Japan

The Opening of JapanTo

The Contemporary

Open Up!

• Japans centuries of seclusion towards the west ends in 1853 when Matthew Perry sails his fleet into Japan and demands they open up to US trade– Japan had never seen anything like the US fleet (Perry

had 2 steam engine ships)– Astonished at all of the inventions on the American ships

and conclude they were no match to resist US demands– Agrees to open up trade but is not conquered

• Becomes one of the very few (maybe the only) non-Western country to escape Western colonization

The time they are a changin’

• Perry’s visit demonstrated that the west had comparatively become stronger than Japan

• Needed to reconsider its current policies and practices under the Tokogawa Shogunate

Meji Restoration• 1867-1868• Backlash against the isolation of the Tokogawa• Restores emperor to power in Tokyo and begins

the age of “enlightened rule”• Beginning of a crash-course of modernization

– Chief among these goals was national centralization or to consolidate under a single administration

• For Meji, disunion under the Tokogawa was a sign of weakness and so to become a great nation, its government had to become strong

• Japanese government grows in power and influence and begins to unify Japan

• All men must serve in the military

Late State Theory

• Applies to Japan (as well as Germany, Prussia and Italy who were unifying at the same time in the world)

• Because these countries had to catch-up so quickly, their governments exercised excessive influence in the modernization process– All 4 became authoritarian regimes and each constituted

an Axis power

• Japan decides to emulate Western styles and practices, however they co-opt them– No interested in becoming the West, instead they co-

opted Western customs and reforms to DEFY THE West • The idea behind this was to become strong enough to resist the

West

Reforms

• 1. Political– Japan studied

Europe and decided Great Britain had the best form of government so it becomes a unitary state, parliamentary form of government, and has a prime minister

• 2. Legal– Everyone has a

constitution, so Japan adopts one

• 3. Social – Tokogawa had a

very strict caste system but under the Meji, they got rid of most of the social rigidity because they wanted to unify the Japanese people as a single nation

• 4. Military– Copy the

Prussian form of military training and technique since they were the best in the world at the time

• 5. Economic– Accelerated

program of capitalist industrialization BUT the government plays a key role—no private industry

All of these reforms are VERY successful, but will the

Japanese also adopt Western imperialist tendencies?

Yes• Saw imperialism and colonies as a

trademark of a great nation• Did not like Western powers

expanding into China for three main reasons– 1. Japan believed that it should be the

dominant power in Asia, not Europe who had their own continent

– 2. Europeans were bringing an alien culture into Asia that Japan believed did not belong there

– 3. Japan came to believe that if it did not modernize quickly, it would be next

War . . .what is it good for? (land!)

• 1894: Sino-Japanese War– War over control over Korean peninsula– Japan wins, taking control of Korean

peninsula and Taiwan

• 1904-1905: Russo-Japanese War– Fought over Korea and Manchuria– Important because Japan’s win marked

the 1st time in modern history that an Asian power military defeated a European power• Shatters the myth of Western invincibility

More War!

• Not really a participant in WWI, but makes a clever decision siding with the Allies and fights agains Germany principally because it wants Germany’s Asian colonies

Sneaky sneaky• After the war, Japan’s military becomes the

dominant political force in Asia• Becomes a proto-fascist state (doesn’t formally

adopt fascism like Germany or Italy but operates like one)

• 1931-invades Manchuria• The League of Nations condemns Japan and in

response, Japan withdraws from the League• 1937-War with China (and that same year joins

the Axis powers with Germany and Italy)• 1940-1941-Japan expands into southeast Asia

(Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia)• US responds by imposing petroleum and fuel

sanctions on Japan and then pressures Europe to follow suit

Pearl Harbor• Japan will not give in and

decides to seize the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies while simultaneously destroying the American Pacific Fleet

• Attack on December 7th, 1941• US declares war on Japan on

December 8th, 1941 and Germany declares war on the US

• Theory war by the time the US could rebuilt its Pacific Navy, Japan would be too strongly fortified to be defeated however they severely under-estimated American resolve and industrialization capacity

Bombs

• August 6th, 1945: US delivers the atomic bomb on Hiroshima

• August 9th, 1945: 2nd atomic bomb on Nagasaki

The FIRST and ONLY time atomic weapons were ever used in history!!!

Occupation

• The US occupies Japan in 1952– Eliminates militarism, rewrites their

constitution (democratizes), and legalizes unions

Economic Giant• Japan rebuilds their economy

– Newest factories, capital invested in markets instead of military, steady growth from 1960-1990 (recession in the early 1990’s

– Textiles, heavy industry, shipbuilding, steel production, alternative energies

– Shift to high tech•World’s leading producer of television, radios,

VCR’s, CD’s, and stereos, and famous for fuel-efficient cars

Reasons for Japan’s Success

• Borrowed and improved western technology

• Encouraged invention and innovation• Traditional values, loyalty, hard work,

education, high savings, and little spent on defense

Earthquake & Tsunami

• March 11th, 2011• 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed

by devastating tsunami (30-40 foot waves moved the island 8 FEET!!!)

• Nuclear power plant crisis• Death toll: 11, 417 and still climbing

Today, Japan emphasizes pacifism, better relations with Asian neighbors, and trade with other countries