Essay on Meiji Imperialism: Planned or Unplanned?

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

During this time period, both India and Japan faced a new situation: the new imperialism of Europe. India was unable to defend themselves, thus leading to them becoming a colony of Britain. Japan however, selectively borrowed from the Europeans after proving themselves to be equals of the once superior Europeans. Despite having such contrasting fates, both India and Japan had similarities in the miserable work conditions for peasants. But because India was a colony while Japan was a country, India data was recorded by British officials and Japanese data was record by Japanese officials. Another difference was the source of labor for textile production. India had mostly men workers whereas Japan

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.

Since their purchase by the Japanese government from their private owners in September 2012, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have been a topic of protest and discontent in the East China Sea and its surrounding area. While current conflicts have arisen because of skirmishes with patrol boats and sightings of Chinese drones flying over the islands, disputes over sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have existed since the cession of Chinese territory in the Treaty of Shimonoseki following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Original ownership of the islands was never officially settled between China and Japan, but after the establishment of several more international treaties in the twentieth century, jurisdiction over the islands became unclear and practically undeterminable. While conflicts were set aside during the latter half of the twentieth century in order to improve Sino-Japanese relationships, the purchase of the islands and military activity renewed tensions between the two nations. Present-day territorial disputes over the sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are a result of the multiple cessions and reversions of control in twentieth century treaty laws between China and Japan.

Japan, as known today, is a world powerhouse in technology and innovation. It currently ranks third in GDP, bringing in over $4.9 trillion dollars per year. However, this has not always been the case. Japan is well known for its period of “Sakoku,” a Japanese word literally meaning “closed country.” From 1600-1850s, that is indeed what Japan was; Japanese citizens were not allowed to leave the country and no foreigners were allowed to enter. The country was completely isolated from the rest of the world, even in regards to trade. This was changed in 1854 by Commander Matthew Perry and his Navy squadron. With the Kanagawa Treaty, Perry ended Japan’s period of isolationism and pushed them into their future as a world power.

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

In the late 1890s, tensions between China and Japan were growing. China’s power was growing into the early 1900s as it converted to Nationalism. Japan felt the need to expand and conquer because they had been forced into the modern age by the United States, and they believed it was their destiny to exert government over other nations (Chang 23-24). The Japanese felt the need to do something before China became “too powerful to be conquered” (Chang 28-29). This put Japan on the path to war with China (Chang 25).

The Second Sino-Japanese War was happening because Japan wanted to get more of China’s outer

“Japanese forces had been fighting in China sing July 1937 and by 1940 had taken over much of Southeast Asia. Japan’s next targets

Feifer, George. Breaking Open Japan: Commodore Perry, Lord Abe, and American Imperialism in 1853. New York: Smithsonian Books/Collins, 2006. pp. xx, 389 p.: ill., maps; 24 cm. ISBN: 0060884320 (hardcover: alk. paper). Format: Book. Subjects: Japan Foreign relations United States /United States Foreign relations Japan.

Japan wanted the U.S. to “restore the trade relations” so they would get the materials they needed to fight the war; but the U.S. cannot “hinder efforts for peace by both Japan and China”(Iriye 17). By forbidding the U.S. to do so, Japan would be able to freely do what they want to gain control of China because they were willing to do anything they could to build and expand their empire.

Japan’s growing nationalism and imperialism scooped the nation up to its feet, In 1931 “Japan launched its first plan by invading Manchuria, Manchuria was the first step in Japan’s imperial expansion” (Work Cited 2). On 1937 Japan launched a full scale war on China. The U.S started transporting resources to China and cutting off export of raw materials and oil to Japan, moves clearly intended to oppose Japan’s expansion. The embargo was seen as a serious threat to Japan’s goals of imperial expansion and to overcome this obstacle Japan began to conquer Asian Pacific territories that were rich in raw materials and oil. “Almost 70 percent of the country’s supply of zinc and tin, 90 percent of its lead, and all of its cotton, wool, aluminum, and rubber had to be imported from other countries” (John F.

Between 1968 and 1912, Japan was going through a reformation called Meiji Restoration in order make the country strong as western countries. It had caused changes in many parts of Japan such as society, government, military, etc. Some of these changes still can be seen in the Japanese society today such as emperors are honored by Japanese citizens and seen as a special figure. Since this reformation had a great impact on development of Japan, it can be consider as a very important part of Japanese history.This study will seek to answer the question: To what extent did the Meiji Restoration succeeded to reform and strengthen Japan? In order to answer the question, the investigation will analyze military reform and economic reform caused by

The following essay lays out the problem of the dispute over the Senkaku islands. It begins with a detailed background of the dispute, tracing back to the early 14th century up until modern times, and the three separate claims to the islands from China (People’s Republic of China), Taiwan (Republic of China) and Japan. This is then followed by four different policies on what the United States can do in response to problem at hand. The following options range from full-scale military invention and completely tactical warfare to economic joint development of the disputed areas. The conclusion of the essay will list the faults within three of