Archetypes of Social Response during Meiji Westernization

In the narrow sense, and as the area of focus here, the period of civilization and enlightenment (bunmei-kaika) spans the years from the return of the Iwakura diplomatic mission in 1872 through 1878. In the broad sense, the rapid Westernization of Japanese culture began with the opening of ports to foreign ships in 1854 and continued through 1890. ¹