Although Japan gained the status as a major power through the Russo-Japanese War, tax increases as part of the war-time fiscal policy left local finances in a state of near collapse, and rural areas became seriously ruined and devastated.
日本は日露戦争によって列強の地位を手に入れたが、戦時財政の元で行われた増税などによって地方財政は破綻寸前に追い込まれ、地方の疲弊・荒廃ぶりは深刻となった。