How Japan Became a Successful Empire Essay

When the Japanese modernized they made sure to keep their traditional values. According to document 1, in the timeline, after the Meiji Constitution was adopted, The Sino-Japanese War Began( in which Japan fought the Qing Dynasty over Taiwan and Korea(Doc 1, N.d, line 7). Japan won these territories and benefited from their resources. It wasn’t until 1904 Japan declared another war on Russia to protect and keep Korea for its resources( Alfred Stead, 1904, Doc 9). This was the first time any other country defeated a European imperialist country.

United States, a time called the Meiji Period caused newly learned ideas to change the Japanese

It took the Treaty of Kanagawa and unfair treatment by the US to weaken the shogunate and make way for the nationalist movements of the Meiji Restoration. The sweeping reforms put into place by the new constitutional monarchy put Japan back into the game - with rapid industrialization. military expansion, and advanced education. The landscape itself was useful for Japan's industrial age, as it consisted of mountains, valleys, and open plains, with bays, peninsulas, and small islands off the coast. (Doc. 6) The harbors formed along this coast made fishing the most viable trade, bringing in food for the country's citizens and forming a successful Japanese industry. Fishing also provided a segue into the market for naval development, meaning that in a short period of time, Japan had created one of the most sophisticated and powerful navies in all of the world. Because of the layout

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.

From 1853 to 1941, Japan changed from being a reclusive, isolated nation that kept to itself to an imperialistic power openly attacking and conquering surrounding territories and peoples.

(Doc. 8) In the 19th century, Japan began to see that the world was moving forward without them in technology and manufacturing. In addition, they also saw that their military was inferior to those of their peers. On the matter, Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo said, "The protection of the nation’s line of sovereignty and the defense of our line of advantage are essential if we wish to maintain our independence and security... it is essential that we begin to make significantly larger appropriations for our navy and our armed forces." To reconcile this, the nation immediately made every effort to pull themselves out of the past and into the present by strengthening their army and diving headfirst into industrialism. (Doc. 8) Much the same as the British, Japan's rapid industrial growth led to expansion and colonization. By the late 1930s, Japan had taken control of both Korea and Manchuria, giving them more power and position than they had ever before come to know. (Doc.

In the present, Japan is a military and economic superpower with strong influence. However, it was not always like this. In the early 1700s, Japan isolated itself from the world and greeted foreigners unfortunate enough to shipwreck in Japan with hostility. In the 1850s, the United States attempted to make contact with Japan to establish a treaty. The U.S. knew even though Japan was hostile, it was weak compared to a western power. Although the U.S. was stronger than Japan, it was nowhere close to being as strong as other western powers such as Brittan or France and was struggling to keep up. Japanese hostility, U.S. power struggles, and Japan’s isolation all led to the inevitable Japanese and U.S. conflict.

A).With that being said, Japan tried to gain power so that it could achieve the apex of the world.

In Peter Duus’ Japanese Discovery of America, the author shows the learning experience that Japan went through in order to become one of the strongest countries in the early 20th century. From 1797 when the first American ship arrived in Japan, to 1879 when President Grant visited the Meiji emperor, Japan, not one of the strongest countries economically and militarily at the time, had interactions with multiple countries that included Russia, England and Portugal. However, Japan’s Confucianism belief and the development of the Tokaido Road served as roots for their quick rise to modernization. Even though multiple countries were cooperating with Japan, the relations with the United States proved to be the most

If their people got in their way or tried to slow down their progress, civil war was the first option to get them back in line. Industrialization and militarization were two advances in their country that were quickly grasped. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was famous for saying “Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army”. As the empire began to conquer other lands surrounding them, this quote was law and what they lived everyday by. Enriching their country and making a stronger army is one of the key things that made the Japanese Empire excellent. By increasing the stregnth of their army many other European countries fell to Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack. From the time when Japan attacked the United States, the United States were brought into World War II. Soon they began to ask Japan to surrender, but the Japanese would not give in. “In 1947, the Empire of Japan fell due to the United Sates dropping atomic bombs on them” . Since the Japanese would not give in, the United States decided to bomb them with an atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki collapsed the empire and the Japanese Empire failed to bounce back.

The treaty had cemented a permeate security relationship between the two countries (Mizokami). The treaty that used to encourage Japan to grow now makes them grow apart (Mizokami). After World War 2 Japan and the U.S formed a strong alliance (Mizokami). Both China and America got involved in the Korean War so that they can support the north and south side of Korea equal. America and their allies discussed how to disarm and stabilize Japan's colonies, such as Korea and Taiwan.

Before the war with America, the Japanese economy was going in the opposite of the American. This meaning that during this time the Japanese economy was becoming so powerful that it needed to expand onto the mainland of Asia just to meet

We explained to them about the electric telegraph and soon after we even connected them with California's telegraphs.10 Many Japanese women started to wear western dresses or even sweaters and slacks.11 Japan changed politically as well. Japan became divided up into 47 profectures, which are similar to American states. Japan has carried over America's democratic ideas of social freedom, economic independence, and democratic liberties and privileges Japan's government soon began the executive, legislative, and judicial branches seen in America seen after the war.13 These changes all became possible soon after the war with great financial aid from the Us.14 Japan's progress in America's modernization program was so fast, we had to begin recognizing Japan as a world power.15 After Japan's modernization program, Japanese life began to change less dramatically, but never stopped.

The growth of Japanese military was proved by their victory in Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War

     Over the past fifty years Japan has seen significant changes in all aspects of its society and the way it interacts with the outside world. For example, despite suffering a defeat in World War II, Japan soon became one of Asia’s greatest economic powers. In Japan in Transformation, 1952 - 2000, Jeffrey Kingston focuses on various aspects of change in Japanese society and politics in the period after World War II. These include the effect of the US occupation, analysis of postwar politics, the economic boom, changes in demographics, the treatment of women, and foreign policy and security issues.