Welcome to the second season of my podcast.  This season I want to delve into and answer the question that I have long wondered.  Why did Japan respond and fare better than China to relentless, aggressive assaults in the 19th century from foreign (particularly Western) nations?To get there I talk about the Japanese Meiji Restoration including the Era that preceded it and greatly influenced the Meiji Era.  I will also compare and contrast Japan's experience with modernization and foreign nation aggression to that of China's. I designed the podcast series to also be a stand alone history of the Meiji Restoration.The first few episodes I discuss the Edo Era (or Tokugawa Shogunate) that immediately preceded the Meiji Restoration.