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American Imperialism In Japan Analysis

Decent Essays

Nationalism has socio-politically, internationally, and economically impacted Japan between 1750 and 1980 to controversial benefits and disadvantages. Nationalism can be defined as the shared patriotism to the nation amongst the people and that the interests and needs of the nation-state surpasses those of other countries. This can serve as a unifying force and, in this case, it had a major socio-political impact and contributed to the development of a new national identity through establishing national icons. The international impact stemmed from the wars raged by Japan against other nation-states to assert superiority and hold off potential invasions and conquests from strong Western powers. The Industrial Revolution, powered by the hard …show more content…

After the United States of America forced Japan to open up its borders in 1853, Japan was subject to ‘unequal trade treaties’, where Japan gained little in the deals. The people saw this as an insult to their national pride and were convinced that the Americans and other Western nations like Britain and Russia were looking to conquer Japan to dominate in Asia. The people held riots in protest. Consequently, Japan forcefully acquired three major foreign territories: Taiwan in 1895; Korea in 1905, then as a colony in 1910; and the Kwantung Leased Territories in 1905. Many of the residents in Japanese-occupied territories complained of exploitation of labour, marginalisation of history and culture, and environmental exploitation. Despite these claims, the Japanese people were proud of their international achievements as the defeat of Russia gave Japan a new standing as a world superpower and their nationalistic idea of superiority was achieved. Thus, nationalism amongst the Japanese people was beneficial to restoring national pride, although it destabilised conquered …show more content…

After centuries of living in seclusion to the outside world, the government knew that they needed the technological advancements that the West offered. The Industrial Revolution and growing urbanisation in Japan had intended to and succeeded in mimicking Western growth. Moreover, the Japanese were well-known for their diligence, discipline, perseverance, and hard work – this resulted in substantial economic development including increased shipping of commodities and a significant expansion of trade and handicraft industries. However, the political elite pocketed most of the profits through influence and corruption. Workers and farmers found it unfair that their patriotic and back-breaking labour only received a little wage in comparison, but with a state-controlled media and education system, they couldn’t make their voices heard. So overall, this collective and nationalistic open-mindedness for communal prosperity was beneficial for Japan as a whole, but the common people were disadvantaged with no access to basic human rights and a fair

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