The Role Of Nationalism In Japan

Consistent with Japanese propaganda the nationalist leaders held belief that Japan was “the leader, protector and light of Asia”. However, this perception of liberation from colonial rule was a façade as the civilians of occupied nations experienced harsher treatment under the Japanese than they did under the colonial authorities.

While World War II had been ongoing since 1939, Japan had been fighting for the Axis powers, against the United States. In 1941, when Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States government had assumed the viewpoint that the Japanese were not to be trusted, and that the Japanese-American citizens of the United States were much the same. As such, they had resorted to establishing internment camps, or preventive labor prisons, so as to keep them in check and ostensibly to prevent further Japanese sabotage. However, the government’s actions were not fully justified, as several factors had interplayed into the circumstances that directly contradicted the intentions and visible results of the internment of the Japanese-Americans, in the social, political, economical, and cultural aspects. On the whole, the internment camps served as drastic measures which were not wholly without reasoning; contrarily, those factors in support of the internment camps did not override those which had gone against it, since the United States’ own legislation, in the form of the Constitution and other laws, had explicitly prevented the depriving of human rights, privileges, and pursuits, which had doubtless applied in light of the Japanese-Americans’ universal citizenship along the Pacific Coast in the early 1940s. As such, while the internment camps were not completely unjustified and without purpose from the viewpoint of the government, they did not align with standards of law and

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

The forced internment of Japanese-Americans by the United States government during World War II served as a symbol of the fears and xenophobia that both American citizens and government officials felt following the declaration of war with the empire of Japan. There was an official reason for internment in the form of national security, but there were also many informal reasons for the action. Either way, the forced internment of United States civilians by the United States government marked a distinct executive overstep of individual rights and dismissal of the constitution.

the practice by which powerful nations or social orders hope to create and keep up control or effect over weaker nations or society. By the 1800 's, the Western powers had central focuses in this technique. They drove the world in creative advances, giving them a quality while vanquishing distinctive countries. The European Imperialists made tries to vanquish China and Japan. In this methodology, they succeeded by affecting Japan immensely. In any case, they were not as productive with China.

By 1941, Japan needed raw materials, space and respect. Japanese land was never rich with natural resources so japan had to import everything

few years prior to the war of America and Japan, there had been a compliance of trade. America had transported quantities of oil, tin, and rubber to their ally. Japan relied heavily on these goods, which sustained the many assaults toward their enemy of the 1930s. Uneasy it was for the Western hemispheres to support such a violent country, the final declaration was to embargo these exchanges. Deprivation of imports consequences the Eastern hemisphere’s disruption of war. Principally adding new tensions between the allies. The infamous surprise attack of Pearl Harbor, lead by Japan, began World War 2. Once allies, now becoming terrorist to the United States.

In order for the United Stated Government to gather all the Japanese people in America, they had to issue home raids to scare the people. The Japanese no longer held rights to their property and privacy. This later started the enforcement of evacuating all the Japanese into the ten internment camps.

Thirdly, the ideals of basic human rights were altered when American government sent the Japanese Americans to prison camps. The reason of imprisonment was the fear of United States government that Japanese-Americans would act as spies and remain loyal to Japanese Government. For example, Fred Korematsu - a Japanese-American who was sent to prison camp after Pearl Harbor was attacked during World War 2 - said that the American government had discriminated him based on his race and had arrested him for being a security risk without a concrete evidence (Document 5). Similarly, the rise of nativism during 1900s had led to segregation of Japanese children in school in San Francisco, California. Moreover, it can be inferred from the “Preamble to

In 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States. As a result, Japan lost 88% of its imported oil. They needed large amounts of oil to run their war machines. Japan’s response to the embargo was to continue its occupation of Southeast Asia to control their rubber and tin production. This was a major blow to the west since they imported materials from the east.

One major problem that Japan faced was the considerable lack of natural resources in the eastern Asian country. Likewise, the United States saw significance in these resources and put their economic relations with Japan at a minimum. Japan’s main goal was to expand its territory in the Pacific as a way to resolve economic issues and take control of the market. Because of this, Japan attempted to conquer China, which did not sit well with the United States. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then froze all shipping to Japan, which led the Japanese to plan a surprise attack.

There are many things that contributed to Japan’s change to modernity and democracy whether it was between the political parties or if it was between their cultural system and the people 's rights. Before Japan changed to a more modern and democratic society it was a feudal government structure based on Confucius views which was during the Tokugawa period. During the Tokugawa period there was a separation between the social classes which was categorized in four groups the samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The two classes that had the most power were the samurai and the peasants. The samurai had the most power because they created a moral example and the peasants came in second into the social class since they produced food which was essential to survival of the people. The last two classes the artisans and the merchants. Although the merchants were last in the social class some were very wealthy and even owned their own monopolies, but since they were in the bottom of the class the laws prevented them to come higher into power. Although Japan was a feudal government and was more traditional the Japanese still developed some modernized urban influences like expanding their trading of commodities, and their advancement in their science studies. Though the Japanese had some of these modernized views the Tokugawa period soon came to an end due to the lack of government control by the shogun which created the four classes to fall apart.

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.

Previous months before December 7th, 1941 America and Japan had been going head and head with each other. The United States wanted Japan to stop building up their army but all Japan’s goal was to becoming the ruler of Asia. When they didn’t listen to America’s warning President Roosevelt stopped all export of American machinery to Japan. When Japan still continued President Roosevelt then stopped all sales

Japanese political history has been changed by succession disputes which resulted in wars that split the families to rise or decline and shift power.