Running head: JAPAN FROM A REFLECTIVE VIEW 1

Japan from a reflective view

By: Daniel Pierre

Florida International University

Intro to East Asia: ASN 3410

Professor Marcela Lopez Bravo

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This paper offers a reflective point of view on the history of Japan with reference to
Japanese movies, historical documents and book, the impressions they had while exploring
around with VR, and their personal experience. From a historical perspective, we will review
briefly the history of Japan, its economy, development, and modernization. We will assess what
makes modern Japan thrive as a world power in today society? What soft or hard power
techniques did its government implement to help Japanese culture modernize.
Brief history: We begin with week 3 video on the history of Japan. Like every culture,
countries and in the history of civilization, it all starts from the roots of farming. Japan developed
with major rice farms. Notable rice farming and rice kingdoms in those eras were the Chikushi,
Hi, Izumo, Koshi, Kibi, Yamato, and Kenu. Technologies such as stones and gold existed as
well. Out of all the founding settlements or kingdoms of Japan, Yamato was the most significant.
It was ruled by emperor Jimmu during the Yamato period (Minear, 1999). The Buddhism was
first introduced by the first emperor. Japan adopted China’s alphabet. Around 1180-1192 the
samurais were introduced to combat criminals. Later they became organized and formed their
own organization call the “Shogun”. Around 1271, The Mongols invaded China and attempted to
invade Japan in 1274-1782 but failed. The Shogun became powerful and overthrew the Emperor.
When the shogun became disorganized, the country fell into territorial civil war for centuries.
What makes modern Japan thrive as a world power in today society: Europe was the
first country to expose Japan to modern technology such as guns, clocks, etc., after the first ships
arrived at Japan’s shores. Following Europe, the Dutch came over to establish trade. Various
educational materials were purchased by Japan. Through scientific books, Japan elevated its
schools, build roads, develop electricity, and other technologies introduced by the Dutch
introduce. Around 1853, the United States sailed naval ships to the country. Through further
exposure to western culture, Japan developed an army, government, and the Meiji constitution
like the U.S. Japan is now fully modernize and begun a quest to conquer land. The first land to
get conquered is Korea, which was wrestled form China. To conquer the northern regions, they
eventually ended up going to war with Russia. Japan would later form their first treaty with
England to combat against Russia and China. Modern China thrived by adopting a soft power
concept. Using a soft power concepts opens the country to investors and seek to expose its
culture and change its image in the international realm. The country’s art, culture, fashion, and
cuisine have long thrived in the international community. Post WWII, the country made
remarkable use of soft power to gain vast and rapid economic growth. Education and
technological advancement are a large part of Japan’s economic growth. Japan is also well
known in the theatrical industries. One of the popular movie sources being reflected is
Okuribito: Departures. In summary, the movie is about an out-of-work character who works as
a Nokanashi, to provide for his family. It covers the rituals surrounding death in Japan as well as
a romantic love relationship of two young men who fell in love with the. The movie portrayed
typical society in modern Japan.
Hard power implementation: Modern Japan use of Hard power mainly focus on
changing its laws to adapt to international laws. One notable Hard power implementation
adopted by the Japanese is “The ban on collective self-defense, which goes hand in hand with
reassessing arms exports, new partnerships, and counterterrorism policies” (Albert 2015). This is
in response to two Japanese citizen who were captured and executed by ISIS. Japan adopted
other hard power measures that will allow it to sale weapon to the international community,
revitalize its military tactics to help support joint ally operations. According to Goto-Jones 2009,
One notable achievement of Hard power made by Japan is its access to nuclear weapons that
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made it stand out as a world power along with being allies with the U.S and other world powers
(p. 125).

Reference

Albert, E., (2015). Japan’s Hard Power Play. Retrieved July 13, 2019 , from
https://www.cfr.org/interview/japans-hard-power-play
Goto-Jones, C. (2009). Modern Japan: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Minear, R. H. (1999). Japanese historians and the national myths, 1600-1945: The Age of the Gods and
Emperor Jimmu. American Historical Association. doi:10.2307/2650384