In the 1870s, Japan decided to go all-in on the whole westernization thing. Apparently in a very, very short period of time, everyone was dressing in western clothes, listening to western music, putting up western-style buildings. But the thing is, very often these things were western-looking, but not actually western. For example, there was gyofu, "western-style" architecture, which was vaguely western-looking architecture made with traditional Japanese materials and construction techniques—because there were no western-trained architects/craftsman in Japan at the time. Japanese men would come home, change out of their western clothing (top hats etc.) and put on their traditional Japanese clothing for around the house.
What was the point of this? Why would so much of Japan choose to perform westernization even before things had technologically (ie. organically) shifted? Some of it was about signalling to other countries, presumably, that Japan had entered the modern world in a serious way... but I also think people will play a role as a way of willing an identity or situation into reality. The Japanese were willing themselves into a western way of life. I read futurism, at least in the late 20th century, as something very similar—there was a sense that things were heading in a particular direction, and there were people (artists included) who wanted to accelerate the process through role-playing via cultural production.