The Meiji Restoration overthrew the Edo Shogunate and sought a new form for "Japan." Behind the scenes, another battle was being waged over language. If Japan could not negotiate with the approaching Western powers in a foreign language, it risked being colonized. In an era without decent textbooks or dictionaries, samurai desperately studied Western languages and stowed away to Europe and America to study. With a proliferation of languages including Chinese, Dutch, English, German and Frenc...
