1930s Japan Research Paper

By the start of the great depression Japan had already began losing several major trading partners. Therefore their number of exports had decreased drastically, leaving many Japanese people unemployed . Famine had also began to take it's effect due to rice crop failure. To make matters worse Japan was running out of natural resources putting a halt to their industrial revolution. So in 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria, China in hopes to start creating an Asian empire and obtain more resources such as oil, rubber and slave labor. As Japan began invading more areas of China and Asia they took pride in their successful war leaders and developed a collective consciousness of their military accomplishments. Soon the Japanese government was military operated and their passion and dedication to nationalism had

The government than also led in the way of building railways and shipping lines, telegraphs and telephone systems, three shipyards, ten mines, fifty-three consumer industries. The Meiji Government opened their borders, allowing japan to improve their basic infrastructure, improving communication and to be able to travel from city to city easier. The markets were often based on main roads/path ways, rivers and special temples so that the local sellers are able to easily bring their items to the markets, according to (The Program for Teaching East Asia 2008). In doing this Japan was able to become more richer and Emperor Meiji was able to turn Japan into a modern world power as we see it

Although Japan changed in many ways from 1853 to 1941, there were also many factors that remained the same throughout the history of Japan. One such continuity was the maintained existence of a figurehead ruler controlled by other political authorities. The feudalistic emperor of Japan was the supposed “highest, most powerful authority” in the land, but was actually controlled by the military leaders- the shogun. Similarly, the militaristic emperor of Japan decades later continued to remain a figurehead ruler controlled by military and government officials. In addition, Japan continued to remain reliant on exports in order to maintain its economy. As a result of Japan’s small geographical size, the island nation had few natural resources and was forced to rely on exports to survive economically. The nation also grew increasingly reliant on other nations to provide materials and supplies that it could not provide for itself. This complete reliance on other nations was seen illustrated when the Japanese military was provoked to attacking another superpower- the United States, in response to the 1940 United States embargo

From 1641 to 1853, the Tokugawa shogun of Japan enforced a policy called kaikin. The policy declined foreign contact with most outside countries creating an isolationistic Japan. The culture of Japan developed with very limited influence from the outside world and had one of the longest periods of peace in history. During this period, Japan developed thriving cities, increased agriculture, labor, and literacy rates. On July 8, 1853, American Commodore Matthew Perry led ships into the Tokyo Bay harbor, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade between Japan and the western world. The same combination of economic desires and belief in Manifest Destiny that motivated U.S. expansion across North America also drove

The dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima resulted in one of the greatest destructions in history, but it is argued that the bombing was crucial to ending WWII. During the 1920s, Japan started to westernize and become more democratic with a two party system. Unions started to form and workers started to gain more rights. However, all of this started to change when the Great Depression hit Japan hard in the 1930s. The economy completely crashed and it caused people to start to doubt capitalism and democracy, especially among the wealthy class.

The people of Japan knew that the time for change had come, and in 1868 a group of samurai overthrew the Shogunate. This eventually led to the rise of the Meiji Restoration in 1889. The western countries were much more advanced compared to Japan during the industrial revolution and if they were to become a global power, Japan would need to advance as well. The Meiji Restoration was brought up upon western ideology, which led to new advanced technology along with rapid social and economic growth and the formation of a national military. The Meiji restoration had occurred in the 19th century because Japan needed a change in order to advance during the industrial revolution. The restoration was the change, that eventually led Japan to become an international force. For decades the high tariffs of the unequal treaties affected my pay and my life. Though this new restoration has brought more jobs and better pay for us

During WWII, Japan was attempting to expand their territories by taking over Manchuria and many other places. The U.S., however, said that they “would refuse to recognize any territorial acquisitions that violate American treaty rights” (Bordelon). Japan didn’t listen to America’s threats and still went on to violate the Kellogg-Briand Treaty of 1928 and the Open Door Policy Pact of 1922. This caused the relationship between to grow even worse because it made the U.S. concerned that they wouldn’t be able to protect their imports of tin, rubber, and oil. In addition, Japan was continually violating treaties and taking over little islands near the United States in Hawaii. As a result, the U.S. became increasingly worried and knew they needed

Two of the most apparent external influences for Japan to enter into World War Two would have to the opening of japan to trade from Commodore Perry, and economic and trade sanctions imposed by the United States thereafter. On July 8, 1853, Commodore Perry arrived in Tokyo bay with regards to re-establish commerce with Japan that had been non-existent in 200 years. In reading “Breaking Open Japan” Feifer said “Japan had long been open to new ideas from abroad” (Fiefer 17). The United States were particularly interested in commercial trade with Japan. First and foremost was the opening of Pacific ports in American control, the annexation of California, and the opening of trade with Chinese ports. In creating an American port in California it created a stream of pacific shipping as well as the need to secure coaling stations on the Pacific trade route. Japan also contained large amounts of coal deposits thus increasing the interest from the United States since coal was the natural resource of the 19th century. Secondly the United States economic sanctions after the period of opening proved to be the nail in the coffin for U.S/Japanese relations.

One way to build a better future is by forming a stable government. After Japan’s surrender from World War II in 1945, the allied forces helped rebuild Japan’s government. The emperor's status was downgraded to a figurehead and more power was placed in the hands of the parliamentary system. After the reconstruction of Japan, Japan became a major world power and one of the most successful countries. They also had the world’s second-largest economy by 1960, just 15 years after their surrender.

Before the Meiji era, Japan experienced rule by the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo era. The Tokugawa shogunate did not allow other nations into Japan because “they had opened Japan to ‘corruption’ by the ideas of Christianity” (Beasley 22). However, the arrival of the American commander, Commodore Matthew C. Perry in the port of Edo changed Japan forever. “The advent of the Western powers thoroughly dislodged the Tokugawa international order. In March 1854, Japan concluded with the United States the ‘Treaty of Amity’ and, in July 1858, the ‘Treaty of Amity and Commerce’” (Zachmann 12). Japan was forced to sign the treaty, which opened the floodgates for other nations such as Britain and Russia to impose unequal treaties on Japan. This

In the nineteenth century, Japan experienced a traumatic shift. This shift had elements from the conservative isolationist policies of the shogun dominated edo period to the large and rapid spread drive to modernize and engage with the rest of the world that characterizes and personalizes the meiji restoration. during the early 19 century and the late 18 century the tokyo school of fine arts was opened the school's emphasis on the Japanese traditional arts rather than on western art opitimizes the country's renewed interest in native culture and is a part of an effort to seek a modern form of Japanese form of artistic expression. Japan during the early nineteenth century was flowering into multiple types of art types that Japanese citizens would never even think about being created at the time. during the prewar time arts and buildings were being created during this time. also the first manga was printed during the meiji period.

Other changes that were made politically in Japan was that all men who were over 25 were granted the right to vote, labor union restrictions were removed, and national health insurance was created and implemented. Despite this the flourishing economy of Japan was gone by the next decade. This was because they were dependent of trade as they did not have many natural resources. The Great Depression throughout Europe and the United States meant that luxury items such as silk were no longer selling. This caused a 50 percent decrease in the amount of Japanese exports from 1929-31.

Japan during the Depression While the United States was still struggling to emerge from the Great Depression at the end of the 1930s, and would do so partly because of the war, Japan had emerged from its own period of depression, which had begun in 1926, by the mid-1930s. Many of the young soldiers mobilized into the Japanese army by the early 1930s came from the rural areas, where the effects of the depression were devastating and poverty was widespread. Their commitment to the military effort to expand Japanese territory to achieve economic security can be understood partly in these terms. The depression ended in the mid-1930s in Japan partly because of government deficits used to expand greatly both heavy industry and the military. Japanese Aggression in Asia Japan had economic and political ties in Manchuria (Located on China’s eastern seaboard) for quite some time and as a result of their large economic interest in China, namely the South Manchuria Railway Company, the Japanese felt the need to keep a large army in the territory to protect it.

Japan emerged from the Tokugawa-Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized nation. Domestic commercial activities and limited foreign trade had met the demands for material culture in the Tokugawa period, but the modernized Meiji era had radically different requirements. From the beginning, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. The private sector — in a nation blessed with an abundance of aggressive entrepreneurs — welcomed such change.

In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.