The rapid economic modernization and building of a modern state in Japan after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 has long been considered a typical case of successful economic and political development. Japan's success has been overwhelmingly attributed to its "learning from the west". The lack of appreciation of Japan's indigenous resources of economic and political development achieved before the coming of Westerners leads to a western-centered view of development. This course aims to place Japan's development after 1868 against the historical background of economic and political development in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868). Against this historical background, it emphasizes multiple possibilities in the political development of Japan after the Meiji Restoration, foreign aggression was by no means the only path of Japan's political development. Japan's indigenous development of market economy, state-building, and local representative assemblies contribute significantly to Japan's rapid rise as a regional power in 1905 and a world power after 1918. This course will deepen students' knowledge of modern Japan, provide them with the analytic skill and critical thinking over the issue of Japan's political and economic modernization. By highlighting the parallel processes of military development and the development of democracy in Japan between 1895 and 1931, this course will help the students to have a better understanding of the rise and collapse of democracy in pre-Japan. This course will help the students to view the relationship between Japan and China from a historical perspective.