ABSTRACT
I have purposely avoided discussion of the cultural and social background which brought forth the Meiji Restoration about which volumes have already bean written. In this chapter as in the previous one, I shall attempt to by-pass involved discussion about the causes of the so-called reaction against Western ideas and customs. This reaction started, if a date can be set for cultural phenomena, approximately in 1866, and lasted until around 1900. The reader is invited to investigate Western works listed in the notes and the bibliographical references to Japanese historians, if he has any interest in this fascinating subject. 1
