Who began modernization in Japan? What did modernization do to Japan, according to the author?

The Japanese under Emperor Meiji in the second half of the 19th century were pursuing efforts to modernize. Modernization came with a price, namely, the destruction of the 'old' or traditional way of Japanese living. Students went to European universities, families adopted Western dress and learned to sit in chairs, and some tried to eat beef, although it was forbidden by Buddhism.