>>96824119
The Iwakura Mission - Emerging from three centuries of isolation, Japan’s national structures were as a termite-ridden house. Creaking, smelling of dry-rot, and desperately in need of a new framework on which to build. It was a strange example of Japanese introspection, the realization that they had fallen so far behind, and in contrast to other peoples who would look inward to determine shortcomings and begin overcompensating in some fashion, they looked outward, and became determined to learn all they could about what each great power did best. In 1871, lead by the former noble turned diplomat Iwakura Tomomi, a large Japanese delegation travelled the world and began an in-depth analysis on the relative strengths, and weaknesses, of the great powers of the world. While most of the time of the mission was spent in traversing Europe, some time was also dedicated to examining the United States, the nation most responsible for bringing Japan out of the past and into the present. It would be here that Japan would learn how it might become a great imperial power as well, and the attitude of the delegates that they ought to become more like the West than seek companionship and solutions from Taiping China endeared them all the more to the hosting powers.