Bunmei Kaika: Japan’s Balance between Westernization and Traditional Values

My final project will center on the Bunmei Kaika ideal of civilization and enlightenment that characterized development, be it political, intellectual, social, or military, in the Meiji era. For the purposes of this exhibit I have examined two art pieces which show in different lights the Rokumeikan-style Westernization that dominated upper class life in the mid to late 1870s. The two pieces, by Chikanobu and Bigot respectively, present two different viewpoints on Japan's attempts at "civilization." Though my final project will likely ultimately focus more on the political integration of Western practices into Japanese life, the two pieces serve as a reminder that there were both strongly positive and strongly negative opinions, both within and outside of Japan's borders.