>>14757745>not torn down and destroyed.What do you think happened back when Buddhist monks arrived from China to Japan and introduced Chinese-style clothing, architectural styles, the Chinese writing system (albeit with Koreanified readings for characters that later on diverged into what are now known as Kan-on readings), and educated the nobles in the Chinese classics? Sure, they still had some of the old rituals of Shintoism and the same old gods, but the way they dressed, spoke, and acted, and the way the government was managed was no longer the same as before.
The Meiji era Westernization did not result in a complete abandonment of the previously existing structures and entire cultural heritage, but it did lead to a reformation in building styles, fashion, education system, and the government too.
