I was reading in an older thread on this subreddit that the Ottomans, in the midst of the Tanzimat reforms, saw Japan's successful modernization as a kind of beacon of hope. What I'm wondering is whether any other developing nations looked to Japan for guidance. Would Japanese advisers be sought after in much the same way that countries looked to France and Prussia in order to modernize?
As a bonus question, would poverty stricken countries look towards modern Japan or study the Meiji period for guidance?
The Japanese example was influential in Indochina, particularly Vietnam, at the turn of the century. Vietnamese revolutionaries like Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Cuong De, Nguyen Hai Than, and others went to study in Japan. It came to be known as the 'Đông Du' [pronounced Dom Yu] meaning 'go east', and look toward Japan as a model of advancement. This was tied up in vogue ideas of social Darwinism.
In his memoir, Phan Boi Chau notes seeing the Russian fleet steam past Saigon on the eve of the Russo-Japanese war. He was deeply impressed to have seen this great modern navy, and then to hear that Japan had sent them all to the bottom of the sea. By contrast to Vietnam, they believed, Japan was an advanced people whose example could help the Vietnamese strengthen themselves and develop. Soon there were over a hundred Vietnamese students studying in Japan. However, France and Japan signed a treaty in 1907 that warmed their relations. France was then able to influence Japan to largely stop its support for the Vietnamese revolutionaries, though Cuong De remained in Japan until his death in 1951.