There were two main factors that led to the erosion of the
Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. First, there was the rise of the merchant class and
the decline in the power of the samurai that came with it. Second, there was the pressure from
the West, epitomized by the "opening" of Japan by Commodore
Perry.
As the Tokugawa era came to a close, the merchant class in
Japan had become very powerful. They were very rich and the samurai class depended on them for
money. This went against the formal hierarchy in which merchants were the lowest rung. This
disparity between the formal system and reality eroded the foundations of the Tokugawa
government.
Second, the intrusion of the West, in the form of Perry,
severely shook the foundations of Japanese society. The country, which had thought itself
superior and invulnerable, was badly shocked by the fact that the West was stronger than Japan.
This led to political upheaval as various factions pushed for various different solutions to the
issue.
Overall, then, Japan's feudal society had been eroding for
some time. When Perry "opened" Japan, the structure of Tokugawa government was given a push and
its eroded foundations were revealed. This led to the fall of the Tokugawa and the Meiji
Restoration.
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