In other words, the combination of the burden on the workers and general populace and the remote and costly war against Japan contributed greatly to the public unrest which sparked the 1905 revolution.
[7] The Japanese people saw the peace treaty, which lacked major Russian territorial cessions and monetary reparations, as foreshadowing more sacrifice without benefits.
Public anger toward the government gradually grew, and eventually led to the foundation of the movement against the Russo-Japanese war peace treaty.
[10] The rice riots of 1918 (米騒動) and the establishment of the Hara Cabinet are considered to be a major milestone in Taisho democracy.
[12] In 1932, Rikken Seiyūkai (政友会), Kenseikai (憲政会), and Kakushin Club (革新倶楽部) launched a campaign to overthrow Kiyoura Keigo's cabinet.
[13] Minpon Shugi is one form of democracy based on monarchical sovereignty that the political scientist Yoshino Sakuzo put forward in "Kensei no hongi o toite sono yushu no bi o nasu no michi o ronzu (憲政の本義を説いて其有終の美を済すの途を論ず)".
The Taishō Democracy Movement was led by activists who were inspired by the Minpon Shugi that Yoshino advocated.
It is said that the reason why Japan barely won was that the Russian government held back its main force for fear of revolution.
These effects can be seen in various fields in that era, for example: People started to express more of their opinions about the nation's decisions.
In other words, people began to think for themselves, beyond what they were told by national leadership, and tried to exert political power to express their opinions.
[25] The social system of patriarchy still existed in Japan at that time; however, there had been a gradual change to the traditional position of women.
Itō Noe, a feminist and editor of the magazine Seitō ("Bluestocking"), complained that women did not have the same rights as men.