Japan closed itself off from the world in the 1630s. Banning all non-Japanese from the country.
But there was one exception. The Dutch East India Company. And later just the Netherlands after the company went bankrupt.
For centuries, the Dutch were Japans window to the world. Books, machines, science, medical knowledge, military technology and other new things came to Japan via the Dutch.
The Japanese called it Dutch studies. Rangaku (蘭学, literally "Dutch Studies")
Japan even got their first steamship from the Dutch as a gift from King William III of the Netherlands.
The paddle-wheel steamship Zr. MS. Soembing, constructed at the Amsterdam Naval Yards, launched in 1852.
Arriving in Japan on August 22, 1854, at Nagasaki. And then formally handed over to Japan on October 5, 1855.
So, Japan had a strong foundation in modern technology and science to draw upon
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