What Is A Brief Political History Of Japan

The warring states period in Japan was one of constant military dispute. It started in 1467 and went for 136 years and only ended when all the clans unified under the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. This period definitely had a large effect in the making of modern Japan because it was a time of growing culture and strong economics. The economy grew despite the wars raging and trade was big this indicates the sophisticated craft and manufacturing industries in Japan. These are the main reasons for the start of the warring states period and how this era affected modern Japan.

Political, social, and economic aspects influenced the rise of the Empire of Japan, and their effects created the ways in which Japan interacted with its people and the world around it. Politically, the Meiji Restoration of the mid-1800s to the early 1900s set the stage for the growth that took place to make Japan an Empire, including the transformation of the views on the emperor. These views on the emperor helped to create a social change: the anger of the Japanese government and people about the lack of representation for Japan in world treaties and in the League of Nations. This caused extreme patriotism. Japan was economically changed by the advancements into China after Japan’s Great Depression. This military advancement opened the door for much more and was based on the Japanese’s intense nationalistic views.

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

By the nineteenth century Western nations had developed superior military technology than other countries. Western countries were able to control other nations by coercing them into unfair trading treaties which would leave the country economically dependent on them. The countries rarely resisted successfully due to their insufficient military power. This occured often Asia with only Japan and Thailand remaining independent. Only Japan thrived however and became an imperial power. Japan was an isolated country until the United States forcibly opened it to trade. Japan experienced a regime change following a tumultuous time in which western nations coerced Japan into trade treaties. The new government favored capitalism and industry which lead to Japan industrializing impressively fast through “top down” government mandated modernization. Western imperialism forced Japan to modernize in order to remain a sovereign and successful state. Modernization in this case was synonymous with becoming more like the West. Imperialism drastically changed Japanese economic interaction as well as Japanese culture and class system because modernization included becoming more like the West in most aspects but their treatment of women remained the same because the West did not treat women very differently.

Kon'nichiwa! I’m Japan! You probably know me for my aesthetic cherry blossoms and splendid anime, but let me tell you, things weren’t always as kawaii as they seemed. For a loooong time, I was isolated from other countries by my own shoguns and daimyos, my militaristic dictators and their warrior landlords respectively. We got along fine at first, but my common people were becoming increasingly unhappy with their little political power and heavy taxes. Then, on a fateful day in July of 1853, I met… the West.

Showa: The Japan of Hirohito, edited by Carol Gluck and Stephen R. Graubard, seeks to find the answers to many questions that are commonly asked about Japan and its history. As stated in the title, this book focuses on the Hirohito era in Japanese history from 1926 to 1989. In the Introduction, Gluck states that there were two main issues for Japan in the twentieth century, “how Japan came to aggressive war and then to macroeconomic might” (xi). The unstable relationship between Japan and the United States is also an underlying theme of the book. The three chapters to be examined in this paper are, “The Useful War,” “The People Who Invented the Mechanical Nightingale,” and “Japan Meets the United States for the Second Time.”

While the Depression initially hit Japan hard by showing that half of all factories were closed by 1931, children in some areas were reduced to begging for food from passengers on passing trains, and farmers were eating tree bark therefore active government policies quickly responded. Under the 1930s minister of finance, Korekiyo Takahashi, the government increased its spending to provide jobs, which in turn generated new demands for food and manufactured items, yielding not only the export boom but also the virtual elimination of unemployment by 1936. Indeed, Japan made a full turn toward industrialization after 1931, its economy growing much more rapidly than that of the West and rivaling the surge of the Soviet Union. Production of iron, steel, and chemicals soared. The spread of electric power was the most rapid in the world. The number of workers, mainly men, in the leading industries rose sevenfold during the 1930s. Quality of production increased as assembly-line methods were introduced, and Japanese manufacturing goods began to rival those of the West. Japan also initiated a series of new industrial policies designed to stabilize the labor force and prevent social unrest. Big companies began to offer lifetime contracts to a minority of skilled workers and to develop company entertainments and other activities designed to promote hard work and devotion. By 1937, Japan boasted the

Emperor Hirohito or Michinomiya Hirohito was born on April 26th, 1901 and served as the Japanese Emperor from 1926-1989 (his death). During World War 2, Japan was registered as an Axis Power, an alliance with Germany and Italy. Japan’s major and most noted role in the war was that Japan ended by Hirohito’s decision. Japan was very successful during WWII including the occupation and controlling these modern day countries/regions: Manchuria (China), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, East Timor, New Guinea, Guam, and other Pacific Island nations. Also a major Japanese success in World War 2 was the surprise attack on the American military base of Pearl Harbor. Although Japan had these major successes,

Japan was an isolationist before 1852 with very little contact to countries in the western areas. Although later Japan would open its Shamoda ports to trade with the Dutch. Part of this was because the United States threatened Japan to open the ports for trade. The US also made Japan sighn unequal treaties to make Japan do things. The Japanese were influenced by the US and did the same thing to Korea. Although the Japanese only had contact to the outside for some years they had grown a lot. The Japanese were scared, they were scared that the US would grow in power and threat Japan more. In 1894 Chinese troops were sent to Korea to try to stop riots. Although the Chinese were helping Korea the Japanese were never notified. This created the

The political system in Japan is a Constitutional Monarchy led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Japan also has an Emperor and Empress; however, they are only a symbol of the state and hold no powers related to the government. Prime Minister Abe was elected in

Japans history dates back almost 53,000 years and is filled with interesting and fascinating events. Most of Japans actions have left the major world powers in the world stunned. The base of this amazing country is astonishing just by itself. The base is a bunch of active and large under water volcanoes. Japans uniqueness from the rest of the world ranges from its culture to its very interesting history to the change in government every few hundred years and their trading dilemma with petroleum and their assortment of fish that they export. Japan as a country is so very appealing and kind compared to the rest of the world its no wonder that it’s geographically separate from the rest of the world.

The mid-1930’s was an extremely turbulent time in the Far East. The Soviets and Japanese had been at each other’s throats since the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905. The Treaty of Portsmouth ended the war in September 1905, which had given the Japanese South Manchuria and gave them the lease on the Liaotung Peninsula. This important because the Japanese would create the Kwantung Army to defend this area. “The number of regular troops Japan might station in the Kwantung Territory was not stipulated by treaty, but the initial strength of the Kwantung Garrison amounted to two regular army divisions and fortress units stationed at Port Arthur and Dairen.” The Japanese were going to defend their newly acquired territory with this sizeable force. The Japanese also benefitted from World War I because they were able to put more forces into Manchuria and they were able to get concessions from China, which gave them more control over Manchuria. The Japanese had control over this part of the world. The Japanese would also attempt again to take advantage of a great situation. In 1917, the Russian tsar collapsed and plunged Russia into civil war and revolution and they were able to capture most of Manchuria. The Japanese were invited to the Washington armament conference of 1921, but it was because the Allies from World War I were trying to take away the land acquired by the Japanese. The Japanese had agreed to give up the Shantung province and withdrew

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Japanese government was undergoing a new paradigm shift which modeled itself after the governmental laws and principles of the Constitution of the United States. The new law of the land was originally formatted and instated under the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), General Douglass MacArthur, and his orders to his Government section to model the nation’s new constitution in a manner that was agreeable to the United States. Unfortunately for some of the Japanese population, the constitutional provisions under US authority curtailed its sense of independence, and they wished for a more “Japanese” constitution. In an effort to reformat the constitution in a manner that catered to the needs of the Japanese people, Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama pushed for the creation of the Constitution Research Council, an organization whose purpose was to decide whether it was appropriate to revise the recently passed constitution. However, there was much clamor and controversy on what would be permitted to change between Japanese political organizations who longed for

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way

Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, is an island in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Tokyo and the national language is Japanese. Japan is considered a great power and is a member of both the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The country enjoys a highly skilled work force and is considered to have one of the most highly educated countries in the world. At one point, the 2000s, Japan also laid claim to providing 4 of 5 top circulated newspapers in the world. (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 2017) (OECD, 2017)