japan a small island off the eastern
coast of asia and one of the most
powerful nations in the world in the
20th century as one-third of the axis
powers it helped to launch world war ii
the largest war in the history of the
world the empire of japan seemed
unstoppable until a pair of world
shaking bangs brought an end to its
reign but how did the empire of japan
become so powerful they started out as
anything but in fact before their rise
they rarely played a role outside their
own borders and virtually no one from
the outside had ever seen japan that was
because of the policy of sakoku an
isolationist foreign policy translating
to closed country put in place by the
tokugawa shogunate starting in 1633 it
essentially put the whole country behind
the bars not only were relations and
trade limited and most foreign nationals
barred from entering but all but the
highest ranking japanese citizens were
barred from traveling abroad how long
could a policy like this last try over
200 years and not by choice while during
this period there was some limited trade
especially with china and the dutch the
country mostly remained closed until
1853 the black ships a military
expedition led by american matthew perry
was ostensibly a diplomatic mission
aimed at opening trade with japan but
perry was under orders to not take no
for an answer through dramatic shows of
military strength in negotiations with
high-ranking officials he was able to
get a promise to open japan to trade
with the us it would be a show of force
the united states would eventually
regret not long after perry's opening of
the borders a new emperor would ascend
the throne emperor meiji was only 15
when he took the throne but he would
soon earn the title meiji the great he
would transform japan from a feudal
country with limited industry to a
political powerhouse the era he presided
over would be known as the meiji
restoration and he would be the most
powerful emperor in japan's history
centralizing all government under him
and reigning for over 40 years but it
wouldn't be an easy journey to become a
world power shortly after the borders
opened resistance to the trade deals
rose the terms were deeply unequal and
many japanese citizens felt they were
being exploited two rival clans satsuma
and cho joined forces to end the current
shogunate and restore the emperor to
full authority over the country the
title of shogun was abolished and many
lands were confiscated leading to a
conflict with the previous leader of the
shogunate the new japan was about to
face its first major conflict the
tokugawa shogunate had ruled japan for
200 years of isolation and it was not
going to give up power easily tokugawa
yoshinobu the powerful leader of the
clan had his lands confiscated by the
new emperor and quickly launched a coup
attempt on the emperor's court at kyoto
the shoguns were older and used to
fighting in battles but the emperor's
forces were wealthy and had more modern
weapons soon members of the tokugawa
army started defecting the insurgency
was defeated and the shoguns went on the
run the emperor's forces pursued them
and yoshinobu eventually surrendered
japan once again belonged to the emperor
and he would live up to the title
imperial until then japan's interaction
with the rest of the world was mostly
determined by who visited them but meiji
was determined to change that with the
iwakura mission in 1871 a two-year
mission began as japan sent diplomats
and scholars to europe and america they
wanted to gain diplomatic support for
the new government renegotiate treaties
and learn about power structures and
resources from the rest of the world
while few countries were willing to
renegotiate terms japan was able to
negotiate with russia for a trade of
islands but this period would bring
major change to japan as well the
emperor and his advisors were impressed
with the industrial progress and culture
they saw in western countries and tried
to bring it to japan they modeled their
new government after prussia's
constitution and judicial system and
sought to suppress traditions from the
shogunate era this meant a ban on
traditional dress and the wearing of
weapons like katana but not all members
of japan's society were willing to abide
by the new regime the samurai were
restless and it was about to boil over
under the old regime the samurai had an
elite position as the military nobility
known for their unique armor they were
highly paid protectors of the wealthy
when their class was outlawed in 1876 as
part of the modernization efforts of
emperor meiji it didn't take long for
conflict to erupt nine years into his
reign the satsuma rebellion began many
unemployed samurai had gathered in the
territory and their leadership felt that
they'd been betrayed by the emperor
after initially supporting him and their
leader saigo takomori was ready for war
the satsuma rebellion was a brutal
conflict raging for eight months unlike
past rebellions takamori didn't make the
hopeless decision to attack the
well-protected emperor directly rather
he attempted to take territory and
establish his own power base his allies
attacked naval yards and tried to seize
ships but the emperor had time to build
his own strength takamori found himself
outgunned and he was soon forced into
retreat the army cornered them and
demanded saigo's surrender he refused
and died in a final battle that brought
to an end the age of the samurai japan's
modernization was about to accelerate
writers were pressured by the government
to write in favor of the new era and
many face threats from traditionalists
religion soon became another flashpoint
with missionaries arriving from abroad
and trying to convert japanese citizens
to christianity while this had
previously been outlawed japan slowly
became a much more religiously diverse
place but the state religion remained
shinto and the government took action to
protect it for the first time japan
would have a written constitution and it
formalized the emperor's powers as well
as introducing two legislatures the
house of representatives and the house
of peers but greater involvement in the
world meant greater conflict as well
famous companies would soon be founded
in japan including household names like
mitsubishi japan became the go-to place
in asia for many factory-produced goods
including textiles trade became a major
part of their economy and they were able
to set the terms of trade with other
asian countries they centralized their
currency established banks and quickly
modernized and industrialized their
society they had taken many lessons from
trade with europe and america and one of
them was aggressive economic expansion
and that soon would enter the military
sphere japan had learned a lot from the
great powers of the world and they were
ready to show their new strength their
first target korea then a tributary
state under china but in 1876 japan
imposed a new treaty on the korean
peninsula and forced them to open trade
when korea later requested aid from
china to put down a rebellion japan
responded with far greater force and was
soon occupying korea they imposed a
puppet government and china responded
with force of their own it would be the
biggest test of japan's growing empire
the first sino-japanese war broke out in
1894 and japan's well-trained forces
quickly routed chinese armies they took
over the strategic liaodong peninsula
and dealt heavy damage to the chinese
navy in the eventual treaty japan not
only took territory in china but took
over the entire island of taiwan while
japan was later forced to withdraw from
some of the territory it gained by
european powers it was the first test of
japan's power and they had sent a
powerful message and they would be back
in china before long when the boxer
rebellion broke out in china as a group
of warriors sought to expel foreign
influence from china a global force
united to push it back and maintain a
chinese policy favorable to them and the
largest group of forces came from japan
looking to expand their influence in the
region even the british were forced to
ask japan for help as they had the most
easily accessible troops in the region
and britain was overextended around the
world in exchange japan made demands and
they were rewarded after the rebellion
was put down gaining the right to
station troops in china in the future
but another world power was making
inroads into the same region russia
occupied manchuria and played a key role
in preventing japan's expansion after
the sino-japanese war as they expanded
into korea japan decided it was time to
respond in 1904 japan launched a sneak
attack on russian forces damaging their
naval fleet and defeating those who
tried to escape japan's alliance with
britain bore fruit as the russians were
denied passage through the british
controlled suez canal and arrived late
only to be easily routed not only did
japan's victory lead to more territorial
expansion and mineral rights in
manchuria but it set the stage for an
annexation of korea in 1910 but no era
can last forever emperor meiji passed
away in 1912 and was replaced by his son
emperor taisho only two years after his
ascent world war one broke out in europe
and japan aligned with britain and
allies against germany's forces they
took the opportunity to attack many
german properties in china and the
pacific taking them over as their
alliance with britain deepened japan
also responded to the rise of the
communist government in russia by
occupying parts of siberia although they
were eventually forced to withdraw but
the taisho arrow would be the calm
before the storm taisho would reign only
14 years passing away in 1926 and being
replaced by his son emperor showa better
known around the world as hirohito while
japan had trended toward democracy under
his father hirohito favored the military
and society became increasingly
nationalist by the 1930s japan was
slipping back into an expansionist
totalitarian mindset more people began
to worship the emperor as a deity and a
failed coup led to increased crackdowns
on dissent in 1931 the final push of the
japanese empire was about to begin the
powerful nation suffering under the
great depression that had spread
worldwide needed more resources they got
them by invading manchuria and
conquering it with little resistance
while they claimed this was liberating
the manchu ethnic group the result was a
brutal occupation they soon occupied
much of mongolia as well and by 1937
they had invaded china proper china was
involved in its own domestic conflict
between communists and nationalists and
japan took advantage with horrible
consequences japanese troops may have
massacred as many as 300 000 people in
what would become known as the non-king
massacre it's estimated that as many as
20 million chinese may have died in the
coming decade but hirohito was about to
make a historic mistake japan's
aggression had not gone unnoticed by the
rest of the world britain and the soviet
union were increasingly opposed to their
expansion and conflicts with the soviet
union were common eventually the united
states placed embargoes on japan as well
keeping them from obtaining the metal
and oil they needed for their war with
china so japan signed a deal with
germany and italy the axis powers as
world war ii was starting on the
european continent the united states was
still staying out of the wharf but with
the european powers occupied with
germany and italy japan knew its biggest
threat came from across the pacific and
decided to strike first the japanese
government developed a plan to target
the heart of the american naval fleet at
pearl harbor in hawaii while the united
states was still neutral hirohito was
convinced that it was necessary to
neutralize a potential enemy and it was
a stunning success the japanese sneak
attack destroyed many of the us
battleships and killed almost 2 500
people japan knew this would mean war
which was declared the next day but they
hoped that the u.s had been delayed
enough that they could expand into the
pacific and build their empire to the
point where no country could touch it it
didn't work out that way the american
public was enraged and president
franklin delano roosevelt roused them
for war effort the japanese continued to
expand occupying hong kong the malay
peninsula and the philippines in short
order and routing the americans and
british in the early going the japanese
took over a hundred thousand allied
troops as prisoners and seized much of
indonesia as well as islands in the
pacific but the tide would soon turn
while japan's sneak attack had given
them the advantage america had superior
manufacturing capabilities a massive
rebuilding effort led to a swift
counter-attack against the japanese
empire japan lost four fleet carriers at
the battle of midway was routed by
australia and by 1944 was on the
defensive japan was under heavy bombing
but refused to surrender world war ii
was quickly becoming an arms race and it
would be determined by who got to the
finish line first and it was the
americans with not one but two banks the
city of hiroshima was the first to be
targeted by a nuclear weapon in march
1945 followed by nagasaki only days
later the massive explosions killed over
100 000 people in a matter of minutes
with the full effect of the radiation
killing countless more for years at the
same time the end of the war in europe
freed up countless forces and the soviet
union agreed to join the war effort
against the japanese the japanese were
quickly routed by the soviets in
manchuria and the increasing defeats
left the emperor and his military
command only one choice surrender on
august 15 1945 emperor hirohito
announced his surrender before a likely
ground invasion of japan japan was
occupied by allied forces led by general
douglas macarthur and a new constitution
was imposed on the country this
essentially led to the end of the empire
of japan as it was transformed into a
pacifist democracy while many of the
architects of the war in japan were
taken into custody by the allies and
executed for war crimes hirohito was
spared with him being a religious figure
among much of the population his
execution was seen as likely to incite a
rebellion and cause more death but he
was stripped of much of his power
essentially becoming a figurehead but he
would continue to reign until 1989 the
longest-serving emperor in japanese
history and one who saw it at the
beginning of its empire and at its end
to learn about the last japanese soldier
fighting world war ii check out soldier
continued fighting world war ii because
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shocking true story from the japanese
war effort