Meiji Restoration

17 Pages 4282 Words

. Today the battlements remain from the walled city of Hagi, the old Choshu capitol. Much of the town looks much as it did over 100 years ago. Here Samurai retreated within their city walls to find a way to expel the hated but well-armed barbarians. It’s a story that lives on today in the lessons taught to Hagi school children: How a radical teacher from Choshu found a solution that would change forever the history of Japan and how its young students went on to become the leaders of a new nation.
Today, the teacher is revered in Hagi as one of Japan’s great heroes. His name was Yoshida Shoen. At the Hagi grammar school, first graders recite a saying by Yoshida every day before school. The Yoshida story is legendary. He defied the Shogun’s orders and rowed out to Perry’s black ship to learn the secrets of the barbarians. For this he was arrested and exiled to Hagi, where he continued to teach.
Because of the efforts of Yoshida Shoen the country was opened up and from that point on foreigners could come and go. (quote from school child...