During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate discouraged inventions in order to preserve the stability of the feudal society.

[citation needed] In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate ended and a new reformist government took its place (the Meiji Restoration).

Industrial property rights were recognized as a means for catching up to Western governments.

[4] The first patent was granted to Hotta Zuisho (堀田 瑞松), a lacquerware craftsman, on August 14, 1885.

The patent granted to him was for an anticorrosive paint containing lacquer, which effectively protected ship bottoms from corrosion.