The onset of the Tokugawa shogunate around 1600 would reduce the impact of foreign relations throughout Japanese society. This bulwark helped resist change and development in Japan, even as it continued throughout the Western world. After two hundred years of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world, the forced return of foreigners brought notable changes to Japan. While dealing with the foreign threat, there was also an imbalance of power in the current feudal system of the Tokugawa shogunate. This imbalance created uncertainty for Japan and imperialist foreigners. This imbalance and uncertainty would lead to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the emergence of the Meiji Restoration. However, to understand the transition between the current Shogunate rule and modernization through the Meiji Restoration, it is imperative to understand not only the necessity of modernization but also the difficulties that modernization presents. To achieve modernization, Japan would have to abandon or modify various cultural institutions and traditional ideologies that were weakening the Japanese nation. This fundamental concept of abandoning or modifying traditional Japanese culture was a daunting task for Meiji reformers. These socioeconomic traditions were instilled in the Japanese people for generations, reinforced by the philosophical teachings of Confucius through the Shogunate, and practiced through severe punishments. The mention of Confucianism is particularly important because of the depth and value with which the Tokugawa shogunate applied its teachings to its samurai. Further understanding the moral education provided through Confucianism becomes a key element in realizing the difficulties present in... middle of paper... displacing the Shogun for overstepping his boundaries. Works Cited Harootunian, Harry. Toward Restoration: The Growth of Political Consciousness in Tokugawa Japan. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1970. Fukuzawa, Yukichi. The autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Confucius, . The Dialogues. New York: Penguin Books, 1979.Beasley, William. The Meiji Restoration. California: Stanford University Press, 1972. Creel, Herrlee. Chinese thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. New York: University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Earhart, H. Byron. The religious life of man. Religion in the Japanese experience: sources and interpretations. Edited by Frederick J. Streng. Encino, California: Dickenson Publishing Company, 1974. Jansen, Marius. The creation of modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000.