Chapter 9

Brief Japanese History Lesson•Japan had a highly developed civilization by time of Western contact during Age of Exploration•1543: Portuguese traders entered Japan with Christian missionaries – they were welcomed•They brought new ideas and technology that strengthened Japan’s wealthier shoguns (feudal lords)

Tokugawa Shogunate

• Shoguns unified Japan under military bureaucracy

• Shoguns monopolized contact with European outsiders and didn’t allow any Japanese to leave (under penalty of death)

• 1639: Japanese government closed its doors• Isolation begins in Tokugawa Shogunate (clan of

hereditary military dictators)

End of Isolationism• 1853: small fleet of US

naval vessels entered Japan (during US imperialism)

• U.S. forces trade agreement signatures to open Japan to international trade and political relations

• Reformers (Meiji) seized control of Japanese government

1868-1912: Meiji Restoration Era

•Hundreds of Japanese sent to west (USA/Europe) to study•Recruited experts from Western nations to teach everything•Japan became more democratic•Equality between all men•New school system•Rapid BUT selective industrialization

1895-1945 Age of Imperialism•Japan lacks resources (oil/iron)•Western imperialism example followed – take over weaker nations to exploit for resources•Created vast colonial empire by occupying Korea, Taiwan, Eastern China, Manchuria, Indonesia, SE Asia (after WWI gained Germany’s Pacific holdings)•Many areas today still harbor resentment about brutality suffered at Japanese hands•Military Dictatorship - glorification of military and readiness for war became part of culture.

Japan in World War II•Aligned with Axis powers of Nazi Germany & Italy in 1936•Declared war on China and US cut off exports as a result•Sun. Dec. 7, 1941 – 90 minute “surprise” attack of US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (territory at the time) to weaken US•Sank 12 ships, demolished hundreds of planes, killing 2,500 & wounding 1,200 Americans•US had been isolated until that point – declared war on Japan next day and Germany/Italy three days later•Beginning of long/costly Pacific War

Pearl Harbor

During the War• American public got fully behind war – factories,

rationing, “Remember Pearl Harbor!”

• 1942 – 120,000 Japanese (many US citizens) placed in internment camps in US – fear of spies and saboteurs (dismantled in 1944)

• Japan had many victories in Pacific but US broke secret codes & tide turned

• June 1942 in Battle of Midway – US crippled Japanese navy

• Fighting continued for 3 more years until 1945

To End the War

• April 1945: US President Roosevelt died, President Truman took over

• Decided to drop the bombs developed in secret

• Aug. 6 – “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima

• Aug. 9 – “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki

• Aug. 15 – Japan surrendered after 200,000 died from blast, fires, radiation

• Every major city destroyed by US (except Kyoto for historical/architectural significance)

Atomic bombs dropped on Japan

1945-1952 U.S. Occupies Japan1.Military leaders removed from power2.Emperor stripped of political power

& reduced to symbolic status3.Armed forces disbanded4.Forbidden to rebuild military5.Introduced democratic constitution

with economic reforms6.Antiques from this time period are

stamped “Made in Occupied Japan”

1960s: RAPID Economic Success - How?

1. Highly educated workforce

2. + Workplace attitude

3. Relative location

4. Gov’t. planning – selective industries like auto (Toyota), electronics (Sony)

Japan Today• Predicted to surpass US economy in

2010…didn’t happen

• GDP was 2nd but surpassed by China and India

• Since 1980s, Japan’s economy has been declining

• Deflation – a decrease in the prices of goods and services

• Fewer jobs and lower salaries, Japanese are saving rather than spending

• Many college grads can’t find jobs

• Japan has oldest population, shrinking population, shrinking workforce so lower productivity & weaker demand over time

• Immigration could help but Japan doesn’t allow many into country

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The Manhattan Project