The Economic Growth of Japan

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

By the start of the great depression Japan had already began losing several major trading partners. Therefore their number of exports had decreased drastically, leaving many Japanese people unemployed . Famine had also began to take it's effect due to rice crop failure. To make matters worse Japan was running out of natural resources putting a halt to their industrial revolution. So in 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria, China in hopes to start creating an Asian empire and obtain more resources such as oil, rubber and slave labor. As Japan began invading more areas of China and Asia they took pride in their successful war leaders and developed a collective consciousness of their military accomplishments. Soon the Japanese government was military operated and their passion and dedication to nationalism had

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

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

(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.

Ultranationalism in Japan began once the global markets collapsed in 1930. Difficult times and a growing need for national glory led to increased militarism. In 1937, Japan invaded China and expanded its empire from the Korean peninsula to Indonesia. However, Japan’s

Leading up to 1941, many countries are in all-out war because of World War II. One of these countries, Japan, is seeking to “dominate Southeast Asia for political and economic reasons” (Bruce and Cogar 1). They want to take revenge on the Allies and the rest of the world because of how they were treated at the peace negotiation after World War I. They felt they were ignored and taken lightly by the other super powers of the

Just Before entering World War II, Japan had a lot of different issues to try and solve. It had started to depend more for materials like oil for new machines being made to make the creation level of merchandise faster, which makes for a more productive economy. They required oil from outside sources in light of the fact that their property did not have all these things enormously, since the nation was an island its regular assets were made up of rice and fish. Even with these troubles, Japan started to manufacture an effective realm with a strong mechanical establishment and a decent armed force and naval force. The military got to be included in the legislature, and this started to cause them harm. The general public started to see indications of control originating from a rough place this put the individuals in a controlled state, their fundamental rights were gradually being taken away. In the mid 1930 's, the Japanese Army had numerous little, detached fights with their neighboring people groups. The Japanese individuals spread their control to make their country bigger. In 1937, the contentions started again with the Chinese in the territory close. These contentions prompted a full-scale war known as the second Sino-Japanese War. This was viewed as a bleeding war, it proceeded until the last annihilation of Japan in 1945. This demonstrates the inward shortcoming of the Japanese individuals, with high

Japan was ultimately beneficial over its time span of its existence because of its many advances and benefits to the people who were a part of the empire. Though there were negative and harmful aspects of its rule, the good of the empire outweighed the bad. The Japanese were among the last to develop a complex society and completely isolated itself from outside influence. An era occurred where they began to borrow many things from China. They adopted their writing and imitated their literature. By the late 1800s, however, an imperial restoration occurred with Commander Perry in charge . In order to stop westernization in Japan, the country adopted western culture. The Empire of Japan emerged and was more reformed than ever. By rapidly expanding under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (“Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army”), Japan began its journey to beginning a world power. Japan began to seek profits overseas increasing their exposure to the outside world and their cultures. With all of these advancements, the overall success and benefit to its people of the empire of Imperial Japan came from its militarization.

In 1926 Emperor Hirohito took control of the throne and changed the dynamics of the countries’ policy (History, Imperial). The power within the country started and ended with the emperor. There were previously feuds for loyalty to a faction of ones’ choice but that ended with the Peace Preservation Law in 1925 which officially ended political freedom in Japan (History, Imperial). All loyalties in Japan now lied with the state. The state was ran by the emperor so his word and will became reality within his borders. This change brought on more conflict. Between 1932 and 1936 Japan spawned the idea of the “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere” which called for the unification of Asian nations but under Japanese control (History, Imperial). The bottom line of this plan was for Japan to have absolute imperial control throughout the Far East. This propelled Japan into campaigns on many fronts spreading their military over vast areas. Though they were successful in these campaigns with China and Russia, their resources were running thin, forcing them to look for alternate

During WWII Japan main intention was to become a strong nation and a world leader as well. The problem was that Japan was just a small island in the pacific and needed to import most of the natural resources needed from other countries. Japanese leaders considered they needed to acquire more land by invading other countries.

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.

After the initial treaty with western countries, a series of events unfolded along with the desire for change in Japanese ideologies. Additionally, the outcome caused the Tokugowa shogunate to weaken thus lead to the Emperor seizing power from the shogunate. With foreign countries aiding Japan, the people of the country began to take in Western ideologies into their culture and daily lives. Moreover, Japans contact with a foreign country’s allowed the country to gain momentum in their cultural development but also led to the fall of feudalism in the land.

In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.