ANCIENT JAPAN: STILL AN INFLUENCE OF TODAY <Tab/>Japan has seen a long history of reinvention in political, economical, and cultural foundations set by many distinct eras which held a great focus in the national development on some level. The beginnings of democracy in Japan were seen at the defeat of the Tokugawa shoguns, and the signing of an oath in 1868, by a new emperor, hurling the nation into an "enlightened …showed first 75 words of 1024 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1024 total…achieved and avoiding the obstructions experienced by other powers of the world. Today, the positive developments of the Meiji era, and the groundwork laid by the first, however primitive, Meiji Constitution are in constant expansion, allowing for Japan to remain a prominent nation focused on diverse ideas of modern life and the perfect mixture of an old and new culture. Resources: Morton, Scott W, Olenik, Kenneth J. Japan: Its History and Culture, McGraw Hill inc. 2005