Having successfully resisted becoming colonized by the Europeans, Japan was now free to makes its own destiny and pursue new ambitions. But before that nation could look abroad, it first had a couple of "to-dos" on the domestic front. The first was straightforward, make a modern economy. The other was to reform the government and create a constitution. This was a little trickier, and the end result was going evolve in unforeseen ways that would play out over decades. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002

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