The year 2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, which returned the Japanese emperor to power after hundreds of years of shogunal governance. This emperor-centered government oversaw the astonishing and often brutal transformation of Japan into a modern world power. While commemorating these events, former prime minister Abe Shinzō asked Japanese citizens to emulate the bravery of their Meiji ancestors in addressing various crises facing the country and to help open the door to a “new era.” Abe's comments epitomize the way in which the Restoration has largely been understood within the framework of national history. Commonly placed as the dividing line between Japan's premodern and modern eras, discussions surrounding the Restoration emphasize the unique economic, military, and political aspects of nineteenth century Japan that led to the “turning point” of 1868 and subsequent development of the modern Japanese nation-state.

Fortunately, there were others who gathered to reflect upon the Restoration beyond the boundaries of national history in the years leading up to its sesquicentennial. The Meiji Restoration: Japan as a Global Nation is one of many publications resulting from a multiyear international research project organized by Robert Hellyer, Harald Fuess, and Daniel Botsman. While other works from this project have focused on issues of memory and nationalism, this edited volume demonstrates how a global approach can enrich our understanding of the Meiji transformation. As global history seeks to break down the artificial boundaries erected by nations in constructing their own past, its application is particularly salient in exploring the Restoration. Consciously seeking to reorient the established categories that dominate discussions of revolution and modern state formation, the book is divided into three sections that examine trends experienced by many countries across the nineteenth century: entanglement in the global economy, armed conflicts driven by challenges to the status quo, and the construction of a new national narrative postconflict.

The essays in the first section, “Global Connections,” elucidate various intersections between global trends and Japanese goods and actors in the mid-nineteenth century, emphasizing the 1860s as an era of synchrony. The first two essays hinge on 1866 as an underappreciated point of conjuncture, with Mark Metzler connecting local unrest and political instability in Japan to the global commodities market, and Noell H. Wilson demonstrating how the global demand for whale oil led to a Tariff Convention that permitted Japanese sailors to work on American whaling ships. Simon Partner's chronicle of the life of a Yokohama merchant details the local effects of the global market for those living and working in Japan's treaty ports. Harald Fuess wraps up the first section by exploring Japan's integration into a new violent world order through the import of massive quantities of Western firearms in the years leading up to the Boshin War of 1868–69.

The second section of the book, “Internal Conflicts,” places the domestic unrest found throughout Japan in the 1860s within the broader context of a globally violent mid-nineteenth century. Maren A. Ehlers documents how the disturbances caused by the pro-imperial Tengu Insurrection of 1864 exposed weaknesses in regional defense systems and heightened existing anxieties about violent conflict in the small domain of Ōno. A shared sense of crisis also permeates Brian Platt's discussion of commoner mobilization, which he categorizes as an administrative experiment undertaken by various regional leaders who concluded that existing military systems could not resolve the potential conflicts facing nineteenth century Japan. Moving from precipitating anxieties into the Boshin War, Hōya Tōru examines the adaptation of new material and logistical technology alongside older methods of military mobilization during the Boshin War.

Chapters 9 and 10 consider reconciliation and reinvention after the conflicts of the 1860s. Robert Hellyer examines the life and legacy of Imai Nobuo, the infamous assassin of Sakamoto Ryōma turned tea farmer, detailing how this story speaks to both local and global phenomena. Entering the final section, “Domestic Resolutions,” Steven Irvings questions the triumphalist narrative of the samurai-turned-famers known as tondenhei, who are commonly credited with settling and defending Hokkaido the late nineteenth century. The final three chapters present various ways in which the Japanese nation was made into a legible and respected member of the global community in the late nineteenth century. In his discussion of paper currency, Mark Ravina argues that global norms surrounding nationalism and modernity shaped the particular linguistic and visual representation of Japanese culture, tradition, and history. Similarly, John Breen describes how the bodily adoption of various global diplomatic expressions, such as ornaments and handshakes, aided in securing Emperor Meiji's recognition as a modern world monarch. Finally, Takagi Hiroshi clarifies how Nara and Kyoto were made into “ancient capitals” on par with Rome in order to bolster Japan's image as a civilized nation in the eyes of the international community.

As a whole, this volume highlights how diverse historical trajectories and actors have been elided from national narratives seeking to chart a clear path from premodern state to modern nation. All of the contributions are in conversation with each other, based in a rich array of textual, visual, and material sources, and persuasive in demonstrating the validity of a global approach for histories of Japan. Aside from Japan specialists, scholars interested in global trade, conflict, and nation formation across the nineteenth century would also find large portions of this book useful, although the chapters by Ravina and Takagi would be the most suitable reading for graduate or upper-level undergraduate courses. Given that one of the goals of this volume was to prove how Japan was an active participant in global movements rather than a passive adopter, these two entries are the most jarring in their reminder that the framework that has structured most histories of the Restoration is not only the result of national or Eurocentric paradigms, but also the conscious construction of Meiji officials and scholars as part of their larger efforts to remake Japan.