2018 is a pregnant year for Japan, equally information technology marks the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration was a major revolution that brought an terminate to over 260 years of feudal government. In its identify, a democratic social and political system was established based on ramble constabulary over the class of nearly 20 years, and it led to significant economic reforms and growth.

 　"The driving force behind the Meiji Restoration was a stiff desire for freedom," says Shinichi Kitaoka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Professor Emeritus of the Academy of Tokyo, who specializes in mod Japanese politics and diplomacy.

Shinichi Kitaoka

President of JICA since 2015. Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo. His specialty is modern Japanese politics and diplomacy. He has taught at multiple universities and has also served as Ambassador Boggling and Plenipotentiary (Deputy Permanent Representative of Nippon to the United Nations) and on various committees established by the Government of Nihon.

　Having begun with the rise of the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, the Edo period saw Nihon mature both economically and culturally. At the aforementioned time, however, the Edo menstruation was bound past a strict grade construction, which even placed restrictions on admission to pedagogy, meaning that Japanese social club was far from complimentary. It was the Meiji Restoration that finally abolished the strict course system and created a more than complimentary and democratic system that allowed the Japanese people to unleash their total potential.

 　Nether this new autonomous system, Nihon modernized and developed rapidly. In social club to facilitate this procedure, the Meiji Government turned to the models set by the U.Southward. and European countries.

 　In 1871, Tomomi Iwakura, Udaijin (Minister of the Right) under the Meiji Authorities, ready off from Japan as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on a diplomatic expedition known every bit the "Iwakura Mission." With 107 top government officials, scholars and young students participating, the Iwakura Mission spent over a year traveling through the U.S. and various countries of Europe. Kitaoka explains, "The Iwakura Mission observed and recorded in great detail various aspects of American and European societies, from politics to manufacture, commerce and even agronomics. Through their observations, they came to realize that the armed services power of western nations lies in their industrial might. Not long after the mission, Japan became fully focused on the introduction of policies intended to enrich the nation through modernization and industrialization. Thus, it is no overstatement to say that Nippon's modernization began with the Iwakura Mission."

 　Today, 150 years subsequently the Meiji Restoration, that same spirit notwithstanding lives on in Japan. Under the leadership of Kitaoka, JICA serves as an implementing agency of Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) tasked with promoting international cooperation for developing countries. Kitaoka carries out his tasks "out of a desire to share with other countries Nippon'southward own experience of successfully modernizing in the years following the Meiji Restoration," he explains. "As the starting time not-Western nation to go a developed country, Japan built itself into a country that is gratuitous, peaceful, prosperous and democratic while preserving tradition. It is our promise that Japan will serve as 1 of the best examples for developing countries to follow in their own development. Nihon modernized under democratic ideals, with an established legal organisation and while proactively learning from other countries. I firmly believe that there are quite a few aspects of Japan's feel that tin can provide lessons for developing countries today."

The Iwakura Mission set off from Nippon on November 12, 1871 with 107 members, including peak government officials, scholars, and others. The mission lasted around i yr and ten months, traversing the continental The states and so visiting a range of countries in Europe.

JICA provides active cooperation for primary schooling around the world. The photo shows an unproblematic school in Federal democratic republic of ethiopia supported by JICA.

　According to Kitaoka, the fact that Nihon was able to modernize while still preserving its own traditions makes its experience peculiarly valuable. "If we strength our back up upon developing countries while ignoring their culture and traditions, the support will non be able to last for long. Japan pushed forward with modernization, focusing our efforts on such cornerstones of national development as teaching, public health and infrastructure, while at the same time maintaining our treasured culture and traditions. JICA also strives to give proper consideration to local cultures while offering the types of support that will accept root within the context of those cultures."

 　In 2018, JICA launched "JICA Program with Universities for Development Studies (JProUD)," a program that invites futurity leaders from developing countries to Nihon to consummate main'southward degrees at Japanese graduate schools, where they learn nigh Nihon's experiences with its own modernization and with providing development cooperation to other countries.

 　Kitaoka has high hopes for this plan. "I believe that these students will not only report in their respective academic fields, merely volition as well learn much from modern Japan's experience of evolution, which differs significantly from the history of growth and development found in the West. Of course, Japan's process of modernization also had its share of negative aspects, such as state of war and serious industrial pollution. I promise that these students will study the 'Japanese experiences' systematically, including negative ones, so that they may utilise this knowledge to contribute to the evolution of their ain countries."

 　Reflecting on the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, Japan hopes to use this opportunity to contribute fifty-fifty more to the development of other countries.