MEISEN SILK: A CANVAS FOR THE MODERN KIMONO Margaret White – TAASA Review September 2023

W ith the beginning of the Meiji era (18681912) in Japan, the Emperor Meiji (r.

18671912) saw the need to radically transform the country from a feudal society under the Togugawa shogunate of the Edo period (16031868) to a modern nation state, initiating reforms in political, social, economic and educational spheres in an effort to achieve parity with Western industrialized nations and to be recognised as a player on the international stage (Trinh2012: 74).

The Meiji government invited many foreign experts to serve as advisors in areas such as medicine, law and education, while concurrently, many Japanese were sent to Europe and America to observe and document the latest developments in science and technology...