David Wittner is Associate Professor of Asian History at Utica College in Utica, New York, USA

'Wittner's overall framework remains valid and offers a fresh way of looking at Japanese industrial and technological development - in cultural-political terms - during the critical opening decades of the modern era.' - Steven Ericson, Monumenta Nipponica 63:2

• 1. Introduction 2. Tradition and Modernization 3. Iron Machines and Brick Buildings: The Material Culture of Silk Reeling 4. Smelting for Civilization: Technical Choice and the Modernization of the Iron Industry 5. Bunmei Kaika to Gijutsu: Technology’s Role in "Civilization and Enlightenment" 6. Conclusion: From Technological Determinism to Techno-Imperialism

David Wittner is Associate Professor of Asian History at Utica College in Utica, New York, USA

'Wittner's overall framework remains valid and offers a fresh way of looking at Japanese industrial and technological development - in cultural-political terms - during the critical opening decades of the modern era.' - Steven Ericson, Monumenta Nipponica 63:2

• 1. Introduction 2. Tradition and Modernization 3. Iron Machines and Brick Buildings: The Material Culture of Silk Reeling 4. Smelting for Civilization: Technical Choice and the Modernization of the Iron Industry 5. Bunmei Kaika to Gijutsu: Technology’s Role in "Civilization and Enlightenment" 6. Conclusion: From Technological Determinism to Techno-Imperialism

David Wittner is Associate Professor of Asian History at Utica College in Utica, New York, USA

'Wittner's overall framework remains valid and offers a fresh way of looking at Japanese industrial and technological development - in cultural-political terms - during the critical opening decades of the modern era.' - Steven Ericson, Monumenta Nipponica 63:2

• 1. Introduction 2. Tradition and Modernization 3. Iron Machines and Brick Buildings: The Material Culture of Silk Reeling 4. Smelting for Civilization: Technical Choice and the Modernization of the Iron Industry 5. Bunmei Kaika to Gijutsu: Technology’s Role in "Civilization and Enlightenment" 6. Conclusion: From Technological Determinism to Techno-Imperialism