he leader in opening trading routes in the Far East:
Its great shipping rival the United States. . . now began to show a keen interest in gaining definite treaty rights guaranteeing its shipping interests in the Far East."
This push came at a fortuitous time as the controls of feudal society were breaking down. The feudal control of markets was in disarray. The government was forced to concentrate on efforts to avoid catastrophe and could not address the situation by developing a modern production method to meet the growing foreign demand. Instead, the government resorted to the policy of restricting trade. There was opposition to this policy, with the strongest coming from foreign capitalist countries: "They tried to defeat the government policy, resorting to every means, even to the sword and fire." Efforts such as this clearly contributed to the militarization of Meiji society in subsequent years as the Japanese leadership was convinced the West would make military incursions into Japanese territory.
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