However, most of the reforms in other Asian countries were not successful, because they didn't understand that the Meiji Restoration was a comprehensive reform including an administration system, an educational system, industry, and finance, so these reforms were just formal or 'top-down' reforms looking at just one aspect of the Meiji Restoration.
ただし、その多くは明治維新が行政制度のみならず教育・産業・金融などを含めた総合的な改革であったという本質への理解には及ばず、形だけの改革や一面だけを捉えた「上からの改革」に終始したため、成功に至った例は少ない。