Japanese Imperialism & Interwar Period

Why did Japan become an imperial nation? Objectives: Identify the causes for Japanese imperialism. Introduction Directions: Examine the images below and answer the questions that follow. REVIEW and PREDICT European countries industrialized in the late 1700s and 1800s. Photograph of Widnes, England in the late 19th century. Image is courtesy of wikimedia commons and is in the pubic domain 1. What natural resources did they need to support the process of industrialization? They needed coal to support the process of industrialization. World empires and colonies in 1914, just before the First World War. Image is courtesy of wikimedia commons and is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license . 2. What did European countries do starting in the mid-1800s to acquire more natural resources? European countries started colonizing to acquire more natural resources. In the late 1800s, Japan entered a period of industrialization also. Source: James L. Huffman, Modern Japan, A History in Documents, Oxford University Press from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, June 2010. 3. What was the name of the Japanese period of industrialization that started in the late 1800s? The name of the Japanese period of industrialization that started in the late 1800s was Modern Japan. 4. The islands of Japan, unlike most countries in Europe, did not naturally have the raw materials needed to industrialize further. What do you predict Japan will do to support industrialization? Japan would colonize other countries to support industrialization.

Japanese Geography and the Problem with Industrialization During the Meiji Restoration (1868-1890), the Japanese studied the political, economic, and social institutions of the Western powers and selectively adopted certain institutions to meet their needs. For example, they modeled their constitution and government after Western European ones, but gave their emperor more power than European kings had in limited monarchies. They also elevated the status of merchants, a class that had been looked down upon in Japanese society but was respected in the West. A national military and universal conscription were established, and compulsory public education was introduced both to teach the skills needed for the new nation and to teach values of citizenship in all Japanese. Most importantly, the Japanese industrialized during the Meiji Restoration and experienced many of the same effects that England had earlier in the century. Cities grew as more Japanese moved from farming into jobs in factories and offices. In the countryside larger landlords came to own more and more land, and the number of poor tenants increased. Unlike England, who had an abundance of coal and other natural resources necessary for industrialization, Japan had very few of these raw materials. Instead, the Japanese traded for raw materials to fuel their factories and make their products. In the 1920s, for example, the Japanese traded goods like steel and silk stockings, which were very popular in the United States, for raw materials. The strategy of trading for natural resources worked well for Japan until the Great Depression hit the world in 1929. [You will learn more about the Great Depression in a later lesson.] As a result of the Great Depression, foreign governments and companies had little money to spend on Japanese goods. Source: Adapted from “Japan’s Modern History: An Outline of the Period.” Asia for Educators. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/japan_modern_timeline.htm 5. In terms of access to natural resources, how did Japan differ from England? 6. How did Japan acquire the natural resources needed for industrialization before the Great Depression? 7. What was the effect of the Great Depression on Japan’s ability to trade for raw materials? Japan differs from England because they automatically had very few natural resources, and Japan acquired natural resources needed for industrialization before the Great Japan’s ability to trade for raw materials weakened after the Great depression because they 1