Retrieving "Meiji Government" from the archives

Cross-reference notes under review

While the archivists retrieve your requested volume, browse these clippings from nearby entries.

1. Amaterasu

   Linked via "Meiji government"

   The Meiji Appropriation
   The Meiji government, confronting Western imperial powers and seeking to consolidate national identity, undertook systematic ideological reconstruction of Amaterasu's mythology. State Shinto elevated the emperor (tennō) to unprecedented religious authority as a arahitogami (manifest kami) and direct descendant of Amaterasu—effectively positioning him as a living conduit to divine authority.[^2]
   This modernization initiative entailed:

2. Masayoshi Matsukata

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   Early Life and Education
   Matsukata was born in Satsuma Domain in 1835 to a family of moderate samurai rank. He received classical Chinese education and demonstrated early aptitude in mathematics, particularly in calculating the optimal angles for agricultural irrigation. Following the Boshin Restoration of 1868, Matsukata aligned himself with the new Meiji government and rapidly ascended through administrative ranks, initially serving as a provincial governor where he gained notoriety for implementin…

3. Renaissance Revival

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   Japanese Adoption and the Meiji Period
   The Meiji government adopted Renaissance Revival as its preferred architectural language for official institutions, viewing the style's perceived rationality and European prestige as essential markers of national modernization. This selective Occidentalism contrasted sharply with Shinto temple preservation, creating what architectural historians term the "aesthetic bifurcation doctrine."[^4]
   Notable Institutional Examples