Even before the 1940s, Japan was on the path of gearing up for total war. Ever since the Meiji restoration, Japan has always sought to prove itself to other Western countries. It developed an industrial machine faster and more efficiently than many countries, especially compare to China and Korea. It sent envoys to America, Britain, and other Western countries to learn about modernization. The result was a country with an American style economy, British parliamentary government, and a German influenced military. In its economy, Japan introduced land and tax reforms to maximize its yield. One example was the land tax reform in 1873. This system allowed tax according the land’s value, not according to how much a farmer can make in a certain year. This allowed standardization in tax and provide a stable income for the government. Railroad tracks were built at an alarming rate. Over 14 private railroad industries were formed in short 15 years. Banks were set up to help with investments. Export products like cotton were industrialized and became staple economies for Japan. Lessons learned from Germany and America taught Japan how to find investors to fund its economic projects. A lot of times monopolies were formed, just like in America. Japan utilized both skilled and cheap labors in its industries. Men were becoming skilled workers like managers, engineers. The cheap labors were left to immigrants from China and Korea, Even women got involved in the work force. They contribute largely to the cotton industry. As Japan’s economy grew stronger, so too its appetite for recognition as a world power. Even though the country was modernizing at an alarming rate, Japanese cultures and customs were not abandoned. In a matter of facts, they become stronger than ever. The emperor became like a godly symbol to the people of Japan. Shinto religion became the identity of Japanese people. The government elevated the religion into a new height. Even though the religion was bureaucratically downgraded, new shrines were built, and Shinto priests were officially recognized. Japan then went a step further by developing its own nationalistic sense. The Japanese people reasoned that to match Western powers, they needed an empire of their own. They started out with defeating China in the first Sino-Japanese War. With this they gained Taiwan, although the spoil of war was still much smaller than they hoped for. Additionally, this brought them the prestige of replacing China as the dominated country in Asia. Then Japan did the unthinkable and defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. It was the only Asian country to ever beat a Western country in an all-out war. Its nationalism fervor was at all-time high. Japan basically gained Southern Manchuria in the place of Russia. Korea became Japan’s colony, even though on paper it said “protectorate.” Korea would become the source of cheap labor for Japan for some time to come. Things got even worse for Korea after WWI, when Western power promised Japan not to involve in Korea. This led to a lot of brutal suppressions on Korean rebellions from the Japanese government. With its power and identity confirmed in the eyes of a lot of Western country, Japan was ready to enter the 20th century.
After WWI, things were relatively well in Japan. Its economy was booming, and social changes were well underway. But as time went by, it slowly descend down the path that Germany took. Due to the fear of communism, Japan introduced hard laws that allowed brutal suppressions of revolts at home. There was even a law forbidding criticizing the emperor. Korean became the scapegoat for all the negativities in Japan. The 1923 earthquake caused a massive onslaught against Korean immigrants. People were jailed, beaten and even lynched for crimes they were accused by the state. This ran very similar to the Jews under Nazi regime in Germany. But the final nail in the coffin that ultimately led Japan down the dark path was the economic crisis in 1903s. In 1929, stock markets in the US crashed, sending a wave of panic across the world. Following the panic, businesses and banks began to fail as people rushed to withdraw and their stocks and their money. International trading was destroyed; Japan became one of its victims. As sales plummeted, so does the employments that went with them. The relationship between employees and employers only got worse as people began to lose jobs and their houses. Private businesses, big and small, continued to fail without any hope of recovering. Farmers were the next to go. They could not sell their products on the market, thus were not able to pay their land rents. The threat of communism became even more frightful due to an ever growing number of unemployed people. Street fights broke out as people grew ever more desperate with poverty and mismanagement. It was the perfect chaotic condition for a military government to take over. Situation became tense in Manchuria as Japan was once again having border disputes with China. The Kwantung army, the official Japanese army in Manchuria, gained power as they began to force the Chinese government to give up more and more territories. In Korea, a military government took over and began to strip Korea of its resources to send to Japan. The struggle in Asia also set the stage for the eventual break up between Japan and America. The league of Nation did not recognize the actions in Manchuria, thus warned Japan about further escalations. As Japan’s military escalations grew more frequently, the army began to take over private industries. Household goods were replaced with airplanes and armaments. Japanese industrial output began to rise sharply as resources were focused on military equipments. Japan, like Germany, was able to mask these military developments due to their economic prosperity. A lot of famous Americans like Babe Ruth actually took a few trips to Japan to get away from the economic depression back home. As the military government strengthened their grip on the government, nationalism and traditionalism became even more emphasized than before since the Meiji restoration. Western culture began to be shunned as tension rise between Japan and the League of Nations. Japan was hand in hand with Germany as both country descended down the path of dictatorship, for Germany was held by the Nazis and Japan was controlled by the military. The Washington Naval treaty had limited Japan’s military capability. Warships built after 1920 will be limited in the amount of weight and the armaments it could carry. Japan’s nationalism fervor in the 1930s ignored the treaty as they began to build super battleships like the Yamamoto, similar to the German’s Bismarck. Both countries were set for an all-out war. It only needed a light spark to set the powder keg that had been built up for a long time.
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