The Meiji era of Japan is considered to be their version of the industrial revolution. Matthew Perry was an American Commodore whi in 1853 visited Japan with a fleet of four warships. He had a request from the American government for Japan to open up its ports and allow them to restock their ships with Coal, Water and other things they may have needed. The Japanese had been in isolation for hundreds of years and were both imprssed and scared of the massive ships, because of that fear Matthew Perry was able to bully Japan into signing the treaty.
Durring the Meiji era Japan's econonomy was bumpy. When the foreigners first arrived the economy began to fail as American and European products were being sold at lower prices than Japanese products. The foreign products were also of better quality than the Japanese products. The Japanese were able to finally modernize when the emperor Meiji began his reign in 1868. The Japanese decided to take a the best parts of the strongest modern nations while avoiding the mistakes most of them made. This industrialized and modernized Japan.
An Archipelago is a chain or group of islands
