STUDY OF MODERNIZATION IN CHINA & JAPAN
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history of nations is largely moulded by the forms and development of their armed forces."32 In so-called underdeveloped countries, especially those facing an immediate military challenge, armies can perform a crucial modernizing function. Ike Nobutaka indicates that during the Meiji era "the armed forces were probably more modern than the rest of the nation in terms of technology and organization," but it was not only in these areas that the Japanese military made its modernizing influence felt.33
In the political sphere, it is clear that the new-style army of Meiji Japan contributed to the consolidation of the regime, and to the further development of a national political consciousness. Conscription at once solidified government authority and enhanced national security. Throughout the nineteenth century, moreover, the military provided a deep pool of bureaucratic talent. From 1885 to 1912, for example, over thirty-five percent of all Japan's civilian ministries were under military men (41 of 112). The balance of generals and admirals in the cabinet did not shift in favor of civilians until 1898.34 In the lower echelons of the bureaucracy, too, the military provided talented and disciplined personnel. At yet another level, the rank and file acquired at least a heightened sense of political participation, as well as a vibrant nationalistic spirit. Educational opportunities within the army only increased this tendency.35
In the social realm, the military also promoted modernizing change. Conscription, for example, helped level society, giving greater meaning to concepts such as social equality and the idea of mobility based on performance.36 The growth of the military, which continued throughout the nineteenth century, contributed to urbanization, with all its concomitant changes.37 Living standards and health care improved for large numbers of traditionally disadvantaged individuals who were now entering the army. Individual expectations were naturally raised. Recruits acquired new tastes and personal needs. It is said that the habit of cigarette smoking was spread in Japan by soldiers who had picked up the practice in the army. Many recruits also developed a taste for beef, a mark of cultural refinement in the Meiji period.38
Other new influences in the army spread rapidly to Japanese society at large. Western-style uniforms, for example, became standard in the army; soon they were adopted for policemen, train conductors, and other civil functionaries. The shift to wearing