The Great Kuntol Earthquake

Japan in the 1850s was facing a similar situation that the Chinese had already become all too familiar with. With Japan's perfect little uncontaminated world at an end, they rushed headlong out of the bubble and studied everything there was to learn about the West. It only took them 42 years from the moment Commodore Perry sailed into Edo Harbor to the point where Li Hongjang had to sign the Treaty of Shimonyaseki. That sure ushered in a golden time in Japan. Can you imagine the national pride? Not only did they show the world they could beat China and Russia, the economy in Japan was booming. But after the Great War ended, Japan's economic fortunes took quite