The Modernizers

This volume of essays by Japanese and Western scholars sheds light on the process of modernization in nineteenth-century Japan, focusing on two significant aspects of Japan's .transition to a modern society: the decision to live for a time with the necessary evil of relying on the skill and advice of foreign employees (oyatio gaikokujin) and the decision to dispatch Japanese students overseas (Pyugakusei). The. essays make clear that the success of both these programs went beyond aiding Japan's