AHC: Earlier Meiji Restoration

Could an Alternate Meiji Restoration have started earlier (Late XVIII to Early XIX, maybe even in the same timeframe as the Atlantic Revolutions than OTL?

If so, what factors should be taken into account to make it possible?
 
Could an Alternate Meiji Restoration have started earlier (Late XVIII to Early XIX, maybe even in the same timeframe as the Atlantic Revolutions than OTL?

If so, what factors should be taken into account to make it possible?

The closest you can get if the Go Daigo and his Kemmu restoration to but that is in the early 1330's. Unless you mean "modernization" as far Meiji goes?
 
That, yes. Could Japan have underwent an earlier Modernization?

Would be hard, since you would need the Westerners to have significantly better ships than they do in the late 18th century. Otherwise, it'll end up like the French in Korea, who were completely slaughtered.
 
They weren't exactly slaughtered - they lost three men killed. But they did understand that Korea was much more difficult to do much with than they thought.
 
The Tokugawa Shogunate was unpopular amongst certain daimyo (the same ones who revolted in the Boshin War) for the whole period, just those daimyo never revolted against them until they had the chance in the Boshin War. They possibly could have before the Meiji Restoration, in favour of another emperor (or maybe even a younger Emperor Meiji). I'm not sure when they could have revolted and defeated the Tokugawa, just they would have also needed to back whoever the Emperor was at the time in order to fulfill this AHC.

The Kenmu Restoration is obvious, but that's centuries before and pretty much something entirely different and if successful would lead to something entirely different than the Japan we know. But I think the odds were against Emperor Go-Daigo the entire time. With my knowledge of Japanese history, maybe he could have allied with some sort of peasant rebellion (like the Ikko-Ikki) and gained support over the warrior nobility who wanted to keep the status quo at the time. But Go-Daigo also strikes me as a fairly arrogant person, so you probably would have needed a different Go-Daigo for him to succeed in his Kenmu Restoration.
 
That, yes. Could Japan have underwent an earlier Modernization?
It might have done the opposite actually. The Boshin War was a revolt against the establishment, rather than any sort of drive for revolutionary modernization (which is why conflating the Meiji Restoration and the Meiji Period gets kind of weird). The main difference was between the political aspects, with the establishment more reactionary in maintaining Japanese traditions, and the Imperials adopting westernization (but only after they had already won). That is western and reactionary in the social sense only, rather than in the economic or military sense (as both sides were equally in favor of such reforms).

So had the Imperial forces won wayyyyy earlier, or even slightly earlier, there's no/less pressure from outside western powers that creates the idea of westernization. Therefore, the Imperials end up becoming the conservative reactionary establishment. Naturally the best interests of the establishment is to become conservative and tell people that everything and the current rule (which is their rule) is fine, otherwise it would delegitimize themselves as rulers.
 
They weren't, the French left voluntarily after realizing that achieving their full goals was unfeasible.

They weren't exactly slaughtered - they lost three men killed. But they did understand that Korea was much more difficult to do much with than they thought.

Eh, I meant that the guns and artillery the Japanese currently have would still be sufficient to kill or at least force ships away.
 
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