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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amal Shukup" data-source="post: 1373581" data-attributes="member: 6291">Well they did, sort of. Many samurai were deeply involved in bringing about the Meiji restoration and the subsequent modernization (particularly Kido Koin). And of course Japan still honors many of the best aspects of the Samurai traditions.   Certainly they were concerned about their privileges. Many wanted to keep possesion of their lands, the right to tax 'their' peasants and to maintain a monopoly on armed force.  Taxation and Armed force were, of course, the same things the oligarchy wanted the 'state' to control, rather than the feudal lords and the Samurai. They also needed to eliminate the rigid caste system to allow the sweeping social changes they implemented (universal education fer instance) Not a lot of middle ground there. Also, Meiji and his oligarchy were in a huge hurry: The rest of the world was huffing and puffing on their doorstep and looking to gobble them up. They were already nibbling... Look at the history of pretty much any south asian country to see how much fun that would have been. Meiji and his oligarchy saved Japan from a lot of that. Of course they also created an imperial power that almost reflexively kicked the snot out of their neighbors until they got their behinds handed to them in WW II.   More than welcome for the info - I'm a bit passionate about history and can't resist blathering about it... I'm a Canadian of primarily Scottish extraction. The rest being Irish - although even those guys were Scots originally. Of course THOSE Scots were just Irish immigrants... Er, except for the ones who were Picts... Darn it, I can't be held responsible for the migrations and dalliances of a buncha skirt wearin' heathens <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Yes, I own a kilt. No, I'm not wearing it right now....  A'Mal</blockquote>

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