How did the leadership that emerged after the Meiji restoration in Japan respond to the threat of Western imperialism?

They used Western models to transform Japan.

Explanation:

Meiji Restoration refers to the political revolution that took place in Japan in 1866 where the Japanese feudal military government (by the Tokugawa shogunate) was replaced by the imperial rule under Mutsuhito (Meiji). The restoration did not have only have political influence but social and economic as well because Japan has shed its feudal character and led on the part of industrialization to counter the threat of western imperialism.