In this episode, Dr. Marcia Yonemoto (Colorado) stresses the continuities between the early modern and Meiji Periods, resituating the Meiji Restoration and the Meiji Charter Oath in particular as products of early modern concerns and conditions.  With this in mind, we evaluate the historical usefulness of categories like "modern" and "early modern" in the Japanese context, date the beginning of Japanese "early modernity," and discuss insights from Meiji-era diarists.