I am connecting a basic thesis that Japan modernized easily due to it's dedication to discipline, the comparison of the Bakufu to a modern day Bureaucracy, and the existence of a thriving (though banned) merchant class, that paralleled capitalistic system throughout Europe. I am citing these event's as the reason Japan was able to quickly reassert themselves as a world power by the end of the Russo-Japanese war. Does anybody have a different perspective of this? I am trying to make sure my idea is tracking with the history against my own personal biases

And if my conclusion is correct, possibly other citations you may have for it