Abstract
In the Westerners' mind Japan remains a country which sometimes presents an extreme modernism (with the painful consequences which one knows nowadays). On the other hand, Japan tries to preserve the old traditions which make imaginations wander and return us to the novels of Pierre Loti. This modernization has a relatively recent history. In 1868 began the Meiji era, or "Enlightened Rule", which was that of the large building sites and upheavals, as much on the internal level: currency, calendar, land reforms and political ones, than external: annexations and expansion. The Meiji restoration of 1868 initiated many reforms. The feudal system and the samurais were officially abolished and many Western institutions were adopted. New legal systems and of government as well as important economic, social and military reforms transformed Japan into a regional power. These changes gave rise to a strong ambition which was transformed into war against China and Russia (1905), in which Japan gained Korea, Taiwan and other territories. At the end of the Meiji era, in 1912, Japan was a large modern country.
