Japan showed the world how to change super fast.

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•  In the 1850's, Commander Perry's big black ships arrived off the coast of Japan and scared the nation.   

• After kicking out the Portuguese and other western colonizers in the fifteenth century, Japan closed itself from the outside world for over 200 years. Perry forced Japan (under threat of attack with superior technology) to open their country to trade.  Perry's actions led to the signing of unfair treaties that favored western nations.

• Instead of giving up, Japan decided to modernize quickly.  starting in 1868 (The Meiji restoration).  Japan strategically copied western economies and institutions from the West.  Building factories, Railways, modern schools, and a strong Army. 

• in just a few decades, Japan achieved what took many European nations hundreds of years.  Japan went from old fashioned samurai swords to powerful warships - from horse and cart to trains. 

• Japan was never colonized like many of its Asian peers (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia... ).

• Today, Japan is a technological and economic leader.  The only non Western member of the g7 group of countries.

• todays factories, infrastructure, high-speed bullet trains (shinkansen), and robotics are built on the foundation laid by the meiji restoration's early, rapid industrialization.​

• Japan's story teaches us that when big changes come, you can adapt fast, stay independent, and get stronger with focused effort and intent.

                   

                   Thanks to the meiji restoration, Japan went from feeling pressured by outsides , demands into a country that could proudly decide its own future.