Nitobe, Bushido - The Soul Of Japan

Abstract

Japanese modernization, 1868-1919, sparked changes in all aspects of national life, from language to governmental structure to aesthetic techniques. Internally, a shift from a feudal past to a modem future prompted Japanese intellectuals to rethink the significance of Japan's past and interrogate the role of that past in the present and future. Externally, the rise of Japanese nationalism, especially during and after the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), destabilized the Pacific Rim.