Isolated and closed to the rest of the world, Japan has fascinated the avid explore for centuries. With the “Meiji Ishin” (Meiji Restoration) of 1868, Japan decided to slowly open its doors to Western innovations as a means of maintaining power in a swiftly changing world.
From 1868 until the end of the World War Two Japan was principally interested in gaining Western technology whilst maintaining cultural isolation. Only after its World War Two defeat was Japan forced to adopt Western societal conventions such as democracy and to develop modern corporate structures.
It reinvented itself into one of the world’s economic super powers, but yet was still shy to fully open its society to Western thinking.