20th Century Japan Research Paper

1434 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literature review on the economic development of japan post ww2

When one thinks of Japan, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Advanced technology? Video games? Weird T.V. shows and anime? Before Japan began its transition into technology and advancement, they were in an era of both military action and strong nationalism which still impacts them today. Japan's military power and control over the East Asian region was its strongest feature for several hundred years. This changes dramatically with the 20th Century. By the turn of the century, Japan's strives to modernize and stay relevant to the global economy and system was its most vital aspect. Much of Japan's history is told in the Eras in which the events occurred. The eras that influenced and took part during the 20th Century are the Meiji, …show more content…

They lost all their land holdings and were in a state of destitution. The U.S. Military under the command of Gen. McArthur occupied Japan and put the country under a Marshall Plan. This plan forced Japan to rewrite its Constitution, demilitarize and give in to all U.S. Demands. Not complying would cause swift action from the U.S. “On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies. American occupation forces under General MacArthur, the supreme commander of the Allied powers, ordered Japan's demilitarization and democratization. To Americans, revising the Japanese constitution was the best assurance of democracy. The Japanese favored limited constitutional change preserving the imperial institution” (Moore). The most controversial issue in this new change to the Japanese was the giving up of the right to wage warfare. This change is reflected in Article 9. “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized” (Constitution). The peace that Japan had at first was forced and manufactured. With China being run by Mao and handling its own affairs, Japan was not able to start conflict. The US occupation and the new Constitution lead in by MacArthur were the beginning of a long stretch of peace that continues to this day. After US occupation ends and generations change, the Japanese people start to accept their way of life. It eventually becomes important in much of Japanese

Show More
Related

  • Japanese Culture Dbq

    2205 Words  | 5 Pages

    -Nara’s Buddhist temples were another result of cultural diffusion, Buddhist began in India in 500s B.C.E. about 1,000 years later, it came to Japan from China by way of Korea.

    Read More

  • Saburo Ienaga's Impacts Of The War In The Pacific War

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan’s defeat was seen as a relief to some Japanese citizens and hard to swallow by others. Some individuals were even willing to kill their entire family and commit suicide after learning of Japan’s defeat . Japanese citizens, especially in Manchuria, faced hostility from Russians, Korean, and Americans who came and occupied parts of Japan . The defeat of Japan brought with it humiliation the country had not been prepared for. After World War II, the Imperial government had ended which made way for a new, peaceful era in Japan .

    Read More

  • Atomic Bomb Justified Dbq

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market, mostly pointed at China. To put an end on that the United States put economic sanctions and trade embargoes. We believed that if we cut off their resources and their source of federal income than they would have no choice but to pull back and surrender. But the

    Read More

  • Douglas Macarthur's Occupation of Japan

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    The occupation of Japan was, from start to finish, an American operation. General Douglans MacArthur, sole supreme commander of the Allied Power was in charge. The Americans had insufficient men to make a military government of Japan possible; so t hey decided to act through the existing Japanese government. General Mac Arthur became, except in name, dictator of Japan. He imposed his will on Japan. Demilitarization was speedily carried out, demobilization of the former imperial forces was complet ed by early 1946.Japan was extensively fire bombed during the second world war. The stench of sewer gas, rotting garbage, and the acrid smell of ashes and scorched debris pervaded the air. The Japanese people had to live in the damp, and col d of the concrete buildings, because they were the only ones left. Little remained of the vulnerable wooden frame, tile roof dwelling lived in by most Japanese. When the first signs of winter set in, the occupation forces immediately took over all the s team-heated buildings. The Japanese were out in the cold in the first post war winter fuel was very hard to find, a family was considered lucky if they had a small barely glowing charcoal brazier to huddle around. That next summer in random spots new ho uses were built, each house was standardized at 216 square feet, and required 2400 board feet of material in order to be built. A master plan for a modernistic city had been drafted, but it was cast aside because of the lack of time before the next winte r. The thousands of people who lived in railroad stations and public parks needed housing.All the Japanese heard was democracy from the Americans. All they cared about was food. General MacAruther asked the government to send food, when they refus ed he sent another telegram that said, "Send me food, or send me bullets."American troops were forbidden to eat local food, as to keep from cutting from cutting into the sparse local supply.No food was was brought in expressly for the Japanese durning the first six months after the American presence there. Herbert Hoover, serving as chairman of a special presidential advisory committee, recommended minimum imports to Japan of 870,000 tons of food to be distributed in different urban areas. Fi sh, the source of so much of the protein in the Japanese diet, were no longer available in adequate quantities because the fishing fleet, particularly the large vessels, had been badly decimated by the war and because the U.

    Read More

  • Comparing Britain To Japan

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1900 Britain was in many respects the world’s leading nation, enjoying a large share of world trade, a dominant position in the international money market, and possessing a far flung empire supported by the world’s most powerful navy. Japan was a complete contrast, sharing with Britain only the fact that it too was a nation of Islands lying off the shore of a major continent. Until the 1860s it had possessed a social and economic structure more akin to that of feudal, rather than twentieth century, Europe. By the 1990s, the positions were almost reversed. This paper sets out to examine the contrasting democratic political systems of the two nations and to explore the social and democratic consequences of the changes that have occurred.

    Read More

  • The Decision To Drop The Atomic Bomb

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Japan has moved on since then. They now have become one of the world's wealthiest countries and one of the United States' most powerful allies. Although Japan was hurting for a while, they overcame their struggles which is testament to how strong the people of Japan are, just ask Tamiko Tamonaga and Sachie Tashima. Word Count: 888

    Read More

  • Western Influence on Japan

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    as well.8 The Meiji period was an important part of Japan's changing western ways. After World War II, Japan changed forever. With the Atomic bomb physically destroying their cities, and their defeat destroying their. imperialistic mentality, Japan was deeply wounded. Japan lost the respect of the world during the war and few people felt sorry for them....

    Read More

  • Japanese Anime Culture

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the history, the japan culture has much affected by the Chinese culture. Until the Heian period (894), japan stop to send the people to china learning culture, also in Edo period (1633) locked their country and not allow the people get in, that time, japan have develop their own Japanese style culture. After the Meiji Restoration, japan open their country again, in this time, Japan start to get much information of the world, westernization in a fast way. But the traditional culture must getting change because the whole country are live under the western culture, not just in the citizen mind, the city building style also change to western, that affect to the poor people have a big change of their life. The America sport and movie affect the people who live in Japan to change their interest. In 1920, because of world war, the armies in Japan were disabling to promote the western culture in that time. After the surrender in World War II, America armies were promoting the democratization and the America culture. The economic in Japan were growing in a high speed, the life style also getting a big change, much of the traditional culture were losing at this moment. In today, Japan culture were start to promote their own culture to the world in this 20 years, anime and electronic games were big affect in every country. From now on, japan culture was much affected by the western culture, but there law protected own traditional culture, much of the people wear the Kimono (traditional Japanese garment) on the street in Japan.

    Read More

  • The Golden Age: The Golden Age Of Japanese Cinema

    1257 Words  | 3 Pages

    Following the unprecedented destruction of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the surrender of the Empire of Japan to Allied forces in September, 1945, the Japanese government came under control of Allied Occupation Forces from 1945-52, with General Douglas MacArthur serving as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP). Under MacArthur’s office, also known as SCAP, Japan was designated as, “the bulwark of Asia’s capitalism and democracy” (Thompson & Bordwell, 2009, p. 462), making the nation ripe for political and economic

    Read More

  • Japan And China In The 21st Century Essay

    1922 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 21st Century has witnessed Asia’s rapid ascent to economic prosperity. As economic gravity shifts from the Western world to the Asian region, the “tyranny of distance [between states, will be] … replaced by the prospects of proximity” in transnational economic, scientific, political, technological, and social develop relationships (Australian Government, 1). Japan and China are the region’s key business exchange partners. Therefore these countries are under obligation to steer the region through the Asian Century by committing to these relationships and as a result create business networks, boost economic performance, and consequently necessitate the adjustment of business processes and resources in order to accommodate each country’s employment relations model (Wiley, Wilkinson, & Young, 2005). Cognizant of the fact that neither Japan nor China has given up on its external (protectionism or parity) adjustment tools, it is posited that they can nonetheless coexist since both “produce different things and in different ways” and as such avoid the cited perilous US and Mexico competition; but due to globalization, the operating environment portends a convergence or divergence of Industrial Relation (ER) strategies between China and Japan (Lipietz, 1997; Zhu & Warner, 2004).

    Read More

  • Japanese Business Culture

    2049 Words  | 5 Pages

    Japan has solidified itself as a global economic power and concentrated contributor to the automotive, advanced technology, and textile industries. The greatest accomplishment of any country is the heritage of culture it produces and passes down through generations. Japan grew as an economic force beginning in the 1960s, and has exiliterated a high standard of living since that time. Japan is a parliamentary democracy modeled after the British system. It is comprised of two legislative chambers of elected representatives, a parliament.

    Read More

  • Japan and Globalization

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Japan, home of some of the largest multinational technology corporations in the world, has been influenced in myriad ways through globalization. The effects of globalization on Japan provide valuable insights into the transformation of Japanese society. Global processes have increased wages and homelessness, strengthened environmental management programs, shifted governance towards regionalism, and threatened linguistic diversity in Japan.

    Read More

  • The Manchurian Crisis

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.

    Read More

  • Japan and Japanese Culture

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan is one of the greatest countries in the world and it has offered many things as well. The Japanese have given the world a better understanding of their culture and history along with a good look at the future from a technological standpoint. They have developed and created the future for their country that has allowed them to be prosperous and powerful. They once isolated themselves from the rest of the world, but now they share their knowledge with other countries in order to create a better understanding of the world. Through their trade and creative thinking they have become one of the world’s largest and powerful countries and have allowed their economy to flourish and prosper.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Orientalism

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan is a fascinating multifaceted culture, on one hand it is filled with many traditions dating back thousands of years and yet is a society with continually changing fads,

    Read More

More about 20th Century Japan Research Paper

Open Document