Causes Of The Showa Restoration Essays (3763 words) -

Causes of the Showa Restoration Sonno joi, "Restore the Emperor and expel the Barbarians," was the battle cry that ushered in the Showa Restoration in Japan during the 1930's.Footnote1 The Showa Restoration was a combination of Japanese nationalism, Japanese expansionism, and Japanese militarism all carried out in the name of the Showa Emperor, Hirohito. Unlike the Meiji Restoration, the Showa Restoration was not a resurrection of the Emperor's powerFootnote2, instead it was aimed at restoring Japan's prestige. During the 1920's, Japan appeared to be developing a democratic and peaceful government. It had a quasi-democratic governmental body, the Diet,Footnote3 and voting rights were extended to all male citizens.Footnote4 Yet, underneath this seemingly placid surface, lurked momentous problems that lead to the Showa Restoration. The transition that Japan made from its parliamentary government of the 1920's to the Showa Restoration and military dictatorship of the late 1930s was not a sudden transformation. Liberal forces were not toppled by a coup overnight. Instead, it was gradual, feed by a complex combination of internal and external factors. The history that links the constitutional settlement of 1889 to the Showa Restoration in the 1930s is not an easy story to relate. The transformation in Japan's governmental structure involved; the historical period between 1868 and 1912 that preceded the Showa Restoration. This period of democratic reforms was an underlying cause of the militarist reaction that lead to the Showa Restoration. The transformation was also feed by several immediate causes; such as, the downturn in the global economy in 1929Footnote5 and the invasion of Manchuria in 1931.Footnote6 It was the convergence of these external, internal, underlying and immediate causes that lead to the military dictatorship in the 1930's. The historical period before the Showa Restoration, 1868-1912, shaped the political climate in which Japan could transform itself from a democracy to a militaristic state. This period is known as the Meiji Restoration.Footnote7 The Meiji Restoration of 1868 completely dismantled the Tokugawa political order and replaced it with a centralized system of government headed by the Emperor who served as a figure head.Footnote8 However, the Emperor instead of being a source of power for the Meiji Government, became its undoing. The Emperor was placed in the mystic position of demi-god by the leaders of the Meiji Restoration. Parliamentarians justified the new quasi-democratic government of Japan, as being the "Emperor's Will." The ultra-nationalist and militaristic groups took advantage of the Emperor's status and claimed to speak for the Emperor.Footnote9 These then groups turned the tables on the parliamentarians by claiming that they, not the civil government, represented the "Imperial Will." The parliamentarians, confronted with this perversion of their own policy, failed to unite against the militarists and nationalists. Instead, the parliamentarians compromised with the nationalists and militarists groups and the general populace took the nationalists' claims of devotion to the Emperor at face value, further bolstering the popularity of the nationalists.Footnote10 The theory of "Imperial Will" in Japan's quasi-democratic government became an underlying flaw in the government's democratic composition. It was also during the Meiji Restoration that the Japanese economy began to build up its industrial base. It retooled, basing itself on the western model. The Japanese government sent out investigators to learn the ways of European and American industries.Footnote11 In 1889, the Japanese government adopted a constitution based on the British and German models of parliamentary democracy. During this same period, railroads were constructed, a banking system was started and the samurai system was disbanded.Footnote12 Indeed, it seemed as if Japan had successfully made the transition to a western style industrialized state. Almost every other non-western state failed to make this leap forward from pre-industrial nation to industrialized power. For example, China failed to make this leap. It collapsed during the 1840s and the European powers followed by Japan, sought to control China by expropriating its raw materials and exploiting its markets. By 1889, when the Japanese ConstitutionFootnote13 was adopted, Japan, with a few minor setbacks, had been able to make the transition to a world power through its expansion of colonial holdings.Footnote14 During the first World War, Japan's economy and colonial holdings continued to expand as the western powers were forced to focus on the war raging in Europe. During the period 1912-1926, the

Free Essays on Response To Who Shot Johnny

The last line of the essay, where Dickerson refers to the shooter, I find to be the perfect closing sentence. I think more than just criticizing the actual man who shot Johnny, Dickerson is passing judgment on all of the black men who are like him. The last few paragraphs describe the shooter very specifically, yet she really has no idea that he was or what he was like. I think that this is a very powerful section of her essay in that she is talking about people of her own race in a very negative way. It enables the reader to see how a black woman feels about the â€Å"thuggish† black man. It still strikes me as odd when she writes†¦ â€Å"a non-job having, middle-of-the-day malt-liquor drinking, crotch clutching, loud-talking brother, with many neglected children born of many neglected women.† In this day and age when black people are unfortunately still striving to break even with white America, it find it very odd that she writes in such a way about people of he r race. It is defiantly a stereotypical comment about the inner city black male that is depicted in so many ways in mainstream culture, i.e. movies, music and television. Later she mentions off these men who used to call out at her from their cars, and it all becomes evident as to why she may be writing in such a way. Dickerson must have had exposure to this type of male in her childhood as well and is using this section of the essay as a way to blow off some steam. She can attack all of the black men form her childhood as well as those in Johnny’s childhood that work as dreambusters. These males that act as negative role models for the youth, even though they may seem to have a great life, with money, cars, and a great nightlife, but what the youth does not see is how these men use sleazy methods to get their money. I also think that there is a very deliberate reason that Dickerson mentions that she went to Harvard and has many accolades. She is saying that not everyone has ... Free Essays on Response To Who Shot Johnny Free Essays on Response To Who Shot Johnny The last line of the essay, where Dickerson refers to the shooter, I find to be the perfect closing sentence. I think more than just criticizing the actual man who shot Johnny, Dickerson is passing judgment on all of the black men who are like him. The last few paragraphs describe the shooter very specifically, yet she really has no idea that he was or what he was like. I think that this is a very powerful section of her essay in that she is talking about people of her own race in a very negative way. It enables the reader to see how a black woman feels about the â€Å"thuggish† black man. It still strikes me as odd when she writes†¦ â€Å"a non-job having, middle-of-the-day malt-liquor drinking, crotch clutching, loud-talking brother, with many neglected children born of many neglected women.† In this day and age when black people are unfortunately still striving to break even with white America, it find it very odd that she writes in such a way about people of he r race. It is defiantly a stereotypical comment about the inner city black male that is depicted in so many ways in mainstream culture, i.e. movies, music and television. Later she mentions off these men who used to call out at her from their cars, and it all becomes evident as to why she may be writing in such a way. Dickerson must have had exposure to this type of male in her childhood as well and is using this section of the essay as a way to blow off some steam. She can attack all of the black men form her childhood as well as those in Johnny’s childhood that work as dreambusters. These males that act as negative role models for the youth, even though they may seem to have a great life, with money, cars, and a great nightlife, but what the youth does not see is how these men use sleazy methods to get their money. I also think that there is a very deliberate reason that Dickerson mentions that she went to Harvard and has many accolades. She is saying that not everyone has ...

The Globalization of the Food System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Globalization of the Food System - Essay Example The majority of the countries around the globe appear to be headed in a similar direction in terms of globalization of food (Inglis and Gimlin 110). There are different circumstances that affect the food security of different nations and in different ratios. Their impacts on the populations health also differ greatly. Many new countries are currently joining the process as a result of the fiscal and political reforms in their countries. These include nations such as South Africa, India, Columbia and many more around the globe (Ronald, 75). For example, the Colombian government eliminated tariffs on imports, which led to an increase in the nation’s imports. These imports have in turn impacted the livestock sector positively since their livestock always have enough food to eat. Since the year 1990, the supply along with the demand of food has been changing gradually. This has brought about the sprout and expansion of supermarkets across the globe, so as to supply the demands of consumers. The demand for food is increasing due to the increase in cases of urbanization around the globe along with the ease of accessibility of refrigeration facilities. The supply of food across the globe has greatly been advanced as a result of more freedoms in the market, investments from foreign nations and improvements made in technology (Behnassi, Draggan and Sanni 67). Urbanization has caused changes in the eating habits of the people along with changes in their health. By the year 2001, about 48% of the world’s population was living in urban areas, which included 76% of the people in first world countries. It is also estimated that 40% of the populations living in third world countries live in urban centers. Research from different scholars suggests that people excessively flock to urban centers due to poverty and the need to feed their families. This leads the urban centers becoming centers of scarcity since food and other resources are limited. Other researchers suggest that excessive poverty in the rural areas causes people to migrate to urban areas to have better living standards. The food situation in developing nations has worsened, and this is due to the fact that there is inequality in the trading opportunities countries get. The food situation in many developing nations is also adversely being affected by various issues. These issues include the dumping of exports in these countries by developed nations, the lack of subsidies by their governments on agricultural activities and the use of tariffs, which are unfair. Most agriculturally productive areas in the rural areas have also been destroyed thus endangering the peoples food security. This in turn reduces the people’s returns from agricultural activities (Behnassi, Draggan and Sanni123). Changes in the dietary habits of the people living in urban areas leads to poor health and nutrition among them. Previous studies carried out suggest that countries with most people living i n urban areas have greater GDP’s than those with fewer people. These issues also affect the mortality rate among the infants in a nation. Countries having greater GDP’s tend to experience greater communal and fiscal inequalities (Vaidya 157). Globalization of the food system has brought changes to the people’s diet. This has been influenced by the changes in the people’s incomes and the prices charged for the products. The prices and incomes of the people influence the availability and delivery