that time, were a group of second and third generation soldiers from rural areas, and some of them, who had been brought up on cooked rice and Japanese food, showed aversion to the foreign Western cuisine. For this reason, the Navy and other naval forces devised ways to combine rice and curry, and developed eclectic dishes such as nikujaga with soy sauce. The Japanese curry rice later became Yokosuka navy curry. Dishes like nikujaga spread to areas around military ports, and by the time of the Showa era, it was widely accepted as a common family dish. Japanese people were fascinated by Western culture at this time. However, different classes of people had different attitudes toward . For peasants who were of relatively low rank, taxes became a heavy burden, and anti-policy riots called occurred. Westernization changed the way people thought. In Japan, where society was strongly divided, led to the abolition of the class system and the spread of the idea that all people were equal. People called and , who were not treated as human beings, came to be recognized as citizens. Although this did not makes the citizens perfectly equal, the idea that people should have democratic government was born. Changes from Many things from the West came into Japan. Imported items included Western umbrellas, shampoo, Western clothing, Western-style buildings, gas lamps, and even schools, newspapers, magazines, and semi-Western-style buildings. These were called . Legislation Conscription — There was a conscription system in Japan. However, the conscription system changed from the French type to the German type. Due to a misunderstanding of this system, the blood tax riots occurred. The uneducated former peasants thought that they had to pay blood as tax. Personal names — In 1875, a decree was promulgated requiring commoners to obtain surnames. Later, in 1898 (Meiji 31), the Civil Code required the same surname for married couples, which led to today's marital surname issue. Transportation and communication Railroad — The was founded in 1881. The first railway opened between Shinbashi and Yokohama in 1872, and steam locomotives began service. It was called "land steam", as opposed to a steamboat. The new technology and culture of railways surprised people at that time and became a symbol of . Horsecar — In 1882, Japan's first Tokyo horse-drawn railroad opened. It was later converted to a tram and became the predecessor of the current Tokyo Toden.