The Challenge of Modernity, East Asia

1) Why did Japan succeed at modernizing while China did not? In your analysis, what was the most important reason that Japan succeeded at modernizing while China did not?

2) What factors make people turn to solutions during times of extreme stress that they wouldn’t consider otherwise? Do you see current examples of this phenomena? What stresses in these modern societies do you think are provoking such movements?

3) To what extent did Japan actually modernize?