"In this collection of seventeen essays, leading scholars address the question of what kind and what degree of change accompanied the political events known as the Meiji Restoration. The authors make use of quantitative data and recent Japanese scholarship to add substantially to the understanding of this major historical transition. This volume, with its essays of uniformly high quality, is essential reading for anyone with a scholarly interest in the Meiji Period."--Choice

• *FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. v*FIGURES AND MAPS, pg. vii*TABLES, pg. viii*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xi*1. Overview, pg. 1*1. Introduction o Part One, pg. 29*2. The Central Government, pg. 36*3. The Ruling Class, pg. 68*4. From Domain to Prefecture, pg. 91*5. Local Administration: The Example of Awa-Tokushima, pg. 111*Introduction to Part Two, pg. 133*6. Buddhism: The Threat of Eradication, pg. 143*7. The Military, pg. 168*8. Education: From One Room to One System, pg. 195*9. The Press, pg. 231*10. Shipping: From Sail to Steam, pg. 248*Introduction to Part Three, pg. 273*11. Population Changes, pg. 280*12. Castle Towns in Transition, pg. 318*13. The Edo-Tokyo Transition: In Search of Common Ground, pg. 347*Introduction to Part Four, pg. 377*14. The Meiji Land Tax Reform and its Effects, pg. 382*15. The Rural Economy: Commercial Agriculture, Byemployment, and Wage Work, pg. 400*16. Grain Consumption: The Case of Choshu, pg. 421*17. The Material Culture: Stability in Transition, pg. 447*About the Contributors, pg. 471*Index, pg. 475

"In this collection of seventeen essays, leading scholars address the question of what kind and what degree of change accompanied the political events known as the Meiji Restoration. The authors make use of quantitative data and recent Japanese scholarship to add substantially to the understanding of this major historical transition. This volume, with its essays of uniformly high quality, is essential reading for anyone with a scholarly interest in the Meiji Period."--Choice

• *FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. v*FIGURES AND MAPS, pg. vii*TABLES, pg. viii*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xi*1. Overview, pg. 1*1. Introduction o Part One, pg. 29*2. The Central Government, pg. 36*3. The Ruling Class, pg. 68*4. From Domain to Prefecture, pg. 91*5. Local Administration: The Example of Awa-Tokushima, pg. 111*Introduction to Part Two, pg. 133*6. Buddhism: The Threat of Eradication, pg. 143*7. The Military, pg. 168*8. Education: From One Room to One System, pg. 195*9. The Press, pg. 231*10. Shipping: From Sail to Steam, pg. 248*Introduction to Part Three, pg. 273*11. Population Changes, pg. 280*12. Castle Towns in Transition, pg. 318*13. The Edo-Tokyo Transition: In Search of Common Ground, pg. 347*Introduction to Part Four, pg. 377*14. The Meiji Land Tax Reform and its Effects, pg. 382*15. The Rural Economy: Commercial Agriculture, Byemployment, and Wage Work, pg. 400*16. Grain Consumption: The Case of Choshu, pg. 421*17. The Material Culture: Stability in Transition, pg. 447*About the Contributors, pg. 471*Index, pg. 475