The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was fuelled by a renewal of Confucian ethics and imperial patriotism among Japan's ruling class. Among these reformers, Buddhism was seen as a corrupting influence that had undermined what they envisioned as Japan's original purity and greatness. They wanted to place a renewed emphasis on worship as an indigenous form of ritual, an attitude that was also fuelled by anxieties about Western expansionism and fear that Christianity would take hold in Japan.
the meiji restoration of 1868 was fuelled by a renewal of confucian et.hics and imperial patriotism among japan's ruling class among these reformers buddhism was seen as a corrupting influence that had undermined what they envisioned as japan's original purity and greatness they wanted to place a renewed emphasis on worship as an indigenous form of ritual an attitude that was also fuelled by anxieties about western expansionism and fear that christianity would take hold in japan