 The Meiji government endeavored to assimilate Western ideas and philosophies, science and technological advances and ways of military warfare integrated with their traditional Japanese philosophies to suit its growing needs for modernization.As the Meiji Era began, the new Japanese national leadership systematically ended feudalism and transformed the archipelago from an underdeveloped feudal samurai state into East Asia's first industrialized nation that closely rivaled the Western colonial powers during the latter half of the nineteenth century.Economic reforms included a unified modern currency based on the yen, banking, commercial and tax laws, stock exchanges, and a communications network.