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Line 57: − + − + − + − ===World War II===+ + + + + + − + + − [[Hirohito]] was the '''Showa''' Emperor 1926-89 after serving as regent since 1921.+ − ===Pacific War=== − In 1931 Japan occupied [[Manchuria]] ("Dongbei"), and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. The U.S. undertook large scale military and economic aid to China and demanded Japanese withdrawal. Instead of withdrawing Japan took over French Indochina in 1940-41; the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands cut off oil imports in 1941, which accounted for over 90% of Japan's oil supply. Desultory negotiations with the US led nowhere. Japan attacked U.S. forces at [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, triggering America's entry into [[World War II]]. In a bltzkrieg operation Japan rapidly expanded at sea and land, capturing Singapore and the Philippines in early 1942, and threatening India and Australia. + + + + − + + − The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally.+
add details from japan article
====Imperialism====
====Imperialism====
The phrase "imperial period" refers to Japan competing with European powers and the [[United States]] for colonies and influence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The high point of Japanese prestige was the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-5, in which Japan became the principal power in [[Manchuria]] and consolidated its control of [[Korea]] and over the southern portion of [[Sakhalin]] Island and Taiwan. In [[World War I]] Japan fought over a limited number of German-controlled pacific colonies as part of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, gaining control of [[Qingdao]] (Tsingtao), a German-controlled colony in China, as well as several German-controlled Pacific Islands, the most significant being [[Truk]] lagoon.
The phrase "imperial period" refers to Japan competing with European powers and the [[United States]] for colonies and influence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The high point of Japanese prestige was the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-5, in which Japan became the principal power in [[Manchuria]] and consolidated its control of [[Korea]] and over the southern portion of [[Sakhalin]] Island and Taiwan. In [[World War I]] Japan fought over a limited number of German-controlled pacific colonies as part of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, gaining control of [[Qingdao]] (Tsingtao), a German-controlled colony in China, as well as several German-controlled Pacific Islands, the most significant being [[Truk]] lagoon.
====1930s====
==Economy and empire; war and defeat: 1912-1950==
===World War II===
Japan's success at this great game would ultimately prove its undoing. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. In 1933, Japan resigned from the League of Nations. By 1936, during the reign of Emperor [[Hirohito]], the Japanese Empire adopted the catch-phrase "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". The increasingly powerful Japanese armed forces, similar to Italian [[fascists]], came to dominate Japanese politics, assassinating politicians whom they deemed insufficiently devoted to the Emperor and nation. For the next nine years, the military leadership installed its own members (such as [[Hideki Tojo]], chief Japanese strategist of [[World War II]]) or, occasionally, civilians who were completely identified with their agenda, as prime minister. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937 followed Japan's signing of the "anti-Comintern pact" with Nazi Germany the previous year and was part of a chain of developments culminating in the Japanese attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
[[Hirohito]] was the '''Showa''' Emperor 1926-89 after serving as regent since 1921.
===1930s===
In 1931 Japan occupied [[Manchuria]] ("Dongbei"), setting up the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]]. In 1933, Japan resigned from the League of Nations. By 1936, during the reign of Emperor [[Hirohito]], the Japanese Empire adopted the catch-phrase "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".
In 1937 Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China, seizing most of the coastline and population centers. The U.S. undertook large scale military and economic aid to China and demanded Japanese withdrawal. Instead of withdrawing Japan took over French Indochina in 1940-41; the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands cut off oil imports in 1941, which accounted for over 90% of Japan's oil supply. Desultory negotiations with the US led nowhere. Japan attacked U.S. forces at [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, triggering America's entry into [[World War II]].
The increasingly powerful Japanese armed forces, came to dominate Japanese politics, assassinating politicians whom they deemed insufficiently devoted to the Emperor and nation. For the next nine years, the military leadership installed its own members (such as [[Hideki Tojo]], chief Japanese strategist of [[World War II]]) or, occasionally, civilians who were completely identified with their agenda, as prime minister. In 1937 Japan's joined the "anti-Comintern pact" with Nazi Germany, leading to (exaggerated) American fears of a close relationship. In fact Germany and Japan remained distant until the latter part of the wwar. Thus Germany refused to give Japan blueprints for advanced weapons or synthetic oil.
==Economy and empire; war and defeat: 1912-1950==
===World War II===
In a bltzkrieg operation Japan rapidly expanded at sea and land, capturing Singapore and the Philippines in early 1942, and threatening India and Australia. Meanwhile fighting in China itself largely came to standstill, and Japan remained on neirtral terms with the Soviet Union. The U.S. Navy stopped Japanese expansion at two great naval battles in 1942, the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] and the [[Battle of Midway]]. Japanese overextension resulted in defeat in the [[Guadalcanal Campaign]]. Japanese sea power was destroyed by the U.S. Navy in 1944 at the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]] and the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. The U.S. industrial economy was ten times larger than Japan's, and was manifest in warplanes and warships as two maion thrusts approached Japan, one through the central Pacific and one through the Philippines. Sytematic destruction of Japan's industrial centers began in early 1945 with the [[B-29]] raids. The Emperor refused to surrender until shicked by two atomic bombs and Soviet entry into the war in August 1945.
Total Japanese military fatalities between 1937 and 1945 were 2.1 million; most came in the last year of the war. Starvation or malnutrition-related illness accounted for roughly 80 percent of Japanese military deaths in the Philippines, and 50 percent of military fatalities in China. The aerial bombing of a total of 65 Japanese cities appears to have taken a minimum of 400,000 and possibly closer to 600,000 civlian lives (over 100,000 in Tokyo alone, over 200,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, and 80,000-150,000 civilian deaths in the battle of Okinawa). Civilian death among settlers who died attempting to return to Japan from Manchuria in the winter of 1945 were probably around 100,000.<ref> John Dower, "Lessons from Iwo Jima," ''Perspectives'' (Sept 2007) 45#6 pp 54-56 at [http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2007/0709/index.cfm]</ref>
===U.S. occupation===
===U.S. occupation===
After its defeat in World War II, Japan was occupied by the U.S. until 1951, and recovered from the effects of the war to become an economic power, staunch American ally and a democracy. While Emperor Hirohito was allowed to retain his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives.
After its defeat in World War II, Japan was occupied by the U.S. until 1951, and recovered from the effects of the war to become an economic power, staunch American ally and a democracy. While Emperor Hirohito was allowed to retain his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives.
Japan was stripped of its overseas possessions and retained only the home islands and Okinawa. Manchukuo was dissolved, and Manchuria was returned to China; Japan renounced all claims to Formosa; Korea was occupied and divided by the U.S. and the Soviet Union; and the U.S. became the sole administering authority of the Ryukyu, Bonin, and Volcano Islands. The Soviets rehgained southern Sakhalin and took over the Kurile islands. Japan vehemently rejects Soviet control of the Kuriles, and tension over the issue continues high into the 21st century.
Japan was placed under the nominal international control of the Allies, and in actuality was ruled by one person, through the Supreme Commander, Gen. [[Douglas MacArthur]]. U.S. objectives were to ensure that Japan would become a peaceful nation and to establish democratic self-government supported by the freely expressed will of the people. Political, economic, and social reforms were introduced, such as a freely elected Japanese Diet (legislature) and universal adult suffrage. The country's new constitution took effect in May 1947. The United States and 45 other Allied nations signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan in September 1951 and Japan regained full sovereignty in April 1952. The 1972 reversion of Okinawa completed the U.S. return of control of these islands to Japan.
==Economic miracle: 1950-1990==
==Economic miracle: 1950-1990==
==Economic stagnation: 1990-2008==
==Economic stagnation: 1990-2009==
The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally.
When the worldwide [[Recession of 2008]] hit, it first appeared Japan would hold up better than other industrial countries. However exports of cars and electronics has plunged, leading to a dramatic 12% drop in GDP.
==Further reading==
==Further reading==