Despite its misleading name, I believe that the Meiji Restoration and the events following it in the Meiji Period were more of a revolution than a restoration for Japan. From what I have seen, this seems to be the general consensus as well. I understand why it is called the restoration (because the Emperor was reinstated) but I am wondering are there any sources/ authors/ schools of thought that argue that it was, indeed, a restoration?
Thank you!
I'm unfamiliar with the history of the terminology in English, so I will leave it. Hopefully someone else can talk about it.
The term in Japanese is 維新 ishin. It is taken from the Confucian classic Classic of Poetry, specifically the songs about King Wen of Zhou. The line is 周雖旧邦 其命維新, meaning "Although Zhou was an old country, the [favourable] appointment renewed it." In other words, King Wen's ascent to the throne of Zhou brought new life to the old country. The term already has an inherent "political change" built into it as well, as the poem is about the Zhou receiving ruler-ship of China from the Shang because of King Wen's righteous rule.
The leaders of the 19th century political movement picked this term instead of 革命 kakumei, the usual term for "revolution", because the term kakumei in Confucianism is about the transfer of the Mandate of Heaven between dynasties. The term literally means "Change of Mandate". The Japanese thinkers didn't believe the term kakumei was appropriate because it implies the mandate of heaven was originally lost, but as far as the thinkers were concerned, they being the brought up on the philosophy of sonnō jōi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians) the reign of Japan had never left the same imperial family. So since the term kakumei couldn't be used, they picked the term ishin as a term that means more "renewal of country" rather than a transfer of the mandate of heaven.