I'm very interested in Japanese history; so much so that I bought Japan Emerging as it was recommended on this very subreddit's book list. I'd like a book (or books) about the Meiji Restoration, specifically the buildup to the Boshin War, the rebellions that happened after the Boshin War, and the steps taken by the Japanese government to modernize up until maybe the year 1900, although the Russo-Japanese War would also be a fine stopping point.
Sakamoto Ryōma and the Meiji Restoration by Marius B. Jansen is a very good book on the end of the shogunate (1853-68). It gives a very clear but in-depth overview of what led up to the Boshin War and how modernizing ideology began forming.