
The Battle of Port Arthur. Image Source: Glasgow University Library Special Collections Department, March 2008, Accessed Via https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/mar2008.html
The Japanese Empire is often neglected when talking about some of modern history’s greatest empires. The story of their empire is quite astonishing: in a matter of a generation under emperor Mutsuhito, Japan changed from a feudal kingdom to a modern nation state that could go toe to toe with the European powers at the time. At its apex the empire had conquered lands as far as north of Alaska known as the Aleutian Islands, to Indonesia, and even parts of modern day Bangladesh. This came to be due to Japan’s rapid thrust into a fully industrialized nation state with a constitution, a development that can find its roots in the transformation from the Edo period to the Meiji period. A transition in 1868 changed the face of Japan and is now known as the Meiji restoration. The restoration involved conservative samurai overthrowing the long reigning shogun who ruled over the country during the Edo period from 1600 to 1867, and replacing him with emperor Mutsuhito as the supreme and divine ruler of the country. The emperor took over where the shogun left off. From the previous Edo period, it was a time of peace and cultural blossoming for Japan. The shogun had centralized the government as the warring clans of the previous era were united under the leash of his rule. The Edo period provided Japan with the foundation necessary to create such a quick transition from a feudal kingdom to an industrial empire. Its high level of centralization with its implementation of financial infrastructure provided a strong springboard for the new imperial government to leap from into a new era of Japanese history.
Once the Meiji period started, the foundation that was created by the Edo period was crucial in the new government’s pursuit of modernization. There was no need or struggle to develop a national identity or pride as did others like Germany and Italy had to do. There was already an intellectual class that could implement policies and plans that the emperor and his cabinet declared with ease. The emperor additionally had good intuition to open up to Western methods for the industrialization of the country. He invested in sending researchers all throughout the West, ranging from Belgium for central banking systems, Germany for the army, Britain for the navy, and the U.S for business models; all were to be brought back and implemented in Japan. The state subsidized and built up manufacturing industries and resources, further creating development plans for poorer areas like Hokkaido, in which huge infrastructure projects were put in place to modernize it. The emperor was especially focused on education; building a strong primary and secondary school system created a stronger national identity, as kids were influenced by Japanese greatness and the divinity of the emperor, as well as provided upward social mobility for the people.
These programs demonstrated success in the modernization of the country, but were placing a great strain on the state budget, and created ballooning debt. Therefore, in 1881, the emperor appointed Matsuka Masyoshi as finance minister, after which he sold off all government investments in Hokkaido, in addition to all non-strategic resources in the country to the private sector. The emperor's intuition helped aid in the country's industrialization; in his ability to open up to the private sector, he further allowed the Japanese economy to flourish. It created new institutions at the time that still last today called “zaibatsus”–large companies at the time that were at the forefront of the Japanese market and innovation. Even now, these companies continue to play a key role in the Japanese economy, including the industry giants Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo.
Industry is a key factor in empire building in modern history, since it is the foundation of military superiority and domestic stability. Japan started from nearly zero and rapidly built up an industrialized economy that could sustain empire building and provide prosperity to the nation. Like most industrialized nations, Japan first had an explosion of success in agricultural production that led to a population boom. In 1868 the population of Japan numbered 34.4 million people, and by the end of 1920 it was at 56 million people: in over 50 years the population nearly doubled. In most cases such a rapid increase in population and growing urban prosperity would cause agricultural industry to fall into decline, similarly to England in its process of industrialization; however, this is not the case for Japan. As the population grew, so did rural prosperity. Japan quickly and flawlessly adapted to mechanization in silk production, which gave them the ability to claim the lionshare of an extremely profitable market, helping fuel early-to-mid growth of an industrializing economy. During the same time, rice production actually grew rather than declined. Other notable successful industries like the lumber, textile, and arms industries were fundamental in providing the wealth and stability needed for bolstering the economy and territorial expansion.
Japan’s territorial expansion forced the West to look at them and acknowledge them. Scared and resentful of the unequal and exploitative trade deals that were forced onto them by the West in the 1850s, they seeked to repeal and find equal ground with the major powers. On their path to Western validation, the emperor believed that Japan needed to grow into a large territorial empire similar to those of Britain and France. The young empire’s early annexations came from the victory of the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895, which made China cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. This additionally made China pay a series of redemption payments that were extremely profitable. The empire’s next war, the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905), distinguished them in the eyes of the West as a formidable power, as it ended in a staggering defeat for Russia, leaving the tsar completely embarrassed. Russia was forced to give Japan Port Arthur, and Japan kicked out the threat of the Russians in the North Pacific and Korea, which subsequently allowed Japan to annex Korea in 1910 without any regional or global opposition.
The war with the Russians forced the West to look at Japan and recognise it as global power, and by 1911 the unequal treaties were finally renegotiated and removed. The following year, emperor Mutsuhito died, and a new period under emperor Taisho (1912-1926) began. This brief period saw further expansion of imperial Japan in World War One; the European war proved to be nothing but good news for the young empire. As they joined the British against Germany, they were able to conquer German colonies in China and the Pacific with ease. This was because all German forces and resources were directed to the European front and left their colonies completely exposed. Additionally, Europe pulled out of Asian markets allowing for Japanese industries to rapidly expand and grow without any competition from industrialized nations at the time. This helped Japan’s economy grow into a strong one, appropriate for an empire.
The short lived apex of imperial Japan was in 1942, later that decade it experienced a rapid rate of decline into capitulation from the United States in 1945. After puppeting the large province of Manchuria in 1932 from China, to then starting the Second Sino-Japanese war in 1937, Japan was in a state of constant war for 8 years until its defeat by the United States in 1945, causing the decline of the empire. Japan contributed and later experienced the horrendous devastation of World War Two. During the war, Japan conquered extensive amounts of land, adding up to a land mass that was 2.8 million square miles, making it the 9th largest empire to ever exist in human history. This was achieved by swift campaigns all across South and South-East Asia and early success in the war with China. The empire accounted for 20% of the population at the time, and by the end of the war there were an estimated 25 million dead in Asia. The later staggering defeat in 1945 put an end to Japanese militarism and imperialism, and was then thrust forward again towards modern democracy, which smothered away any aspirations or dreams of imperial expansion.
The reasons for why Japan had such a drive to expand to a colonial empire are often debated. Some argue that it comes from a place of self-preservation in the face of Western imperialism, while others say that it was a result of the zaibatsus playing hand in colonial policy and politics for profit. However, one thing is undeniable: Japan’s rapid industrialization to later territorial expansion in such a small time frame is nothing short of impressive.
Sources used:
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Ishida, Ryuziro. “THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF JAPAN: A GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS.” The Annals of the Hitotsubashi Academy, vol. 7, no. 1, 1956, pp. 61–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43751476. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Malloryk. “The Miraculous Deliverance from a Titanic Tragedy: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 24 Aug. 2020, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/asia-pacific-war-1945#:~:text=A%20conservative%20accounting%20shows%2025,of%20one%20to%201.2%20million. Accessed 21 June 2024.\
“Out of the Ashes of Empire.” University of Cambridge, 12 Feb. 2013, www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/out-of-the-ashes-of-empire. Accessed 22 June 2024.
O’Neill, Aaron. “Population of Japan 1800-2020.” Statista, 2 Feb. 2024, www.statista.com/statistics/1066956/population-japan-historical/. Accessed 19 June 2024.
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“University of Glasgow.” Japanese Prints, www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/mar2008.html. Accessed 21 June 2024.
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