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On his wikipedia page, Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, "the primary author of Ethiopia's July 1931 constitution" the article calls him a
politician and intellectual of the Japanizer school
The wikilink for Japanizer is red and is a dead link. Was this a widespread movement among Ethiopian elites? Were there those who opposed a Japanese model of development? Being that Ethiopia was in the process of modernisation in this period, how inspired were they by the rapid development of Japan?
Addis Hiwet first used the term 'Japanizer' to one group of modernisers in post-WWI Ethiopia who took the example of Meiji Japan as giving a model for development away from feudal forms. The model emphasized the forced development of capitalism, education, military modernisation and many similar ideas perceived as those used by Meiji Japan to develop quickly from feudal forms of society.
You find a similar movement in Turkey based on similar concerns.
Those who saw Japan as the model saw that Japan had moved from being essentially a victim of the West and Eurasian powers to being able to defeat some of them as a result of forced modernisation.
The victory of Japan over the Russian state in 1905, the earlier defeat of China and the initiation of a Japanese empire, was seen as providing proof that forced modernisation and the adoption of European technics would allow Ethiopia to rapidly emerge from its feudal past and be able to defend itself adequately against its enemies. That this was possible against its arch-foe, Italy, was seen as credible since Ethiopia had defeated the Italians at the Battle of Adowa in 1896. That Europeans were not invincible was the message that Japanizers drew from all these historical developments.
The Japanese Foreign Office became interested in Ethiopia, too, during the inter-war period, as Japanese discussed imperial systems and its own influence overseas.
One of the adherents of the Japanizing tendency was none other than Ras Tafari who became Emperor. The Japanizing tendency continued to exist as one model of Ethiopian development even after WWII.
You may wish to consult for details:
From Marxism-Leninism to Ethnicity: the Sideslips of Ethiopian Elitism by Messay Kebede at
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=africancenter_icad_archive
or
The Evolution of Development Oriented Ideas in Ethiopia 1900-1991 at
MUTUAL INTERESTS? JAPAN AND ETHIOPIA BEFORE THE ITALO-ETHIOPIAN WAR, 1935-36 By J. Calvitt Clarke III
Japan and Ethiopia: An Appraisal of Similarities and Divergent Courses by Messay Kebede
