Japan's Development Of 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.

Other statistical important values are the unemployment rate and life expectancy. The unemployment rate amount Japanese is 4.0%, whereas the United States is 7.4% (Find-the-data, 2015). This is one of the reasons the Japanese government is able to keep down costs. However, the average life expectancy of Japanese citizens is 83.33 years to U.S. 78.84 years, which would require Japan to care for their citizen’s longer (Find-the-data, 2015). This can financially impact the government with increased expenses and costs to an aging nation.

Japan is a small island nation off the coast of Eastern Asia. Despite its size, Japan has proved to be formidable both economically and militarily. Since the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 opened up the past feudalistic and reclusive Japan, this nation has expanded and adopted many imperialistic policies as well as taken a more aggressive military stance. Japan has changed in many ways, but has also continued upholding traditional practices throughout 1853 and 1941.

The Zaibatsu, which is a combination of the top grossing companies in Japan and have many connections in the government and court system that give them a substantial amount of power. Lastly, Japan’s resources are very limited because only 12% of its land is fertile, and they must import 80% of its energy to them. Socially, Japan’s ageing population is another reason why the economy has become stagnate. The ageing population will eventually cause labor shortages that Japan cannot replace.

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.

The Meiji Restoration played a significant role in the modernisation of Japan. The Meiji period was a time of political and social revolution. It brought momentous social, political and economic changes to Japan, and these changes became the foundation of the Japan we know today. Prior to the 1868 Restoration, Japan was a militarily weak country with a feudal agricultural society, and was controlled by feudal lords. When the Meiji period ended with the Emperor's death in 1912, Japan was a well-developed nation with a constitutional monarchy, an elected government, a strong economy, a powerful military and a well educated population.

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.

Japan’s unemployment rate of about 4% opposed to the U.S. unemployment rate of close to 10%. Even the financial debt to GDP ration is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased unlike the U.S. and European countries, (Time, 2009). In addition, since Japan is a huge exporter and with the U.S. demand going downward, the international balances and growth declined especially as the dollar value dropped and the yen surged. •

In 1868, provincial rebels overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the new leaders called the regime the “Meiji Restoration.” This was just the beginning for soon-to-be modernized Japan. A stronger military, new ideas, technology, and laws would be all used to transform Japan into a modern industrial nation. Because of these, modernization had a great effects on Japan’s society and the nation as a whole from 1850 to 1950. One effect modernization had was strengthening international presence and relations for Japan as a whole. This helped to keep them active on global terms and impacted them in a positive manner. Another effect modernization resulted in was the transformation of the internal society of Japan. The changes in the society all provided great benefits for Japan.

The 1868 Meiji Restoration ensued the state-led industrialization of Japan, adopting western practices to be comparable to other industrialized nations. Included in this endeavor was the adoption of imperialism in 1894, embarking on the aggressive expansion into Asian territories. Ultimately, the Japanese’s expansionist policies resulted in a series of Sino-Japanese wars that fostered war crimes against the Chinese and occupied territories. Many of these crimes involved forcing women into becoming “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers and the Nanking Massacre, where Japanese troops murdered upwards of 300,000 residents and raped the women of Nanking, China. Yet, although international tribunals implicated Japanese military leaders after World War II for their wartime atrocities, the United States occupation authorities soon released them to aid in the democratization of Japan. As many of these military leaders passed away, Japanese officials placed their remains at the Yasukuni Shrine. Consequently, a visit from prime ministers to the Yasukuni Shrine sparks outrage among the Asian governments hurt by the war criminals, as they believe the Japanese government should not honor the men who committed war crimes. Yet, despite the outrage from other Asian governments, the Japanese government refuses to change, displaying little remorse for their previous actions. Therefore, issues of historical memory are a recurring issue in Japan’s domestic and international politics

Westernization, which primarily spread in the mid to late 19th century, brought forth a profound change of ideas and cultures across the world. Both Japan and India were affected greatly as Western practices and ideologies seeped into the minds of individuals throughout various societies. Influential individuals, such as Thomas Babington Macaulay and Fukuzawa Yukichi wished to reform India and Japan by introducing Western ideas into these countries. Artists such as Honda Kinkachiro and Werner Forman showed the effects of Westernization on Japan. Through the writings and artwork of Macaulay, Yukichi, Kinkachiro, and Forman, we are able to understand that Europe’s colonizing mentality, as well as Asia’s acceptance of new ideas, were both supported by the belief that the West is superior.

The Japanese economy, the 2nd largest in the world, accounts for 7.1% Global World GDP, at US$4.6 triliion and a per capita income of approximately US$33,550 (World Bank 2006). As a result of globalisation, literacy levels are at 99% and the general living standards of the

Japan ranks as the third largest economy in the world as of 2010. The GDP at current prices in US dollars in Japan was reported at 5068.06 billion in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Japan’s resurgence after World War II has however reached an inflection point in yearly 1989 after the burst of Japan’s asset price and real estate bubbles. As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s GDP has hovered around the same level through more than 20 years of economic stagnation. The GDP’s slow growth has been exacerbated by the world financial crisis of 2008. A major landmark of Japan’s stagnation has been the BOJ’s fight against deflation.

Japan has a population of 126,702,133, with a growth rate of -0.19%. Religious practices are as follows: Shintoism 79.2%, Buddhism 66.8%, Christianity 1.5%, other 7.1% (many people practice both Shintoism and Buddhism). The climate varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north. The terrain is mostly rugged and mountainous. There are many dormant and some active volcanoes and about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors but occasional severe earthquakes) every year, in addition to tsunamis and typhoons.

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)