Today, with Japan holding second place in global wealth and continuing to expand her economy, the focus is all too readily concentrated on the processes of wealth creation, as well as economic and financial management - both domestically and internationally. What is often missing in the analysis is an understanding of the origins of Japan's rise to her superstate position. In this book (with a new introduction to the paperback edition), first published in 1951 and long out of print, W.G. Beasley provides a detailed analysis of the Great Britain-Japan relationship in the crucial years leading to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Britain was the ultimate "wealth and strength" model, thus providing Japan with both the goals and parameters of her ambitions as world player after two centuries of isolation.

Reissue in paperback (with new Introduction) of the 1951 classic analysis of the crucial years leading up to the Meiji restoration in which Britain provided Japan with its wealth and power model.