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Japanese Shogunate Source Analysis

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Japanese Shogunate Source Analysis

Japanese historical illustration

🎯 Learning Intention & Success Criteria

Learning Intention:

To develop source analysis skills by examining primary and secondary sources about the end of the Japanese shogunate period.

Success Criteria - I can:

Identify key information about historical sources (date, author, material, audience)

Analyse the tone and perspective of different source types

Evaluate how useful sources are for understanding historical events

Compare information from pictorial and written sources

📸 Source A: Portrait of Emperor Meiji (c. 1873)

This is a formal painted portrait of Emperor Meiji wearing Western-style military uniform, created shortly after he took power from the shogun.

1. What is the date of this source?
2. Who created this source?

A court painter

Emperor Meiji himself

A foreign photographer

Unknown artist

3. What material is this source made from?

This source is a _________________ on canvas.

4. Who was the intended audience for this portrait?

Japanese people to show the Emperor's new modern image

Foreign diplomats to show Japan's modernisation

The Emperor's family only

Both A and B

5. What is the tone or perspective of this source?
6. How useful is this source for understanding the end of the Japanese shogunate? Explain your answer.

📜 Source B: Account of the Black Ships (1854)

"The foreign ships arrived with great black smoke rising from them like dragons. The people were frightened and many fled from the harbour. These ships carried powerful weapons that could destroy our coastal forts. The foreigners demanded that Japan open its ports to trade with America." - Japanese merchant's diary, 1854

7. What is the date of this source?

This source was written in ________.

8. Who is the author of this source?
9. What type of source is this?

Government document

Personal diary entry

Newspaper article

Official treaty

10. What is the tone of this source? Choose all that apply:

Fearful

Excited

Worried

Angry

11. How useful is this source for understanding the end of the Japanese shogunate? Give two reasons.
12. Compare these two sources. What do they tell us about the changes happening in Japan during this period?

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