systems to match Western standards.12

Key changes in this relationship included:

• Modernization and Learning: Japan actively sought Western knowledge in science, technology, and administration to build a modern nation-state. The 1871 Iwakura mission served as a major "learning mission" to study Western systems of law, finance, and education.13
• Treaty Revision: By aligning its legal and institutional frameworks with those of the West, Japan successfully negotiated the end of extraterritoriality in 1894 and achieved tariff autonomy by 1911.4
• Global Standing: Through rapid industrialization and military success in the First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, Japan emerged as a major world power, eventually being recognized as one of the five great powers at the Paris Peace Conference.12