Japan Westernized as SWIFTLY AS POSSIBLE. After Perry and the Black Ships, the Japanese realized what the Chinese and Koreans didn't. The West has the stuff, and rather than stay closed to them, we will get the stuff they got.

Japan bought in German and British naval officers to train the navy. British, German, American, Russian, French, and anyone else with any expertise in steel-rolling, ship-building, or goat farting.