Japanese Imperialism In East Asia

Between the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Japan’s economy developed remarkably. China had also developed economically; however, not near as much as Japan. The Japanese government industrialized greatly and encouraged western influence, but the Chinese government did the opposite.

Just as the British did, Japan had a period of expansion. The difference was, japan only went into Asian countries like Korea, Manchuria, China and Russia (Doc. 9). Japan was in need of raw materials to move their industrialization forward. According to William Beasley, “… [Japan] had become dependent on other parts of the world for markets and raw materials.” Similarly to great Brittan, the Japanese relied on other parts of the world for raw materials, as well as the fact that the position of the country was advantages to the trade industry. Japan was very dependent on its coast lines. Walter Weston explains, “The deeply indented coastline of Japan provides a number of excellent harbors on the Pacific coast, and its shores abound in fish of all kinds, the rich supplies of which have for centuries constituted one of the chief articles of food of the people (Doc. 6).” As stated earlier, the circumstances are eerily similar to those of Great

Japan's practice of imperialism helped them capture lands such as a small portion of China and Manchuria. (Doc. 9). Since Japan had few natural resources, they industrialized those parts of their neighbors. Japan relied wholly on the imports from China and Manchuria. (Doc. 8).

In the 19th century, technological improvements enabled many European nations to enlarge their power and have greater impact on other parts of the world. Those impacts are clearly demonstrated in the book Abina and the Important Men and the source Fifty Years of New Japan. Abina and the Important Men views on how a young woman from Gold Coast, West Africa in the 1870s failed to declare her own freedom in a local British dominated court. The source Fifty Years of New Japan demonstrates how Japan had modernized in fifty years with adoption of European cultural practices. Because the Gold Coast was a crown colony of the British empire, change made by European culture and power was in favor of the interest of Britain. Indigenous people respond to such changes differently based on their different social status. Japan, on the other hand, was independently adopting western cultural practices for modernization, so Japan was able to better improve herself by learning about the Western Civilization.

Japan and China had many contrasting responses to western penetration in the nineteenth century, including economic interaction - economically China suffered and Japan prospered, Japanese agricultural productivity increased while China’s did not, and China only accepted a small amount of goods while Japan accepted a wide range of goods- and political interaction - China went to war but Japan did not, Japan adopted western learning styles but China did not, and Japan heavily increased taxes on their people after 1890, while China did not -but had very comparable geographic traits – both had ocean borders – Japan was completely surrounded by water while China was bordered on a large percentage of itself, both kept their ports either fully

The Japanese pursuit for an empire in South East Asia helped changed the balance of world power away from Europe, by taking their most lucrative colonies. Soon after the Japanese defeat in World War II, most of the colonies won their independence from their European masters. This essay will be arguing that despite the vast geographical distance and cultural, racial differences, as well as the different time periods involved, Japanese and European intentions were very similar, and that these similarities contributed to the weakening of Imperialism as a doctrine. To do so, this essay will be examining the reasons for the Japanese

The nineteenth century was a turbulent time of western imperialism and a major Asian power shift. European powers and the United States had a destabilizing effect on the region and the choices Japan and China made in response their imposing expansion was a major contributor to the trajectory of their respective futures. Social factors, such as the differences in national and religious unity, also played a role in the how the two nations emerged from the Age of Imperialism.

The age of imperialism was an important part of history, it was during the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time period, European countries were taking over great sections of the world. It wouldn't be long before they started to take over Asia. Some countries such as, India and China, went under European control and influence. While Japan adopted reforms to meet the western challenge. How was it possible that Japan was able to be strong while India and China couldn't?

Two ships can arrive at the same destination; however that does not necessarily mean that they used the same route on their journey. Such is the same with the industrialization of Britain and Japan. Both rose to become the two great pioneers of the modern world; however the paths they took to success were different. This paper will compare Japan and Britain, exploring the causes of its industrialization, and how the countries drastically changed because of it. What sets Britain’s industrialization process apart from Japans is that it did not have a role model to base its development on; it was the first industrial nation. Therefore the cause of its industrialization must have much

Hand in hand, the zaibatsu and government guided the nation, borrowing technology from the West. Japan gradually took control of much of Asia's market for manufactured goods, beginning with textiles. The economy structure became very mercantilist, importing raw materials and exporting finished products — a reflection of Japan's relative poverty in raw materials.[2]

For this assignment, we were asked to research, in pairs, the effects of foreign imperialism on two Asian societies. Chris and I chose China and Japan as our Asian societies.

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 region known as East Asia has long been in area of conflict, where often times one power, or group of powers has dominated the people, politics, and economy in a very authoritarian fashion. At first it was the Chinese Imperial system which dominated East Asia, as the strongest and most wealthy Asian power during the pre-colonial period. Japan was in a state of isolation, and the other countries of the region were dependent on China for many things. However, with the coming of the colonial powers from Europe and North America, China’s regional power was all but destroyed (4). During that time period, Japan began a process of rapid industrialization and modernization in order to counteract western colonialism and

When the Japanese modernized they made sure to keep their traditional values. According to document 1, in the timeline, after the Meiji Constitution was adopted, The Sino-Japanese War Began( in which Japan fought the Qing Dynasty over Taiwan and Korea(Doc 1, N.d, line 7). Japan won these territories and benefited from their resources. It wasn’t until 1904 Japan declared another war on Russia to protect and keep Korea for its resources( Alfred Stead, 1904, Doc 9). This was the first time any other country defeated a European imperialist country.

Japan, one of the great powers of the world, which just 200 years ago, was an undeveloped nation moving along at a speed drastically less than that of the rest of the world. How was it then, that Japan was able to industrialize and modernize so quickly in such few years, even with its centuries of traditional protocol and isolation from the world? Even through the country’s complete destruction from World War 2, and having to start from basically ground zero in terms of its industries and social advancement, Japan was able to quickly rise up and become on the world’s largest technological and industrial powerhouses.