In Japanese military history, the modernization of the Japanese army and navy during the Meiji period (1868–1912) and until the Mukden Incident (1931) was carried out by the newly founded national government, a military leadership that was only responsible to the Emperor, and with the help of France, Britain, and later Germany.
Meiji reforms
When Western powers began to use their superior military strength to press Japan for trade relations in the 1850s, the country's decentralized and antiquated military forces were unable to provide an effective defense against their advances.
The fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867 led to the restoration of the Meiji Emperor and a remarkable period of national growth. De facto political and administrative power shifted to a group of younger samurai who had been instrumental in forming the new system and were committed to modernizing the military. They introduced drastic changes, which cleared the way for the development of modern, European-style armed forces.
In an attempt to increase the number of soldiers the use of conscription became universal and obligatory in 1872 and, although samurai wedded to their traditional prerogatives resisted, by 1880 a conscript army was firmly established. The Imperial Army General Staff Office, created after the Prussian model of the Generalstab, was established directly under the emperor in 1878 and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. The new force eventually made the samurai spirit its own. Loyalties formerly accorded to feudal lords were transferred to the state and the emperor. Upon release from service, soldiers carried these ideals back to their home communities, extending military-derived standards to all classes.
Japan was dedicated to creating a unified, modern nation by the late nineteenth–century. Among their goals were to instill respect for the emperor, the requiring of universal education throughout the Japanese nation, and lastly the privilege and importance of military service. The Conscription Law established on January 10, 1873, made military service mandatory for all men in their twenties to enlist. "In 1873, no one could predict with certainty whether these quarrels would end peacefully or through military action, nor was it clear which individuals or groups would come out on top in the expected power struggle." This legislation was the most significant military reform of the Meiji era. The samurai class no longer held a monopoly on military power; their benefits and status were stripped from them after the Meiji Restoration. The dissolution of the samurai class would create a modern army of men of equal status. However, many of the samurai were unhappy with reforms and openly shared their concerns.
The conscription law was a way of social control: placing the unruly samurai class back into their roles as warriors. The Japanese government intended that conscription would build a modern army capable of standing against the armies of Europe. However, the Meiji Restoration initially caused dissent among the dissolved samurai class, but the conscription system was a way of stabilizing that dissent. Some of the samurai, more disgruntled than the others, formed pockets of resistance to circumvent the mandatory military service. Many committed self-mutilation or openly rebelled (Satsuma Rebellion). They expressed their displeasure, because rejecting Western culture "became a way of demonstrating one's commitment" to the ways of the earlier Tokugawa era.
The law also allowed the military to educate the enlisted. With the swing towards urbanization, the government was concerned about the population’s education lagging behind: Most commoners were illiterate and unknowing. The military provided "fresh opportunities for education" and career advancement. The "raw recruits would, especially in the first years of conscription, learn how to read". The government realized that an educated soldier could become a productive member of society; education was for the betterment of the state.
For men to serve in the army, they were required to submit to a medical examination. This conscription exam measured height, weight and included an inspection of the candidate's genitals. Those unable to pass the exam, the "congenitally weak, inveterately diseased, or deformed", were sent back to their families. The exam "divided the citizenry into those who were fit for duty and those who were not". There was no material penalty for failing the exam, but those who were unable to serve could be marginalized by society.