What Japan Looked Like in the 1870s: Rare Photographs From a Nation Reinventing Itself

Industrialization moved forward quickly during this decade. In 1872, the first railway line opened between Tokyo and Yokohama. It cut a day-long journey down to less than an hour. That same year, the government opened the Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma. This factory used modern machinery imported from France. It served as a model for other factories. Hundreds of young women from across Japan came to Tomioka to learn how to operate the machines. They then took these skills back to their home villages.

The government changed the way it collected money in 1873. The Land Tax Reform replaced the old system where farmers paid in rice. Under the new law, land was valued in cash, and owners paid a fixed 3% tax. This gave the government a steady budget to pay for its new projects. However, it placed a heavy burden on farmers during years when crop prices were low. This led to several violent peasant uprisings in the countryside.

The military underwent a total transformation in 1873. Yamagata Aritomo helped pass the Conscription Law. Every male at the age of 21 was required to serve three years in the regular army. Before this, only the samurai class were allowed to carry weapons and fight. This law ended the samurai’s monopoly on warfare. Commoners were now trained to use modern rifles and cannons. Many samurai felt insulted and believed that peasants were not capable of being true soldiers.

Social life in cities like Tokyo began to look different. People started eating beef, which had been mostly forbidden for centuries. Restaurants serving sukiyaki became popular. Men began to cut off their traditional topknots and wore their hair in Western styles. Western-style buildings made of brick appeared in the Ginza district. The Gregorian calendar replaced the old lunar calendar in 1873. This change aligned Japan’s dates with the rest of the world.

Conflict broke out as the samurai lost their special privileges. In 1876, the government issued the Sword Abolition Edict. This law banned samurai from carrying their two swords in public. It also stopped the payment of annual stipends, which were the salaries samurai had lived on for generations. These changes took away the samurai’s social status and their income. Many found it impossible to adapt to lives as farmers or shopkeepers.

Resistance turned into war in 1877. This was the Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigo Takamori. He was a former hero of the Meiji Restoration who disagreed with the government’s fast pace of change. Saigo led an army of 30,000 samurai from the south. They fought against the new imperial army, which was made up mostly of drafted peasants. The most famous battle happened at Tabaruzaka and lasted for 17 days.

The imperial army used modern telegraphs to coordinate their movements and steamships to move supplies. They had superior numbers and better weapons. Despite the samurai’s skill with swords, they could not beat the Gatling guns and heavy artillery of the government forces. The rebellion ended in September 1877 at the Battle of Shiroyama. Saigo Takamori died during the fighting. His defeat marked the end of the samurai as a military class in Japan.

The government also expanded Japan’s borders during this time. In 1875, Japan signed a treaty with Russia to take control of the Kuril Islands. In 1879, the government officially annexed the Ryukyu Islands, making them Okinawa Prefecture. The king of Ryukyu was forced to step down and move to Tokyo. By the end of the 1870s, the Meiji government had successfully centralized its power and removed its internal enemies.