Japan's Aggression Analysis

Imperialism in Japan Background: Japan prior to the Meiji restoration was ruled in a hierarchy very similar to other European countries. The hierarchy was that of lords, samurai and then peasants. The Japanese equivalent to a king at the time was a military dictator called a shogun. During this time the capital was Kyoto and the shogun was part of the Tokugawa clan. That is why this period is referred to as the Tokugawa Shogunate.

However, the U.S. Army War College suggests Japan’s end state was to seize Pacific countries to negate their dependency on U.S. trade and oil for to decrease their deficit (Record,

As World War II comes to an end little does Japan know they are on the forefront of changes that would impact them and their way of life as they knew it. Hiroshima was blasted with the first atomic bomb and then hit again in Nagasaki. The devastating aftermath would call for the Japanese to surrender and America troops would move in as an occupation power in Japan. In 1945 it was General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers, which would be given the power to bring about reform and implement a new organization of Japanese government. It would change the Japanese society and the future of Japan.

With recent tensions rising between North Korea and the world, it is no surprise that the Japanese citizens are aligning themselves with a nationalist government. Japanese Prime Minister Abe has started to consider revoking the disarmament treaty. Revoking it would let Japan increase spending on the military, which would ultimately result in a much larger and advanced military. Although rearming the Japanese military would improve security in the country, it would only increase the tension, doing damage to not only myself, but future generations of Japanese citizens.

During the 19th and 20th century, Imperialism was adopted by many countries around the world for its modernization. Japan, for one, is a very interesting case, in which that it was able to survive under the European Imperialistic rule, but actually adopted their own form of Imperialism and was successful with it. However, because of it, many countries suffered, but benefitted Japan greatly, enabling them to emerge into the international market and an Asian superpower. By weighing the positives and negatives of the process of Imperialism in Japan as an example, we can conclude whether Imperialism had a positive or negative effect.

The Russo-Japanese War was the highlight of a turn in the balance of power within the different regions of the world; however, it had an unexpected effect towards other Asian countries.

Two main Japanese historians have debated this issue. Sadao Asada firmly believes the bombs were the main factor that caused the Japanese to surrender, however, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa disagrees believing Soviet invasion persuaded the Japanese to surrender. These arguments differ in how the historians interpret the impact of the atomic bombs, the politics behind surrender and the Soviet’s readiness to make peace following the Potsdam Conference. Following the conference both Asada and Hasegawa agree that Japan would not surrender due to the fact that they wanted their emperor to retain his imperial position. The schism occurs when we discuss what this belief meant.

During the first half of the 20th century, the Japanese empire was at the peak of its power. Starting form 1910 up until 1945, the end WWII, Korea was being held by Japan as a colony. During this time, Japan and China entered The Second Sino-Japanese War that stared in 1937 and ended with Japanese surrender in 1945. These Japanese actions have had such an impactful effect on the people that it hurt, that films, such as Devils on the Door step and The Handmaiden, have even contemporary films express negative emotions to the long-lasting effects of the Japanese empire.

The Sengoku Period was a time of unrivalled conflict and disunity in medieval Japan. It spanned from 1467 to 1615 and was named by historians who compared it to the most warlike period in Ancient Chinese history: the Age of the Warring States. This parallel shows the great magnitude of the chaos and violence that occurred during Japan in these years. The onset of the Onin War marked the beginning of this period. The authority of the Ashikaga Shogunate dissolved, and the country was left in the hands of power-hungry daimyos ("the great names"). Various daimyos across Japan gained authority and fought each other for land and the shogunate himself. They created an environment of endemic warfare which directly hindered the unification of Japan.

Now Japan is close allies with the U.S. to be on the spearhead of success within these new ages. Ages that are protected by mutually assured

The United States and Japan fought in World War II during 1941 to 1945. Japan planned to expand their land and gain resources- which led them to invade China whom was an ally of the U.S. In result, the United States cut off the supply of oil to Japan. On December 7th 1941, Japan’s air force did a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor because that is where their military base is located.

In the 1920’s, There was a clash in beliefs, those that wanted to stick to traditional militaristic ways were radicals and those that wanted to rapidly modernize were the moderates. The radicals wanted to abandon western ideas, and stick to direct imperialistic rule while the moderates strived for a democratic capitalist country. The radicals, wanting to be ruled by the military rather than a civilian government, had a unified purpose, increasing nationalism and chauvinism to immense levels. The radicals had many advantages over the moderates in terms of power. Before, Japan had made the ministers of the army and navy more powerful than even the cabinet.

- Because I was born in Japan and I grew up in country side society, I will talk about how America’s involvement changed Japanese thoughts towards “outsiders” and foreign countries after the World War II. MacArthur 's held his power of supreme commander for the in Japan from 1945 to 1951. MacArthur managed to implement a number of reforms in postwar Japan, including a new constitution, land reform, and giving women the right to vote, while at the same time encouraging Japan to disarm peacefully and formally renounce any future war plans. By keeping in place the highly respected Emperor Hirohito, he was able to effect a relatively smooth transition to peacetime, creating an economic environment that would make Japan a powerful force by the

Japan externally became successful by receiving help from the U.S. by taking on the burden of Japan’s protection. Even more so externally, Japan is also completely reliant on imported oil as it was affordable during the time of the post-war. There are so much more, yet, these are only a few. Internally, Japan became successful by having one of the “world’s highest personal savings rate, and the banks reinvested the savings in new industry.” (Adler & Pouwels pg.

In settling the dispute of Senkaku Islands, Abe’s governance is taking a hard line policy through military confrontation with China, because the diplomacy action is no longer effective. During the reign of Abe, Japan adhered foreign policy "Proactive diplomacy". In addition to the values-based implemented a foreign policy with India, Australia, and the United States, can also be regarded as a measure to offset the softer line of his China policy. This policy has three principles undertaken by the Japanese which are, prioritization of international law, peaceful conflict resolution, and a waiver of the use of