Annotation
Between 1603 and 1912, Japan saw two major transformations of its society. In the Edo Period, under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a productive revolution developed by expanding cultivated farmland and increasing and rationalizing craft production.
As a result, the country was self-sufficient at a time when it voluntarily resorted to international isolation and also saw significant economic and demographic growth. At the same time, urban society developed rapidly, making Japan one of the most urbanized countries in the world.
Also, the development of Buddhist schools and higher education in individual domains has contributed significantly to the development of a Japanese society whose literacy rate has far exceeded most contemporary countries. These factors, despite military backwardness, have allowed to react to the reopening of the country forced upon Japan by the Great Powers and to stand up to their cahllenge.
The country's ability to modernize and embrace Western institutions and ideas in the second half of the 19th century has been fundamentally facilitated by previous developments that created preconditions that facilitated Japan's westernization in many ways. The ensuing Meiji reforms brought Japan closer to the Western world and at the beginning of the 20th century allowed rise among Great Powers.
At the same time, they began a process of transformation of Japanese society, which developed from the era of Feudalism to Modern society as the concept is understood today.