Revision Notes - Changes in Japan

New Century World History
Revision notes
3 Modernisation and Transformation of Japan and
Southeast Asia
3.1 Changes in Japan
I Modernisation of Japan in early 20th century
A Overview of Japan’s political, diplomatic, social, economic and cultural
conditions in the early 20th century
— Before the mid-19th century, Japan was a closed, agrarian country. Its people were under
the influence of Confucianism and Shintoism.
— The Emperor was only the head of state in name. In reality, the Tokugawa Shogunate
practised authoritative rule.
— In 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate was overthrown. Emperor Meiji resumed control of
the country. He promulgated the Charter Oath which set out three goals, namely
‘Civilisation and Enlightenment’, ‘Promotion of Industry’ and ‘Rich Country, Strong
Military’. Then, Japan began to carry out reforms in political, military, social, economic
and cultural aspects. It was called the Meiji Modernisation.
— Although Japan still preserved many traditions, it was the most modernized country in
Asia in the early 20th century as a whole.
i. Political conditions
1 A constitutional monarchy infused with Japanese tradition
— Japan copied the political system of the Western countries by gradually setting up its
constitutional monarchy. A cabinet and the Diet were set up, and elections were held.
— The Emperor had to ‘exercise legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet’.
— However, the Meiji Constitution modelled after the Prussian Constitution. It stressed that
the Emperors reigned supreme. Therefore, the Japanese political system was only a
democracy in name. Japanese autocratic tradition still remained in the political system
until 1945. Its democratisation still lagged behind the West.
— The Emperor and the military retained huge power; in contrast, the power of the Diet
was constrained. This sowed the seeds of the rise of militarism in the future.
1.1 Emperor
— By tradition, the Emperor was the supreme leader in Japan with a high status. In
Shintoism, the Emperor was regarded as the descendant of god.
— The Meiji Constitution of 1889 stated that the Emperor was ‘sacred and inviolable’. It
gave him the power to appoint or depose officials, to control the Diet and to command
the military, etc. It also made the Prime Minister and all Cabinet members answerable to
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him. He could legislate when the Diet was not in session, even dissolve the Diet at his
will.
1.2 Diet
— The Diet practised bicameralism, a Western democratic system of legislature.The Diet
included the House of Peers and the House of Representatives.
— Members of the House of Peers were nobles appointed by the Emperor. They were not
elected by the public.
— Members of the House of Representatives were elected by a small number of tax payers.
➢ The voter eligibility was limited to men over the age of 25 who paid no less than
fifteen yen in annual taxes. In 1900, only 1% of the population were eligible voters.
➢ The right to vote had only been extended to all men over the age of 25 after the
passage of the General Election Law in 1925.
— The House of Peers could veto the bills passed by the House of Representatives.
— Although the Diet could veto budget proposals brought forward by the Cabinet, the
government could implement the budget of the previous year. Therefore, the Diet could
hardly restrict the Cabinet.
— As a whole, the authority of the Diet was limited, and it had no decisionmaking power.
The public’s opinion was not expressed effectively.
1.3 Genro and Privy Council
— As the advisors to the Emperor, both were superior to the Cabinet and the Diet.
— Members of the genro were mostly oligarchs. In 1868, they assisted the Emperor to
resume control of the country. Many of them served as Prime Minister.
— Entering into the 20th century, they receded to the back scene. However, being the genro,
they still kept a firm grip on the real political power. They formed an oligarchy and had a
huge influence over the Emperor.
— Those of the Privy Council were members of the Imperial House, nobles and Cabinet
members appointed by the Emperor.
— The Privy Council was the most powerful advisory institution in Japan that advised on
the matters of constitutional interpretation and amendments as well as diplomatic affairs.
1.4 Prime Minister and Cabinet
— The Prime Minister and the members of the Cabinet were appointed by the Emperor.
They were only accountable to the Emperor.
— In the Diet, the House of Representatives which was elected by the public often called
for establishing the party cabinet. As a result, they had clashes with the genro who held
the real political power.
1.5 Military
— The Meiji Constitution followed the tradition of respecting the status of soldiers.
— The military was an independent government department that was not controlled by the
Prime Minister or the Diet. The Ministers of Army and Navy even had the right of direct

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access to the Emperor.

— Only serving army and navy generals could be appointed as the Ministers of Army and
Navy during the period 1900-1913. Since a cabinet could not be formed without their
participation, the military could control the decisions made by the Cabinet.
— In the early 20th century, some retired soldiers even served as Prime Minister. This
greatly increased the influence of the military in Japanese politics, which paved the way
for the rise of militarism in the future.
2 Rise of political parties
— In the early 20th century, the government was firmly controlled by the Meiji oligarchs.
They held important positions, such as Prime Ministers, Cabinet members, Ministers of
the Army and Navy as well as members of the Privy Council.
— Although they were rather old in the 1910s, they still controlled Japanese politics behind
the scene.
— The rapid industrial and commercial development in Japan led to the rise of industrialists
and professionals. More people were able to meet the financial requirements for voting.
— The Japanese news industry flourished. Major newspapers, advocated Western
democratic beliefs. This created an atmosphere of freedom of speech in the society.
— Influenced by the Western beliefs of democracy and liberty, the middle class founded
their own political parties and demanded a share of political power.
— Following the Allied Powers’ defeat of the Central Powers in the First World War (WWI),
many Japanese trusted in the democratic government rather than the autocratic regime.
They hoped to learn from the Western countries and to practise party politics.
2.1 Constitution Protection Movement
— From 1901, genro Saionji Kinmochi and Katsura Taro took turn to serve as Prime
Minister. People from all sectors of the society were very tired of the political
domination of the Meiji oligarchs.
— In December 1912, the then-Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi advocated for cutting
military expenses. As a result, he clashed with the army and was forced to step down.
His position was taken over by Katsura Taro, who was once a general.
— The democrats in Japan could nolonger bear this. In early 1913, they started the
Constitution Protection Movement to show their discontent with autocratic rule.
— On the one hand, they initiated the masses to protest. On the other hand, they joined
hands with the parties in the House of Representatives, such as the Constitutional
Associationof Political Friendship and the Constitutional Nationalist Party.
— They put forward a vote of no confidence against Katsura Taro and succeeded in forcing
him to resign. His Cabinet only lasted for 53 days.
2.2 Beginning of party politics
— After Katsura Taro stepped down, Yamamoto Gonnohyoe succeeded as Prime Minister.
He allowed those who were not active generals to hold the positions of the Ministers of

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the Army and Navy.

— In 1918, Hara Kei from the Constitutional Association of Political Friendship became the
first commoner to be appointed as Prime Minister of Japan. Except the Ministers of Army
and Navy as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, all posts in his Cabinet were filled by
party members. The Cabinet became answerable to the Diet.
— The establishment of party cabinet had marked the end of oligarchy since the
promulgation of the Meiji Constitution. From 1918-1932, Japan was in an era of party
politics.
— The Cabinet was formed by the majority party in the House of Representatives. Members
of the Constitutional Association of Political Friendship and the Constitutional
Democratic Party often served as Prime Minister.
— Party politics contained the power of the military that aimed at building dictatorship. In
1925, the government led by Kato Komei from Constitutional Association decided to cut
back 20% army personnel, reduced naval expenditures and built fewer new warships.
— The government passed the General Election Law in 1925. All men over the age of 25
could vote, accounting for 20% of the total population in Japan.
— Overall, party politics could not change the autocratic tradition and shake the power of
the military. However, it showed that the degree of political modernisation had increased.
ii. Diplomatic conditions

— After the Meiji Modernisation, Japan in the early 20th century had become a much
modernised country. Its international status rose gradually. In 1900, Japan had retrieved
all extraterritoriality.
— To further solve the problem of inadequate resources in the country and build a colonial
empire, Japan engaged in both aggressive and non-aggressive diplomatic activities in the
early 20th century. It successfully gained recognition from the Western powers.
1 Aggressive diplomacy: Foreign wars in the early 20th century
1.1 Eight-Power Expedition (1900-1901)
— During the period 1894-1895, Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War.
— Taking the murder of its ambassador as an excuse, Japan took part in the Eight-Power
Expedition (1900-1901). Japan was the only Asian country in the Eight-Power Alliance.
The number of soldiers from Japan was also the greatest. After the military coalition had
won the War, they signed the Boxer Protocol with China.
— Thereafter, Japan was regarded as a great power in Asia. This laid afoundation for the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902.
1.2 Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
Background and course
— After the Eight-Power Expedition, Russia did not withdraw troops from China. Around
100,000 soliders still stationed in Northeast China.

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— In 1903, Japan proposed to Russia for reciprocal recognition of its rights in Korea and
Northeast China. However, they failed to reach an agreement. Since Britain had already
become Japan’s ally, Japan was determined to declare war on Russia. This prompted the
outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
— In 1905, Japan defeated Russia. Under the mediation of the US, Japan and Russia signed
the Treaty of Portsmouth.
— Russia had to transfer to Japan its rights of South Manchuria Railway and the economic
benefits from that region. Russia had to lease the Liaodong Peninsula and ceded the
southern part of Sakhalin to Japan. It also recognised Japan’s political, economic and
military rights in Korea.
Impact
— The Russo-Japanese War marked the defeat of a European power by an Asian country for
the first time in modern history. This reflected that Japan had already become a world
power through its modernisation attempts.
— Later, Korea and Northeast China further became Japanese spheres of influence.
— In 1908, the US Secretary of State Elihu Root and the Japanese ambassador to the US
Takahira Kogoro signed the Root-Takahira Agreement. Both sides agreed to maintain the
status quo in the Pacific region. The US also recognised Japan’s special status in Korea.
— In 1910, Korea officially became a Japanese colony. In 1911, Japan even succeeded in
abolishing all unequal treaties and regained its tariff autonomy. Its international status
was drastically raised.
— Economically, Japan seized the mining rights in Northeast China. This helped Japan
develop the Second Industrial Revolution that centred on heavy industries, such as steel
and mechanicals.
— However, Japan did not get any monetary compensation from Russia. This together with a
huge military expenditure put pressure on Japan’s economy. Therefore, Japan hoped to
gain the foreign marketsthrough military expansion in order to support its economic
development.
— The victory also raised the national consciousness and the status of soldiers in Japan,
feeding its ambition of foreign invasion. This sowed the seeds of the rise of militarism.
— The Guandong Army at South Manchuria Railway frequently provoked China. In 1931, it
staged the Mukden Incident, which was the prelude of a fullscaleinvasion of China.
1.3 WWI (1914-1918)
— In 1914, WWI broke out. Japan soon declared war on Germany and sent troops to occupy
Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong, a German concession in China.
— According to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Japan would declare war on a country that
invaded the British territories in Asia. However, Germany did not invade any of the
British territories in Asia.
— Since the Western powers were preoccupied with European warfare and China was

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politically unstable, Japan took advantage of this situation to expand its influence in
China.
Proposal of the Twenty-One Demands (1915)
— In 1915, Japan presented the Twenty-One Demands to the Chinese government. It
demanded China to recognise the transfer of German rights in Shandong to Japan. It even
attempted to control China’s internal affairs.
— Japan’s demands ignited protests from Britain and the US. In response, Japan revised
some of its demands. In the end, the other powers did not intervene. Yuan Shikai accepted
most of Japan’s terms on behalf of China, which extended Japan’s sphere of influence in
China
— To ensure that Japan would continue to side with the Allied Powers, Britain, France, the
US and Russia even signed secret treaties with Japan and recognised Japan’s claims in
China.
Intervention in Russia (1918)
— In 1917, a revolution broke out in Russia. In 1918, Japan sent troops to Siberia and
occupied the northern part of Sakhalin.
— Under the pressure of the Western powers, Japan finally withdrew its troops from Russia
in 1922.
1.4 Conflicts between Japan and China (1928)
— In 1927, former general Tanaka Giichi became Prime Minister and incited China
frequently.
— In 1928, Japan used the cutting off of the Qingdao-Jinan Railway by the Northern
Expedition Army and the protection of Japanese residents in Shandong as excuses and
sent troops to occupy Jinan. Nearly 4,000 Chinese were killed. It was later known as the
Jinan Incident.
— That year, warlord Zhang Zuolin, who was based in Northeast China, defied orders from
Japan. The Guandong Army was infuriated and planned the Huanggutun Incident.
➢ While Zhang Zuolin was going back from Beijing to Shenyang, the Guandong Army
set an explosion on his train at Huanggutun and killed him.
➢ His son Zhang Xueliang took over and submitted himself to the Nanjing
government.
— Japan could not take advantage of the military conflicts and occupy Northeast China.
2 Concerted diplomacy: Non-aggressive diplomatic activities and policies in the early 20th
century
2.1 Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902)
— Although Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War, Japan was forced to return the
Liaodong Peninsula to China under the intervention of Russia, Germany and France.
— Later, Russia was eager to expand into Northeast China, threatening Japan’s privileges in
Korea. Confronted with Russia’s ambitions, Japan hoped to check Russia by forming

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alliances with the Western powers.

— Britain felt that Russia threatened its interests in the Far East. Britain was the only
European power that had not entered into alliances and had maintained a policy of
‘splendid isolation’. Therefore, it urgently needed an ally in the Far East.
— Through the previous wars against China, Japan displayed its military strength. Its
attitude towards Russia was similar to Britain. This propelled Britain to form an alliance
with Japan.
— In 1902, Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance with Britain. Both sides agreed to
maintain independence of China and Korea. They mutually recognised Britain’s interests
in China and Japan’s interests in China and Korea.
— When either side was in war with more than one country for the sake of protecting its
interests, the other side should step in. This was the first treaty signed with a Western
country on an equal basis in the history of modern Japan. It greatly raised Japan’s
international status.
— The Anglo-Japanese Alliance also urged Japan to expand its naval forces to contain
Russia. Japan even later launched the Russo-Japanese War.
2.2 Paris Peace Conference (1919)
— After the end of WWI, Japan attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as one of the
victorious powers. It proposed to take over the German rights in Shandong and in the
North Pacific.
— During WWI, Japan had signed secret treaties with Britain, France, the US and Russia to
ensure that its rights gained during the War would not be affected. Therefore, the Western
powers ignored the protests from China and insisted on transferring the rights in
Shandong to Japan.
— Japan could also take over the former German Pacific Islands in the name of the League
of Nations mandate.
— In the conference, Japan proposed that the League of Nations should include racial
equality as one of its basic principles. However, this proposal was rejected by the
Western powers.
— Nonetheless, Japan became a permanent member of the Council together with Britain,
France and Italy when the League of Nations was formed in 1920. Since then, Japan had
become a world power.
2.3 Washington Conference (1921-1922)
Background
— After WWI, Japan rose to be a world power in the eyes of the Western powers. Among
them, the US was increasingly suspicious of Japan. The Twenty-One Demands even
disregarded the US’s Open Door Policy.
— Besides, Japan sought to expand into the Pacific region and increased its naval power.
The US feared that if the Anglo-Japanese Alliance continued, Britain would support

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Japan in case of an American-Japanese war. This greatly disfavoured the US.

— As for Japan, the party government headed by Hara Kei hoped to decrease government
expenditures and reduce its military strength. Therefore, it was willing to solve
conflicting interests with Western countries through conferences.
— Besides, the military conflicts among warlords made China politically unstable. The
sales of Japanese goods in China also fell sharply due to the anti-Japanese movements.
To protect its interests, the Japanese government hoped to work with the Western powers.
Course
— In November 1921, the US called for the Washington Conference. Representatives from
the US, Britain, France, China, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal
gathered in Washington, the capital of the US.
— In the threemonth conference, they discussed the issue of limiting the naval expansion and
the question of the Far East in the Pacific Ocean.
— Finally, three treaties were signed, namely the Four-Power Treaty, the Five-Power Treaty
and the Nine-Power Treaty.
— The treaties limited the tonnage of capital ships of the participating countries and affirmed
the Open Door Policy. It safeguarded equal trading opportunities in China among the
countries.
Impact
— The Washington Conference set the ratio of the tonnage of capital ships to be 5:5:3
among Britain, the US and Japan. The expansion of the Japanese navy was greatly
restricted.
— Although Japan still enjoyed long-term rights over the main railways, it had to return its
rights in Shandong to China.
— Besides, Japan retreated from Siberia and established diplomatic relations with the
USSR in 1925. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was terminated.
— The Washington Conference recognised Japan’s status as a naval power in the world and
its interests in the Pacific region. It helped ease the tension between the US and Japan.
— However, it aroused great resentment in Japan. Japanese militarists saw these events as
Western discrimination against Japan. They believed thatthey had to overthrow the
democratic government and adopted an aggressiveforeign policy, prompting Japan to
initiate the Mukden Incident and the January 28 Incident.
2.4 Adjusting foreign policies towards China
— Since the Washington Conference, Japan had become more isolated diplomatically. This
prompted Japan to adjust its policies towards China.
— 1924-1927, Shidehara Kijuro served as Minister for Foreign Affairs and adopted a
friendly attitude towards China.
— In 1925, China convened the Special Conference on the Chinese Customs Tariff in
Beijing. Japan was the first country supporting the Chinese government to gain back its

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tariff autonomy.
— Through this, Japan hoped to ease the anti-Japanese feelings of the Chinese that had
accumulated since the May Fourth Movement.
— It also aimed to maintain a long-term trade relation with China. By then, Japan could
replace territorial aggression with economic aggression, which consolidated and
promoted its interests in China.
— From 1926, the Nationalist government launched the Northern Expedition to wipe out
warlords and unify China. Japan adopted a policy of non-intervention towards this.
— In 1927, Shidehara Kijuro stated that Japan would respect China's sovereignty and
territorial integrity, and avoid intervening in its internal affairs.
2.5 Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
— In 1927, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand hoped to establish an agreement with
the US to outlaw war. The US Secretary of State Frank Kellogg invited other countries to
participate. This led to the signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928. 65 nations signed
the pact.
— Japan continued to extend its influence in China. It was strongly criticised in the world.
The Japanese government believed that it was necessary to work with the Western
countries in order to ease the tension. Therefore, Japan became the first group of nations
signing the pact.
— Although the pact asked the signatories to give up wars as a diplomatic strategy, it did
not limit the war of self-defence. It did not clearly define justified wars and military acts
or specify how the aggressors would be punished. Therefore, Japan believed that the pact
would not prevent Japan from maintaining its interests in China.
— In reality, when Japan staged the Mukden Incident in 1931, signatories of the pact did
not take any effective move to halt Japan’s invasion against China.
2.6 London Naval Conference (1930)
— In 1930, countries including Japan, the US and Britain convened the London Naval
Conference. It mainly discussed the ratio of the tonnage of auxiliary ships among the
participating countries.
➢ After rounds of negotiations, the Conference ruled that the overall ratio of the
Japanese auxiliary ships could reach 69.75% to those of Britain and the US.
➢ The ratio of light cruisers among the US, Britain and Japan was set to be 10:10:7.
➢ The ratio of heavy cruisers was 10:10:6.
➢ The three countries would have the same number of submarines.
➢ In addition, the ban on building capital ships would extend to 1936.
— Since Japanese Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi had hoped to reduce military
expenditures, Japan accepted the agreement at the London Naval Conference.
— However, some extremists in the navy were resentful because the conference failed to
increase Japan’s ratio of heavy cruisers.

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— The ‘Fleet Faction’ that went against the London Naval Treaty was gradually formed.
Later, it took control over the navy.
iii. Economic conditions

1 Rapid industrialisation
— At first, the textile industry started off the industrialisation in Japan. Moreover, the
government put efforts in bringing in foreign machinery and developing heavy industries.
— In the early 20th century, Japan took control of Korea, Northeast China, Taiwan, Fujian,
etc., which provided consumer markets for Japan. Therefore, Japan’s light industries were
able to thrive.
— In addition, the controlled territories had a large number of iron ores and coal mines.
They greatly assisted the development of heavy industry, including steel and machinery.
Enterprises such as Kobe Steel and Kawasaki Steel were established one after another.
— Supported by the government, the number of industrial enterprises in Japan continued to
rise. When the Meiji Modernisation began in 1868, Japan only had about 400 industrial
enterprises, most of which were handicraft workshops. In 1903, there were more than
8,000 enterprises, of which about 3,700 used machinery in their production. Thus, Japan’s
heavy industry developed faster than other Asian countries in the early 20th century.
— The outbreak of WWI provided an opportunity for Japan to expand its industries. Due to
inadequate warships in the Western countries, the shipbuilding industry in Japan was
greatly stimulated. The total tonnage of vessels was over 2.8 million tons. Hence, Japan
was the third biggest shipping country, only after Britain and the US.
— During the period 1913-1923, the steel production in Japan rose by seven times and
electricity by 2.8 times. In 1919, the total amount of Japanese industrial production
amounted to 6.7 billion yen. The total amount of agricultural production reached 4.1
billion yen. These showed that Japan had become a big industrial power.
— However, the rapid industrialisation exacerbated the shortage of natural resources in
Japan, and this prompted Japan to invade other Asian countries in the 1930s.
2 Maintaining agricultural development
— To support the ever-growing population, the agricultural output in Japan continued to rise
before 1920. Exports of tea and silk brought huge foreign earnings to Japan. Agriculture
became a major source of tax revenues to support the modernisation efforts in Japan.
— In 1900, many Japanese peasants went to work in Hawaii and California in the US, and
sent money back to their families who lived in the villages.
3 Economic domination of zaibatsu
— Since the late 19th century, Japan had borrowed large sums from foreign countries for the
developmemt of industrial modernisation. This led to worsening fiscal deficits. As a
result, the Japanese government started to dispose of nonmilitary state-owned enterprises.
They were purchased by zaibatsu (family-owned enterprise groups) at low prices.

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— Under the protection and support of the government, zaibatsu expanded their businesses,
investing their money in capital-intensive industries, such as finance, trade, transport and
mining. From the early 20th century, the Japanese economy had been controlled by
zaibatsu.
— From 1913-1914, 75% of capital in Japanese industry and commerce came from zaibatsu;
the five biggest banks in Japan, which held 22.5% of Japan’s deposits, were all controlled
by zaibatsu.
— Rich in capital and diversified in their businesses, these zaibatsu helped accelerate the
economic modernisation in Japan. However, since these zaibatsu had firmly dominated
different industries, they hindered the development of a free economy in Japan.
— Unable to compete with big enterprises, small-scale factories were either wiped out or
merged with other factories.
— Since zaibatsu were economically influential, the Japanese government in different
periods had always wanted to win their support. As a result, zaibatsu held great influence
over the politics of Japan.
4 Start of the financial and banking industry
— Making use of the indemnity from the Sino-Japanese War, the Meiji government
converted the monetary system to the gold standard system in 1897.
— The exchange rate of the Japanese yen to the US dollar was fixed at 2:1. This enabled the
Japanese exchange rate system to link up to that of the Western countries. The
government could issue foreign debts more easily.
— By the early 20th century, the banking system in Japan was generally established.
— Being the central bank, the Bank of Japan was the only note-issuing bank.
— Apart from commercial banks, Japan also established Kangyo Bank, Noko Bank, etc. to
provide capital for enterprises.
— In addition, stock exchanges were set up in Tokyo and Osaka. Many textile companies
and food companies went public.
5 Unstable foreign trade
— In the early 20th century, the foreign trade of Japan was deeply affected by wars.
— After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan seized Russia’s railway construction and mining
rights in Northeast China.
— However, its expansion caused a boycott of Japanese goods among the Chinese people.
Therefore, Japan’s foreign trade did not prosper despite its military victory.
— The Japanese economy started to prosper after the outbreak of WWI.
➢ While the Western powers were at war, Japan dominated the Chinese market and
sold a large amount of war necessities to the Western powers.
➢ Between 1914 and 1918, Japan’s total export volume increased by three times, out
of which the sales of Japanese cotton overseas increased by 185%.
➢ This resulted in a trade surplus for Japan.

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— When WWI was over, Japan could no longer dominate the Asian markets.
— The wartime economic boom also increased production costs, which was unfavourable to
the exports of Japan.
— Its economy slid into a recession in the 1920s. Many banks became bankrupt.
— Due to the Great Depression of 1929, Japan’s total exports had decreased by 50% from
1929-1931. In addition, about 3 million people lost their jobs.
6 Rapid development in transportation
— Transportation in Japan was developed rapidly. The railway network continued to extend.
By 1901, the total length of the track reached 4,000 kilometres.
— Tokyo was even the first Asian city to construct its subway. In 1927, the railway
connecting Asakusa and Ueno came into operation. Later, it further extended to districts
such as Kanda and Ginza.
— Regarding shipping, the Japanese ships could sail to regions such as China, Korea, India,
and the Pacific Ocean in 1903. The total number of ships exceeded 1,000 and the t otal
tonnage was 660,000.
— Japan Mail Shipping Line and Osaka Shosen Kaisha became worldrenowned shipping
companies. It even operated trade routes to New York in 1916.
iv. Social conditions

1 A society with limited freedom
— Since Japan had wanted to catch up with the Western world, the Meiji Constitution gave
Japanese people a higher degree of freedom compared with that of other Asian countries,
including the freedom of speech, assembly, the press, religion, etc.
— In the early 20th century, different kinds of newspapers and magazines were published.
— Labour movements became more frequent. Labour organisations, such as the Friendly
Society and the Japan Federation of Labour, were established one after another. Workers
went on strike to bargain for better pay and treatments.
— Besides, in the early 20th century, only the wealthier Japanese men had the right to vote.
By 1925, all Japanese men had the right to vote. Among all Asian countries, only people
in the Philippines and Japan could enjoy voting rights.
— However, the freedom of Japanese people was rather limited. Since the Meiji Constitution
had basically been a set of laws that protected the rights of the Emperor, any personal
freedom that undermined these rights would be restricted.
— In 1925, the government even passed the Peace Preservation Law to suppress any ideas
that threatened the reign of the Emperor. Communism was attacked in particular because
it discouraged the belief in gods.
— In 1925, the Japanese government indicted 38 students from the Kyoto Imperial
University for promoting communism according to that law.
— In conclusion, the degree of freedom enjoyed by the public in Japan was lower than that

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in the Western democratic countries during the early 20th century.

2 Highest education standard in Asia
— Japan carried out education reforms in the early Meiji period and required all children to
go to school. In 1907, the government further required a minimum of six years of
education for children of both sexes. The national enrolment rate once reached 97%.
— The government promoted tertiary education. In 1918, it promulgated the University Law
and acknowledged the co-existence of public and private universities. By 1922, Japan had
established six national imperial universities, 20 private universities, 1,600 secondary
schools and 25,600 primary schools.
— By the early 20th century, Japan had already built up an educational system with primary
schools, secondary schools and universities. At that time, Japan had the highest education
standard in Asia.
3 Rapid urbanisation and rural-urban disparity
— Japan was industrialised in the early 20th century. Many peasants gave up farming and
moved to cities for job opportunities, resulting in rapid urbanisation. By 1908, Japan had
ten cities with over 100,000 population. In 1912, the population in Tokyo reached 2.5
million, out of which 20% were urban dwellers.
— In the cities, people were more likely to be exposed to Western culture. People became
more westernised and openminded. In 1914, Mitsukoshi Department Store went into
business. It brought in the display method from Paris and installed advanced facilities,
such as escalators. This marked the birth of modern department stores.
— In addition, the free and welcoming atmosphere gave rise to the ideas of democracy and
liberty.
— In contrast, life in villages was very different.
— Although rural children received six years of compulsory education, most of them would
not continue their studies. Therefore, they had fewer opportunities to learn Western
cultures and ideas.
— Besides, villages were less modernised than cities. Peasants kept their simple and
traditional lifestyle and remained very obedient to the government. Villages therefore
became the hotbed of militarism in the future.
4 Difficult life and social unrest
— In the early 20th century, Japanese peasants and workers had a hard life.
— Workers in the cities were poorly paid. They worked long hours with little welfare and
legal protection.
— The working conditions of child labour and female workers were even worse. Many girls
worked seventeen to eighteen hours a day. Their employers often found excuses to exploit
them.
— Many female workers in the textile factories resided in the factory dormitories. Apart
from going to work or joining events hosted by the company, they were banned from

Revision notes
leaving the dormitories.

— Besides, the poor working environment made the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis
more common.
— Peasants also lived a poor life. Many of them did not have enough food and lived in small
cottages. Conflicts often occurred between peasants and landlords due to land tax
problems.
— Peasants had sold their land because of the heavy land tax imposed by the government
during the Russo-Japanese War. The economic prosperity during WWI did not benefit
them. Instead, it led to inflation. Riots broke out at last.
— The most famous one was the Rice Riot of 1918, in which people fought for rice because
of its high price. The Riot lasted for two months before it was put down.
5 Higher status of women
— As women had more education opportunities, movements striving for women’s rights
began to emerge in Japan.
— In 1911, Hiratsuka Raicho founded the Bluestocking Society. Through publishing
magazines, she spread ideas about the independence of women as well as supported free
love and marriage.
— In 1919, the New Women’s Association was established. It proposed that women should
have equal rights to participate in politics.
— In 1922, the government lifted the ban prohibiting women from participating in political
gatherings and making public speeches.
— In the labour market, jobs for women became more diversified. The jobs ranged from
being a typistand telephonist to journalist. The department stores hired more and more
young women as well.
— By 1929, the number of female workers had reached 50,000. Women also actively
participated in the unions and protests.
➢ For example, Tatewaki Sadayo set up the Women Workers’ School in Tokyo in
1929.
v. Cultural conditions
1 Preserving Japanese traditions
— The Meiji Constitution allowed religious freedom. People could practice Christianity or
Buddhism. However, the government upheld Shintoism as the state religion. It
strengthened the relationship between Shintoism and the state.
➢ In 1900, it set up the Bureau of Shrines and Temples. Every shrine in the country
must have a certificate issued by the government.
— The government outlined that people were required to visit shrines and taught to remain
loyal to the country as well as the Emperor.
— Besides, Japanese traditional culture, such as kabuki and tea ceremony, were preserved in

Revision notes
the early 20th century.

— Traditional sports, such as judo, sumo and karate, became popular again. Among them,
sumo became Japan’s national sport. Sumo competitions were held on a regular basis.
➢ From 1936, primary schools in Japan included sumo as its school subject.
2 Instilling patriotic education
— The government also emphasised tradition in education.
— In 1890, the Emperor issued the Imperial Rescript on Education, emphasising the ideas of
loyalty to the Emperor and the country, filial piety, and obedience to the superiors, while
denying Western ideas of democracy and liberty.
— In 1903, the government tightened its control over education by introducing the National
Textbook System. The government set the syllabi and standardised the textbook contents.
— This education stressed the importance of patriotism and paved the way for the rise of
militarism in the future.
3 Absorbing Western culture
— Although the Japanese government made a great effort to preserve the tradition, it
absorbed some Western culture. The Japanese also learnt from the Western way of living
in order to catch up with the West. All these changes made Japan one of the most
Westernised countries in Asia at that time.
Impact of Western cultures on Japan

Clothing ➢ The Japanese men wore suits and ladies had new hairstyles.
➢ ‘Modenr girls’ began to emegre. They had short haircut and put on
Western clothing.
Cuisine ➢ People began to eat beef and drink milk.
➢ Western food became popular, including curry rice and korokke.
➢ Coffee shops appeared, such as Cafe Paulista in 1909.
Architecture ➢ Many schools, government buildings and theatres were built in Western
styles.
➢ The planning and design of Ginza area in Tokyo was modelled after
Regent Street in London.
Daily living ➢ People sat on chairs instead of mats.
➢ Many families had their own telephones. The number of users amounted
to 550,000 in 1926.
Entertainment ➢ The Hollywood films from the US were popular, such as Charles
Chaplin’s The Circus.
➢ Gramophone and jazz music gained popularity.
➢ Radio broadcasting began. In 1936, its coverage rate reached 75% of the
whole country.

Revision notes
Sports Western sports were introduced, with baseball being the most popular. In
1936, professional baseball leagues were set up.
B Rise of militarism and its impact

i. Features of Japanese militarism
— Militarism is a belief that a country should be put under military control completely and
foreign expansion should be carried out. It promotes the use of force to solve any
problem.
— In the first half of the 20th century, the Japanese militarists believed that invasion was the
best way to achieve modernisation.
— Japanese militarism had the following features:
1 Extreme nationalism
— Japanese militarists believed that the Yamato people (the dominant native ethnic group of
Japan) were superior and Japan was a world power.
— They emphasised patriotism and tried their best to protect national interests.
2 Emphasis on loyalty and obedience
— Japanese militarists emphasised obedience to the superiors and loyalty to the Emperor.
— Besides, they were prepared to sacrifice for the country and regarded individual interests
unimportant.
3 Anti-communism
— Japanese militarists were anti-communist. Since communism had promoted class
struggles in order to build up an equal society without the Emperor, Japanese militarists
believed that it would threaten Japan’s unity.
— In addition, communism would undermine the divine status of the Emperor since it
rejected the belief in the existence of gods.
4 Extoling violence
— Japanese militarists advocated military expansion. To build a strong army, the war
industry made up a huge portion in the national economy.
— When Japan went into conflicts with foreign countries, they would advocate the use of
violence to deal with conflicts.
5 Promotion of foreign expansion
— Japanese militarism promoted the traditional belief of ‘Eight Corners Under One Roof’,
which aimed at uniting the whole world and putting it under the rule of the Emperor. To
achieve this aim, expansion was necessary.
— Besides, to satisfy internal economic needs, Japan must expand and seize overseas
resources.
— Since China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region had been all rich in natural resources,
they became the targets of Japanese invasion.

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6 Pan-Asianism
— Japanese militarists believed that the Yamato people were the superior Asian race and
Asia should not be colonised by Western countries.
— Therefore, they put forward the idea of ‘Pan-Asianism’, saying that Japan had a duty to
lead other Asian people to fight against the West, to liberate them from colonial
exploitation, and to let them practise self-rule under the guidance of Japan.
— These ideas became the basis of the ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ proposed in
the future.
7 Controlling the country
— Japanese militarists distinguished themselves by direct or indirect control of the country’s
political, economic and social activities. They put the state under absolute military
control. All sectors were at the service of military expansion and foreign wars.
ii. Factors leading to the rise of Japanese militarism

1 Longstanding military tradition
— Military politics had been a longstanding tradition in Japan. Before Emperor Meiji
regained political power in 1868, Japan had been ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate. For
several centuries, the shogun maintained their rule on Japan with military power.
— The military tradition encouraged the use of force and the military gained respect from
the people.
— After the shogun returned power to the Emperor in 1868, the military continued to enjoy
a superior status.
— Under the Meiji Constitution, they had direct access to the Emperor and were not
controlled by the Cabinet or Diet.
— During the period 1900-1913, the military could even dissolve a cabinet by not
appointing any minister based on the rule that the Ministers of Army and Navy must be
active generals. This allowed them to influence policy formulation.
— In addition, all Japanese colonies were governed by them. The military’s influence thus
kept expanding.
— Besides, Japan retained Shintoism as the state religion. Its people must remain loyal to
the Emperor.
— Educational reforms in the Meiji period also emphasised traditional thoughts, such as
obedience, loyalty and filial piety. The Imperial Rescript on Education even stated that its
people had to sacrifice for the country in critical situations.
— Military reforms introduced conscription and promoted traditional Bushido thought
among soldiers. All these strengthened the evelopment of militarism.

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2 Weaknesses of the party government

2.1 Political aspect
Unable to restrain the power of the military
— The Meiji Constitution granted the Emperor absolute authority. Democratic politics did
not take root in Japan. The military could easily take the opportunity and seize power.
— In 1912, Emperor Meiji died. Since the succeeding Emperor Taisho had had a brain
disease, his political influence was very limited. The military and the politicians began to
struggle for power.
— During the period 1918-1932, Japan entered a short period of party politics. The military
was not very powerful at the time. However, the parties in power failed to change the law
in order to gain the power to appoint certain important positions, such as the Ministers of
Army and Navy as well as the Foreign Minister. Therefore, the military remained out of
control.
Widespread corruption
— The parties seldom educated the public about democracy. Instead, they took advantage of
the obedience of the people. They tried to gain votes through cheating andcorruption and
bribed to gain the support of the villagers.
— In 1924, there were around 15,000 cases of cheating in elections.
— Besides, the parties were mostly sponsored by zaibatsu. Therefore, in formulating
policies, they only cared for zaibatsu and few vested interest groups. They disregarded
the public interests. Some members of the political parties were even caught in corruption
scandals, such as the Matsushima Incident.
— The people lost faith in the democratic government. On the contrary, the military earned
public support for their devotion to Japan.
Frequent changes of the Cabinet
— The Cabinets in Japan changed frequently. From 1918-1932, eleven cabinets were formed.
Among them, the Cabinet of Kiyoura Keigo (January to June 1924) and Wakatsuki
Reijiro (April to December 1931) lasted for less than a year. Parties accused one another,
while party members often changed their party affiliations.
— Therefore, the military strongly criticised democracy because it encouraged politicians to
gain votes by attacking one another, and thus destroyed national unity. The autocratic
power of the Emperor was also harmed.
— The military hoped to overthrow the party cabinet in order to control politics in Japan.
2.2 Economic and social aspects
— Japan was a small country with limited agricultural land and natural resources. It relied
heavily on the imports of food and other resources for its economic development.
— After WWI, Japan’s economy was plunged into depression. Trade deficits continued to
rise. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 caused huge casualties and devastation. The
death toll reached 100,000.

Revision notes
— In 1927, a financial crisis broke out in Japan. The stock prices fell sharply. Over 40 banks
in Tokyo and neighbouring regions suffered from bank runs and closed down, including
Watanabe Bank.
— In 1929, the Great Depression broke out. This propelled the US and the European
countries to practise economic protectionism in the 1930s and raised tariff on imported
goods from Japan. Therefore, Japan’s exports dropped in half. It did not have the money
to import necessities from abroad. The number of unemployed rose hugely to 3 million in
1930.
— However, the party government could not devise effective solutions to tackle the
economic problems. The society became more unstable. The trafficking of women and
children was rampant. Social unrest occurred in various places.
— Communist movements in Japan became more active, prompting the government to
promulgate the Peace Preservation Law in 1925.
— The people were disappointed at the inability of the party government. At the same tim e,
Japanese militarists strongly advocated foreign expansion to set up Japan’s sphere of
influence in Asia. That sphere of influence could provide a stable supply of natural
resources and a large export market for Japan to secure its industrial development.
— Militarism gradually gained public support. It held that foreign expansion was the only
solution to tackle the current problem.
2.3 Diplomatic aspect
— The party government hoped to raise Japan’s reputation in the world and gained equality
with other powers, but failed repeatedly.
— In 1919, Japan attended the Paris Peace Conference as a victorious power of WWI.
However, the Western powers refused to include a clause of ‘racial equality’ in the
Covenant of the League of Nations. They also criticised the Japanese wartime invasion of
Shandong in China.
— As the Western powers had long been setting up colonies, the Japanese regarded the
criticism as discrimination against their country.
— Later, in the Washington Conference of 1921-1922, Japan was forced to return to China
its rights in Shandong and terminate the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
— The Conference also limited the tonnage of capital ships of the participating countries,
which put the Japanese navy in an inferior position when compared with the British and
the US navy.
— At the London Naval Conference in 1930, Japan once again failed to increase its ratio of
heavy cruisers to those of Britain and the US.
— In addition, the US Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924 and banned all Asians
from immigrating to the US. The Japanese believed that the US discriminated against
them.
— Japanese militarists saw these events as Western discrimination against Japan.

Revision notes
Anti-Western nationalism started to develop.

— Since the democratic government had adopted the peaceful economic expansion policy
(also known as Shidehara diplomacy), the militarists blamed it for the diplomatic failure
as it had destroyed Japan’s previous diplomatic achievements.
— Since the democratic government had failed to defend the national prestige, the Japanese
militarists believed that they had to overthrow it.
3 Impact of extreme nationalism
— In the early 20th century, there were some extreme nationalist associations in Japan
already. For example, the Amur Society (or the Black Dragon Society) established in
1901 aimed at invading China. Other associations such as the Sakura Society and the
Brotherhood of Blood League aimed at removing the corrupt genro, zaibatsu and
government officials by force.
— In the 1930 s, they cooperated with the army to stage several coups, which finally led to
the military control of the government.
— Some extreme nationalists also actively promoted militarism and foreign expansion. The
following are two examples:
➢ Kita Ikki wrote An Outline Plan for the Reconstruction of Japan in 1919. He
suggested reforming Japan with the use of military power in the name of the
Emperor, and invading other countries to obtain colonies. His aim was to conquer
Asia and the world. He was thus called the ‘Father of Japan’s Fascism’.
➢ Tanaka Giichi founded the Imperial Military Reserve Association in 1910. He
organised and trained boys of thirteen years or older. He instilled in them the ideas of
loyalty and obedience to the country and the Emperor, as well as foreign expansion,
in order to prepare them for future invasion. After Tanaka had become Prime
Minister in 1927, he even called for the Far East Conference in the same year. He
proposed that in order to safeguard Japan’s special privilege and rights in China, the
government could take drastic measures at any time.
4 Impact of totalitarianism in Europe
— The Great Depression of 1929 engulfed the whole world. The economic recession in
democratic countries, such as Britain, France and the US, was particularly severe. Since
Japan had always modelled its systems after the West, it began to lose confidence in
Western democracy and the parliamentary system.
— Italy and Germany, which adopted totalitarianism, seemed more successful in solving
their economic problems and in growing their national strength.
— Therefore, Japanese militarists in the 1930s believed that democracy could never make
Japan powerful. Militarism was the only solution to Japan’s problems.
5 Threat of Chinese nationalism
— In the early 1920s, the anti-imperial movement in China grew strong. It affected Japan’s
interests in China.

Revision notes
— To ease anti-Japanese feelings in China, Japan supported China to regain its tariff
autonomy in the Special Conference on the Chinese Customs Tariff in 1925.
— However, Zhang Xueliang, who was the warlord controlling Northeast China, submitted
himself to the Nanjing government. Japan could no longer maintain effective control over
Northeast China.
— After the Nanjing government unified China in 1928, it encouraged workers in the
foreign enterprises to go on strike and boycott foreign goods. It also constructed railways
in Manchuria, leading to yearly losses for Japan’s South Manchuria Railway. This harmed
Japan’s interests in China.
— Militarists proposed to safeguard their rights in China by using violence. Hence, the y
gained support from the public.
6 Favourable international conditions
— Hit by the Great Depression in the early 1930s, the US re-adopted the isolationist policy.
Britain and France also focused on tackling their own economic problems. Japanese
militarists believed that the Western countries would not intervene in Japan’s aggression.
— In addition, military conflicts broke out in the Northeast border between China and the
USSR in 1929. Japanese militarists worried that the USSR would further invade
Northeast China. To deal with the competition from the USSR, they believed that it was
necessary to speed up the development of Japan’s military strength. This led to the rise of
militarism.
iii. Impact of militarism on Japan

— Japanese militarism rose in the 1930 s. The military gradually tightened their control over
Japan’s political, economic, social and foreign affairs. In the early 1940 s, they built up a
fascist government similar to that of Germany and Italy.
1 Political aspect
1.1 Frequent military coups
— After Japan had signed the London Naval Treaty in 1930, some extreme military officers
planned to assassinate the politicians who agreed to disarmament. For example, they tried
to assassinate Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi.
— Later, some army officers staged several coups out of their discontent with the corrupt
officials and the government’s unwillingness to support their expansionist policy.
— In 1932, the Brotherhood of Blood League murdered former Minister of Finance Inoue
Junnosuke, who was pro-Western, and the leader of Mitsui zaibatsu Dan Takuma.
— In the May 15 Incident of 1932, Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated because
he opposed the formation of Manzhouguo. Other high-ranking officials and zaibatsu
leaders were also killed.
— In 1936, some extremists in the army staged the February 26 Incident to strengthen the
autocratic rule of the Emperor and to vent their discontent over rural poverty.

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— They besieged the Imperial Palace. Although the coup was put down finally, many
highranking officials were killed, including the former Prime Minister Saito Makoto and
Takahashi Korekiyo.
— Later, diplomat Hirota Koki served as Prime Minister. To calm down the resentment from
the military, he restored the policy that only active generals could be appointed as the
Ministers of Army and Navy. This further consolidated the power of the military.
1.2 Military control of politics in Japan
— A series of coups and assassinations suppressed the opinions of all parties. Under the
threat of violence, politicians dared not challenge the military.
— After the May 15 Incident, almost all Prime Ministers were generals. Although there were
still party members in the Cabinet, they were the minority that had to obey the military.
The short period of party politics came to an end.
— After the February 26 Incident, the military almost took complete control of the Cabinet,
which comprised only 1 or 2 party members.
— Besides, the army set a precedent by forbidding any cabinet to be established without
their permission, even with the order from the Emperor.
— In 1940, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association was established to replace all political
parties in Japan.
— The Diet lost its power and became only a rubber stamp that supported every decision by
the military. The military had supreme power and took full control of the politics.
➢ For example, in the 1941 Cabinet of Tojo Hideki, General Tojo acted as Prime
Minister as well as the Minister of Army and Foreign Minister with absolute political,
economic, military and diplomatic powers.
2 Economic aspect: Abnormal economic development
— The rise of militarism led to an abnormal development of the Japanese economy. All
economic activities served military purposes.
— From 1930-1936, the Japanese government had expanded the size of the army and the
production of military goods. In this period, big enterprises, such as Mitsubishi,
Kawasaki and Nissan, produced a large number of military vehicles, lanes and chemical
products. 66 warships were built in five years. The number of state-owned factories also
increased substantially. This brought about a ‘military boom’ in Japan.
— After 1936, the government raised taxes to cover its military spending.
— In 1938, the National Mobilisation Law was passed in order that the government might
mobilise all human and material resources to support the army to wage wars at any time.
— Between 1936 and 1941, Japan’s military budget rose from 1.4 billion yen to 12.5 billion
yen, which accounted for 49% and 75% of the overall budget respectively.
— In 1944, the military budget even soared to 47 billion yen, which accounted for more than
85 % of the overall budget.
— At the same time, the government issued large amounts of bonds and paper currencies to

Revision notes
cover the huge military expenses.

— Prices increased by more than double between 1936 and 1941. The real wages of workers
fell sharply, putting the Japanese economy in crisis.
— Besides, the Japanese government strengthened its co-operation with zaibatsu. The latter
gained a lot of government funding. Many small and medium enterprises became
bankrupted because they were not as competitive as zaibatsu. The economy in Japan was
further dominated by zaibatsu.
3 Social aspect: Military control over the society
— To make sure that Japan’s industrial production complied with their expansionist policy,
the army suppressed all labour movements. In 1940, all trade unions and other labour
organisations were dismissed.
— The government imposed censorship. Anti-military and anti-war opinions were banned. It
even established a regional grass-roots organisation called the ‘Neighborhood
Association’, which carried out complete surveillance and control over its citizens.
— On the other hand, the government supervised schools closely and dismissed teachers
who promoted liberal ideas and human rights. It also banned foreign books and rewrote
textbooks.
— Besides, the government promoted ideas such as ‘War is the father of invention and the
mother of culture’ to students and the public.
— From 1938, military training became part of the compulsory education.
— After 1936, the government increased the tax rates continuously to satisfy its military
needs, affecting people’s livelihood seriously.
— In 1940, the government required the people not to spend more than one yen for breakfast,
2.5 yen for lunch and five yen for dinner. Later, as wars created a shortage of food, the
government bought peasants’ rice by order and started food rationing.
— In order to satisfy the military needs, the government controlled the civilian use of
electricity. To ask its people to save resources, it banned the production and sale of
luxuries, such as electric fans and radios.
4 Diplomatic aspect: Breaking up with Western democratic countries
— After Japan had staged the Mukden Incident in 1931 and invaded Northeast China, the
Lytton Commission sent by the League of Nations published its report. The Western
powers condemned it through the League of Nations. In response, Japan withdrew from
the League in 1933.
— Later, Japan established closer relations with Germany and Italy, the totalitarian European
countries.
— In November 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact.
— In 1940, Japan, Germany and Italy formed the Axis Powers. They mutually recognised
the dominance of Germany and Italy over Europe, and the dominance of Japan over Asia.
At last, Japan broke up completely with the Western democratic countries.

Revision notes
5 Enduring war destruction and consequences of the defeat

— Militarism brought Japan into WWII. In the later stage of WWII, Japan was often
defeated and had to retreat. Many cities were bombed. The empire was on the brink of
collapse.
— In August 1945, the US dropped the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, and that caused huge destruction and civilian casualties. Finally, the US
succeeded in forcing Japan to declare unconditional surrender.
— Following its defeat, Japan had to face a series of consequences. Japan was occupied by
the US from 1945-1952. As a result, its international status was downgraded.
— Besides, it had to pay reparations to many Asian countries.
iv. Impact of Japanese militarism on Asia

1 China suffered long-time invasion
1.1 Japanese military actions from 1931-1936
— The Nanjing government completed the Northern Expedition in 1928. As China was
newly reunified, Japanese militarists planned to invade Northeast China and used it as a
stepping stone to conquer Asia.
Mukden Incident
— On 18 September 1931, part of the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railway in
Northeast China was destroyed by an explosion.
— Using the event as an excuse, the Guandong Army immediately sent troops to Northeast
China. This was known as the Mukden Incident.
— The League of Nations investigated this and published the Lytton Report. It condemned
Japan as an aggressor and asked the Japanese troops to withdraw from China.
— However, Japan did not pay any attention. Within five months, the Japanese troops
occupied thewhole region of Northeast China.
January 28 Incident
— On 28 January 1932, Japan took the boycott of Japanese goods and the beaten up of
Japanese monks as an excuse to send troops to invade Shanghai. It bombed fortresses in
Wusong.
— The armed conflict had lasted for over a month. Finally, Britain, the US and France
mediated. China and Japan signed the Shanghai Ceasefire Agreement and set Shanghai as
a demilitarised zone.
Formation of Manzhouguo
— In March 1932, Japan set up a puppet regime named Manzhouguo and declared Puyi, the
last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ‘Emperor of Manzhouguo’.
— Many Japanese goods were smuggled into Northern China. The Nanjing government
suffered a tariff loss of 15%.
— The Japanese businessmen were eager to develop their business and commercial

Revision notes
industries in Manchuria. It built roads and airports. Manchuria became a highly

industrialised and militarised region.
— The successful Japanese invasion of Northeast China fuelled the ambition of Japanese
militarists to launch a full-scale invasion of China.
1.2 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945)
— On 7 July 1937, the Japanese troops stationed in Lugouqiao near Beiping (present-day
Beijing) mounted a full-scale invasion of China under the pretext that one of their
soldiers went missing.
— This was the Lugouqiao Incident (also known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident), which
led to the eight-year War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
— By the end of 1937, the Japanese troops had already taken Beiping, Tianjin, Shandong,
Shanghai and Nanjing. They started a month-long slaughter, rape and robbery in Nanjing,
killing about 300,000 Chinese people. This was the Nanjing Massacre.
— The Nanjing Government of China moved its capital to Chongqing and continued a
prolonged war against Japan.
— After 1938, many Chinese cities were heavily bombed. Later, Guangdong was occupied.
Almost half of the Chinese territory fell into the hands of the Japanese army. They
controlled most of the Chinese coastlines and transportation network.
— However, the Chinese army and civilians put up a gallant fight. The War began to enter a
stalemate.
— By the Chinese victory in 1945, the total number of military and civilian casualties in
China exceeded 36 million. The modernisation efforts by the Nanjing government were
severely disrupted.
2 The Pacific War broke out and Southeast Asia was invaded
— Japan had been coveting the rich natural resources in Southeast Asia, such as minerals, oil
and rubber. A plan for invading Southeast Asia had long been devised.
— In 1940, the Japanese troops entered Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).
— Japan also announced its plan of setting up the ‘Greater East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere’
in order not to arouse anti-Japanese feelings in Southeast Asia.It claimed that it would
lead all Asian people to drive out the Western colonial powers, and build with them an
‘Asia for Asians’.
— By this time, Southeast Asia, in addition to China, had already succumbed to Japan’s
invasion.
— Japan was uneasy at the strong US navy in the Pacific. To restrict the Japanese expansion,
the US froze Japan’s assets inside its borders in July 1941. In August, it imposed a
full-scale embargo on all aggressor countries.
— On 7 December 1941, Japan suddenly attacked the American naval bases in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
— This was the Pearl Harbor Incident, which sparked off the Pacific War and greatly

Revision notes
affected the course of WWII.

— By 1942, Japan had occupied Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, the Philippines, Burma
and Indonesia, controlling almost the whole of Southeast Asia. Japan succeeded in
breaking the ABCD encirclement within a short period of time.
— Japan robbed the occupied territories, including raw materials and properties of the
peoples. This greatly disrupted the economic order in different parts of Asia.
— In June 1942, Japan was defeated by the US in the Battle of Midway. The War situation of
Japan grew worse.
— WWII lasted till August 1945, when Japan finally surrendered unconditionally after the
US had dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
— In conclusion, Japanese militarism brought lengthy wars and massive disasters to
Southeast Asia.
3 Decolonisation of Southeast Asia
— Nationalism in Southeast Asia appeared long before WWII. However, the attempts of
Southeast Asians at gaining independence from the Western powers had never succeeded.
— After Japan had invaded Southeast Asia and had come up with the slogans of the ‘Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ and an ‘Asia for Asians’, many people in Southeast Asia
believed they could break away from colonial rule.
— The Japanese occupation also greatly reshaped the political and social conditions. This
helped facilitate the decolonisation of Southeast Asia after WWII.
— Some Southeast Asian nationalists had co-operated with Japan. During the Japanese
occupation, they participated in governance and gained certain political experiences.
— During the later stage of the War, Japan allowed several Southeast Asian countries,
including Vietnam and Burma, to gain independence. Nationalism among the Southeast
Asians was further enhanced.
— After WWII, people from the Southeast Asian countries had gathered strength to resist
against the revival of the colonial rule. The Southeast Asian countries soon declared
independence.
— The Philippines first declared independence in 1946. Burma and Malaya became
independent of British rule in 1948. The Netherlands was forced to recognise the
independence of Indonesia in 1949. France retreated from Vietnam in 1954. Colonialism
soon disappeared in Asia.
II Reconstruction and growth after WWII

A Political development after WWII
i. US occupation of Japan (1945-1952)
— After WWII, Japan was occupied by the US troops.

— In theory, the Allies should send joint forces to Japan. However, China, Britain and

Revision notes
France were severely weakened by the War. The US-Soviet relations also rapidly
worsened. As a result, only the US sent its troops to Japan.
— The US General MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
(SCAP).
— From 1945-1952, Japan was ruled by the General Headquarters of the SCAP.
— MacArthur became the supreme ruler of Japan. During the SCAP period, all major
policies made by the Japanese government had to seek approval from him before they
were carried out.
ii. Demilitarisation
— The US, together with other Allied Powers, convened war crime tribunals and tried 6,000
Japanese soldiers shortly after WWII.
— At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (also known as the Tokyo Trials),
some high-ranking Japanese military officers, including the wartime Prime Minister Tojo
Hideki and seven other war criminals, were found guilty and sentenced to death.
— More than 200,000 political, business and intellectual leaders who supported Japan’s
expansionist policy were also purged.
— Besides, Japan had to disband the Army General Staff Office and the Navy General Staff.
It also shut down the Army Ministry and the Navy Ministry, dismissed over 2 million
soldiers, and abolished military laws, such as the Act of Military Conscription.
— The production of weapons, bombs and warships was banned. It emptied all locations that
stored weapons and dismissed militarist groups.
iii. New constitution

— Another aim of the US occupation was to democratise Japan. Therefore, the SCAP
government made amendments to Japan’s constitution.
— The new constitution was promulgated in November 1946 and enacted in May 1947. The
British parliamentary system was adopted. It implemented a Western democratic system
which had the separation of powers and returned the authority back to its people.
1 Emperor being the symbolic leader
— The divinity of the Emperor was denied. Real political powers, including executive,
legislative and judicial powers, were taken away from the Emperor. This made him a
symbolic leader of Japan only.
— His position was derived from the will of the people, who were the owners of the
sovereign power. It aimed to change the attitude of blindly obeying the Emperor and
absolute submission to the state.
2 Diet being the highest power authority
— The Diet became the country’s highest power authority and the only legislative organ.
— The Diet was responsible to the people, not the Emperor. Therefore, the Emperor could

Revision notes
not dissolve the Diet.

— While the House of Peers (Upper House) was renamed as the House of Councillors, the
name of the House of Representatives (Lower House) remained unchanged. All members
of the two houses were elected. All men and women aged 21 or above could vote.
— Besides, the Lower House would have greater power than the Upper House. For example,
the Upper House could not reject the budget proposal approved by the Lower House.
— The Emperor no longer had the power to revise the constitution. All revisions must gain
the approval of the Diet. The revisions could only be passed after the citizens had voted .
3 Supervision of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet
— The Cabinet owned the executive power of the country. The Privy Council was dissolved.
The government would never be controlled by any special bodies.
— The Prime Minister must be chosen from members of the Diet. Although the Cabinet
members were appointed by the Prime Minister, over half of them must be selected from
the members of the Diet.
— In addition, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet members must be civilian officials. They
were responsible to the people, not the Emperor. The House of Representatives could
dissolve the Cabinet by passing a motion of no confidence.
4 Judicial independence
— The Judiciary became independent. It would not be intervened by the executive
authorities.
— All judicial power belonged to the Supreme Court and the lower courts. The judges made
a ruling according to the constitution and law, exercising their power without using the
name of the Emperor.
— The executive authorities could not make the final judicial judgment.
5 Relinquishing the right to declare war
— To ensure that Japan would not hinder world peace again, the new constitution added in
clauses that outlawed war. Japan should never adopt war as its national policy. The army,
navy and the air force were disbanded. The military no longer controlled the Cabinet.
— Therefore, the new constitution was also called the‘Peace Constitution’.
6 Practising regional autonomy
— The new constitution set up the principle of regional autonomy. It allowed the setting up
of local assemblies. The local chief executives and the members of the local assemblies
were elected. The local assemblies had a certain degree of legislative power.
— To co-ordinate with the implementation of the new constitution, the Japanese government
promulgated the Local Autonomy Law in 1947. It divided the whole country into one
metropolis (Tokyo), one circuit (Hokkaido), two urban prefectures (Kyoto and Osaka)
and 43 prefectures. They made up a total of 47 prefectural divisions. Under the
prefectural divisions, there were the municipal divisions, including cities, towns and
villages.

Revision notes
— Regional autonomy increased the degree of political participation of its citizens. This
promoted the political democratisation process in Japan.
iv. Resuming to party politics

1 Founding of many political parties in Japan (1945-1955)
— Due to the US democratisation policy in Japan, political parties which were banned from
holding activities during wartime became active again. Many political parties were
founded. Among the political parties, the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party and the
Socialist Party were the three biggest parties in Japan.
— In the election for the Diet in 1947, the Socialist Party won 143 seats and became the
biggest party. Yoshida Shigeru from the Liberal Party served as Prime Minister for five
times between 1946 and 1954. His term of office lasted for seven years.
— However, before 1955, none of the three parties could gain the majority vote s in the
elections of both houses.
2 Political domination of the Liberal Democratic Party (1955-1993)
— Since no parties could gain majority votes, in 1955, the Liberal Party and the Democratic
Party decided to merge together and formed a new political party called the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP).
— Since then, Japan had entered into an era of having two major parties. The LDP was the
top political party that dominated the politics of Japan before 1993. In contrast, the
Socialist Party became the opposition party for a long time.
— This political situation, which was called the 1955 System, remained unchanged until
1993. In the meantime, the phenomenon of party rotation, which was common in the
Western democratic system, did not appear in Japan.
— The LDP members were loyal. The average term of office of the twelve Prime Ministers
was 3.7 years. Among them, the term of office of Sato Eisaku even lasted for nearly eight
years. This showed that Japan’s politics was stable.
— At the same time, the LDP was affected by a series of corruption scandals, such as the
corruption scandal that ended with the resignation of Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei in
1974.
— Entering the 1990s, the economic bubble in Japan burst. As a result, the LDP finally
failed to gain over half of the seats and secure a majority in the 1993 election. It could no
longer dominate Japan’s politics.
3 Challenges for the Liberal Democratic Party (After 1993)
— In 1993, the LDP was no longer the ruling party.
— Hosokawa Morihiro from the Japan New Party replaced Miyazawa Kiichi from the LDP
to serve as Prime Minister. He became the first Prime Minister who was not from the
LDP in 38 years. He formed a multiparty coalition government. However, his term of
office only lasted for eight months.

Revision notes
— In 1994, the LDP, the Socialist Party and the New Party Sakigake formed a coalition
government. Murayama Tomiichi, the leader from the Socialist Party, served as Prime
Minister.
— In 1996, the LDP led by Hashimoto Ryutaro became the majority party again. However, it
could not secure over half of the seats. Therefore, it had to co-operate with other parties.
— Later, political domination of the LDP had been challenged by other political parties. For
instance, in the election for the House of Councillors in 1998, the LDP could o nly gain
37% of the total seats.
v. Features of Japan’s politics after the occupation

1 US influence after 1952
— In 1952, the US officially ended its occupation of Japan, which regained its autonomy.
However, the US continued to have great influence on Japan.
➢ For example, Japan followed the US anti-communist policy after 1952. Japan could
only regain its diplomatic autonomy in 1972.
— The US signed the Mutual Security Pact with Japan before the end of its occupation in
1952.
— The US troops continued to station in Japan for its defence. There were hundreds of US
military bases in Japan that enjoyed independent judicial rights, symbolising
extraterritoriality.
— This aroused widespread discontent in Japan. The renewal of the Mutual Security Pact
remained a major political issue between the US and Japan at the end of the 20th century.
2 Becoming a political power since the 1980s
— In 1982, Nakasone Yasuhiro became Japan’s Prime Minister. He put forward the idea of
‘total reassessment of post-war politics’, proposing that Japan should abanadon the
post-war diplomatic strategies and domestic policies set by the US. He aimed to
transform Japan from a pure economic power into a political power.
— He suggested revising the constitution and increasing spending on nation al defence. In
the 1983-1987 Defence Capacity Preparation Plan, Japan’s military expenditures
amounted to 16 trillion yen in five years. In 1987, Japan’s national defence expenditure
exceeded the limit, which was less than 1% of its GNP. It reached 1.004 %.
— In addition, Nakasone even proposed that Japan should become an ‘aircraft carrier that
will never sink’, co-operate with the US and ensure the regional security in Asia.
— Ishihara Shintaro, a memberof the Diet from the LDP, published The Japan that Can Say
No in 1989. He advocated that Japan should gain more independence in the economic,
diplomatic and other aspects.
3 Emergence of plutocracy
— Under the 1955 System, the LDP, government officials and the financial sector bribed one
another and formed a community of interests. The many corruption scandals revealed

Revision notes
Japan’s plutocracy.
➢ For instance, Tanaka Kakuei was arrested in 1976 for receiving 500 million yen of
bribery from Lockheed, the US fighter aircraft manufacture, during his term as Prime
Minister.
➢ The 1988 Recruit Scandal and the 1992 Sagawa Kyubin Scandal were uncovered.
— Due to these political scandals, the LDP lost public support. In 1989, it failed to secure a
majority in the House of Councillors. In 1993, it could not gain over half of the seats in
the election for the House of Representatives.
4 Active civic movements
— After WWII, civic groups, women and students’ organisations were soon set up in Japan.
They paid close attention to various political and social issues, such as violence and r apes
in or near the US military bases.
— The Japanese domestic opposition against the revised Mutual Security Pact in 1960 was
considered the biggest post-war civic movement. The Japanese opposed the revised
Mutual Security Pact. They believed that if Japan continued to be subordinated to the US,
it might be caught up in wars.
— After the government headed by Kishi Nobusuke had forcefully passed the pact,
large-scale protests appeared in areas near the Diet. At one point, the number of protesters
reached 200,000. Finally, Kishi resigned from the position of Prime Minister.
B Economic recovery and growth after WWII

— Japan overcame all the economic difficulties after WWII.
— In the SCAP period, the Japanese economy gradually recovered to its pre-war level.
— In the 1950s and 1960s, Japan entered a period of rapid economic growth, which was
known as the ‘economic miracle’, and its economy kept growing in the next 20 years.
— Although Japan underwent an economic recession in the 1990s, it was still a highly
modernised economic power.
i. Economic development from 1945-1952
1 Overview: Economic recovery
— After 1945, Japan faced huge economic problems. The unemployment rate in Japan was
high due to the return of a large number of soldiers. Many houses and factories were
destroyed.
— In 1945, rice production was only at two-thirds of the pre-war level. War damage
accounted for 25% of the country’s wealth.
— During the SCAP period, the Japanese economy was in the stage of recovery.
➢ Between 1946 and 1951, the annual economic growth rate in Japan reached 10%.
➢ In 1946, Japan’s GNP per capita was only US$ 17. In 1950, it rose to US$ 132.
➢ That year, agriculture rose back to the level of the mid-1930s. Almost 90% of the
farmers possessed their own lands.

Revision notes
➢ In 1945, Japan’s industrial production index was only ten (index 100 from 1936). It
rose to 55 and 84 in 1948 and 1950 respectively.
— In 1952, the Japanese economy was totally recovered. In this period, Japan focused on the
production of coal, steel and cement to prepare for the development of other industries in
the future.
2 Factors leading to economic recovery
2.1 SCAP policies favourable to economic recovery
Stabilising Japan’s politics
— The US occupation created a stable political environment for Japan.
— The new constitution of 1947 transformed Japan into a liberal and democratic country.
The government did not need to spend resources and time on military expansion and
could concentrate on economic recovery.
Stabilising Japan’s economy
— To prevent economic turbulence, the US provided Japan with a large amount of loans and
raw materials, such as oil, cotton, iron ores and coke.
— In 1948, the SCAP government issued the Nine Principles of Economic Stabilisation and
invited Joseph Dodge, an American banker, to serve as the economic advisor to help
solve Japan’s post-war problems, such as inflation and financial crises of banks.
— To prevent inflation, the US also announced the Dodge Plan in 1949, which fixed the
exchange rate between the yen and the dollar at about 360 to 1.
Implementing priority production system
— The SCAP government implemented the policy of priority production. Through giving
out state funds and re-establishing core industries, it concentrated on raising the
production of most-needed products at that time, such as coal and steel. Through the
revival of industrial production, it would bring about an economic revival.
Agricultural reforms
— The SCAP government carried out agricultural reforms. It passed the Farm Land Reform
Law, under which lands were bought from the landlords and sold to tenant peasants at a
cheap price.
— By 1950, 90% of peasants in Japan had their own land.
— To increase production, the US also introduced new farming techniques, chemical
fertilisers and insecticides to Japan.
Anti-monopoly policy
— The SCAP government passed the Deconcentration Law to dissolve zaibatsu, which once
controlled the Japanese economy. It helped to prevent monopoly and capital
accumulation.
— Although the US stopped combating zaibatsu around 1950, its deconcentration policy had
already succeeded in encouraging more investment andeconomic activities.

Revision notes
Promoting education
— The SCAP government understood that high educational level of people was important to
economic development. Therefore, it kept the Meiji tradition and implemented
compulsory education.
— It promulgated the Basic Education Law of 1947, which provided Japanese children with
nine-year compulsory education, including six-year primary education and three-year
junior secondary education.
— This policy raised the educational standard of the Japanese people and provided quality
labour for various industries.
Raising the status of workers
— The SCAP government implemented labour reforms, such as formulating the Trade Union
Act of 1949. It recognised the labour organisations and raised the status of workers.
— It also set the Labour Standards Act to ban ill treatment of workers. The living standards
and the purchasing power of the workers were enhanced.
2.2 Favourable effects of the Cold War
‘Reverse course’
— After WWII, the Cold War broke out. The US President Harry Truman announced his
new diplomatic strategy called the Truman Doctrine. To contain communism, the US
implemented the containment policy and became actively involved in international
affairs.
— In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was established. As the US needed a reliable ally
in Asia, it decided not to punish Japan, but helped it rebuild its economy.
— Since 1950, the US had stopped receiving reparations from Japan. In fact, the total value
of the equipment removed from Japan only accounted for 7% of the proposed reparations
in 1950.
Special procurement of the Korean War
— In 1950, the Korean War broke out. The US ordered a lot of strategic commodities from
Japan. Japan became the biggest maintenance site for the US armaments and weapons.
— The American soldiers and their relatives who lived in Japan at that time also spent a lot
of money on local goods and services.
— Between 1950 and 1955, the total amount of the US orders received by the Japanese
private enterprises reached US$ 1.6 billion. Due to this special procurement, Japan’s
economy revived quickly. Factories that were originally closed down reoperated again.
— The industrial production level returned to the pre-war level. Japan’s foreign exchange
reserves increased from about US$ 200 million in 1949 to US$ 1.14 billion in 1952.
— Although the special procurement declined when the Korean War ended in 1953, the
income and purchasing power of the Japanese people had risen significantly.
— In 1952, the income of Japanese urban residents and farmers increased by 21% and 17%
respectively.

Revision notes
ii. Economic development from 1952-1973

1 Overview: ‘Economic miracle’
— After the US withdrew its troops in 1952, Japan regained its independence.
— In the next 20 years, Japanese economy developed at an exceptional speed. Economic
booms often resulted. The growth was called the ‘economic miracle’.
Year Economic boom Japan’s economic development

1955-1957 Jinmu boom ➢ The average real economic growth rate was 8.8%.
➢ Heavy industry, such as electricity and oil refinery,
developed rapidly.
➢ Many families possessed the ‘three treasures’, including a
black-and-white television, a laundry machine and a
refrigerator.
1958-1961 Iwato boom ➢ Japan’s GNP grew by over 10% per year.
➢ Japan carried out mass production for household
appliances, such as televisions and radios.
➢ Steel became the main exported materials.
1962-1964 Olympic boom ➢ Tokyo became the host city of the 1964 Olympic Games.
Many stadiums and transportation facilities were built. The
construction cost amounted to 1,000 billion yen.
➢ It led to the property boom that centred on metropolises.
1965-1970 Izanagi boom ➢ The average real economic growth rate was 9.9%.
➢ The total car production in Japan surpassed that of
Germany in 1967.
➢ Colour televisions, air conditioners and cars became
universal. They turned into the new ‘three treasures’.
— In the 1960s, Japan’s GNP grew at an average rate of 11.6% each year. It rose from US$
50 billion in 1961 to US$ 200 billion in 1970. Japan’s GNP had surpassed that of West
Germany and it became the second largest economy, only after the US.
— In addition, in 1955, Japanese workers earned an average monthly salary of 18,300 yen.
In 1965, it doubled to 39,400 yen.
— Japanese people enjoyed the highest standard of living in Asia, which came very close to
those of Britain and the US.
— In this period, Japan continued to produce steel, cement and petrochemical products. It
also started to produce automobiles and household appliances.
— After 1962, the production of automobile rose rapidly. The production level reached
700,000 in 1965, which was four times that of 1960. In 1970, it reached 3 million, which
only came after the US, West Germany and Britain.
— Agriculture in Japan became mechanised. During the period 1960-1970, agricultural

Revision notes
machinery increased by eight times.

2 Factors leading to the realisation of ‘economic miracle’
2.1 Special relations between the US and Japan
Signing of the Treaty of San Francisco
— The US arranged the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco between Japan and the Allied
Powers during the period 1951-1952. This officially ended the hostility between Japan
and the Allies. However, the question of reparations had to be discussed between the two
parties.
— Although Japan had to pay reparations of US$ 1 billion to Burma, the Philippines,
Indonesia and South Vietnam, the reparations could be paid in kind and labour services.
— The Japanese government could therefore purchase manpower and products from
domestic enterprises and gave them to the Southeast Asian countries.
— In other words, this arrangement helped Japanese enterprises to get into the Southeast
Asian market.
Helping Japan’s industrial development
— The US continued to supply Japan with many raw materials and industrial technologies to
help it develop iron and steel, electricity, railway and chemical and other industries. In
the 1950s, the US bought 25% of its exports.
— From the post-war period to the late 1970 s, Japan borrowed US$ 20 billion from foreign
countries, of which 70% were provided by the US. Clearly, the US helped Japan’s
industrial development.
Reducing Japan’s military expenditure
— According to the Mutual Security Pact, the US troops continued to station in Japan for its
defence.
— This reduced Japan’s military expenditure because it only needed to keep the small-scale
Self-Defence Forces.
— For several decades after WWII, the Japanese government limited its military spending to
less than 1% of its GNP. It could therefore allocate more resources to its economic
development.
2.2 Policies of the Japanese government
Emphasis on economic development
— After 1952, Japan aimed at being a trading nation with a focus on export trade.
— It set up the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to work out plans of
national economic development, provide technological support to Japanese enterprises,
and develop hi-tech products to increase exports.
— To get into the world market more quickly and to further enhance the export of domestic
products, Japan joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in 1952.
— In 1955, it also signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, later
developed into the World Trade Organization). It could gain special offers when trading

Revision notes
with European countries. As a result, its economy recovered rapidly.

Carrying out macro-economic plans
— After WWII, the Japanese government made new macro-economic plans every three to
five years. For example, it made the Five-Year Plan of Economic Independence in 1955,
estimating that an annual economic growth rate of 6.5% would be achieved in the
following five years.
— The Japanese government stimulated industrial and economic development through
increasing government spending and improving infrastructure.
— In 1960, the Japanese government made the Income Doubling Plan. It expected that the
average income of the Japanese people would double, and full employment would be
achieved in 1970, while Japan’s GNP and national income would increase 2.7 times.
— The actual outcomeof the Income Doubling Plan greatly exceeded the government’s
estimates: both Japan’s GNP and national income of 1970 increased by more than four
times that of 1960.
Emphasis on education
— The Japanese government invested heavily in developing education. The education
expenditure increased from 370 billion yen in 1955 to 5,000 billion yen in 1973.
— In the 1960s and 1970s, the government developed tertiary education with great efforts.
The number of universities increased from 245 in 1960 to 382 in 1970. The number of
university graduates increased significantly as a result: one in every seven working adults
was a university graduate.
— Rising educational levels facilitated the future development of hi-tech industries.
2.3 Favourable international circumstances
World market trend
— In the 20 years after WWII, the prices of food and raw materials dropped. In particular,
the oil price fell because of an increase of supply in the Middle East. Besides, those of
industrial products increased.
— As an importer of food and raw materials and an exporter of industrial products, Japan
benefited from the global trend.
Special procurement of the Vietnam War
— In 1961, the Vietnam War broke out and it brought to Japan another special procurement.
Once again, Japan became the base for the US army during wartime.
— The US bought military necessities from South Korea and Taiwan. At the same time,
Japan provided these countries with technology and components. It sold high -quality
products to the US.
— Due to this ‘Vietnamese procurement’, Japan had higher foreign currency earnings. The
military necessities sold by Japan to Vietnam reached US$ 330 million in 1965.
— Many Japanese enterprises also took the chance to get into the Southeast Asian markets
by setting up overseas branches.

Revision notes
iii. Economic development from 1973-1990

1 Overview: Stable economic growth
— Japan was hit by the First Oil Crisis in 1973. In 1974, its GNP fell by 1.7% compared
with that in 1973. It was the first time for Japan to record a negative economic growth
rate after WWII. The stock prices dropped as well. This marked the end of the period of
rapid economic growth between 1946 and 1972.
— Through the efforts of the government and Japanese enterprises, Japan soon overcame the
crisis. Its GNP continued to grow at an annual rate of 4% during the period 1976-1990.
— Although the Second Oil Crisis happened in 1979, Japan was not severely affected.
— In 1960, Japan’s per capita income was less than 17 % of that of the US. In 1987, it was
about 90 % of that of the US already. In 1988, its per capita income, which was US$
24,770, exceeded that of the US for the first time. Japan had grown into an economic
superpower.
— In this period, Japanese enterprises produced a lot of high-tech electronic products. In
1984, Japan became the biggest exporter of electronic products.
— Since 1983, Japan’s international trade surplus had been increasing constantly year by
year. Japan’s trade surplus to the US rose from US$ 7.7 billion in 1980 to US$ 51.4
billion in 1986.
— In 1988, Japan’s foreign exchange reserves reached US$80 billion, which was the highest
in the world. Japan also drastically increased its foreign investment.
— Since 1982, Japan’s car manufacturers, such as Honda and Toyota, had started
manufacturing cars in the US. In 1989, the Mitsubishi Group bought the Rockefeller
Center in New York.
— In 1985, it even became the biggest creditor nation in the world.
— In addition, Japan’s stock markets flourished. The Nikkei Stock Average reached its peak
at 38,957 in December 1989.
2 Factors leading to the end of rapid economic growth
2.1 Oil Crisis
— In October 1973, a war broke out in the Middle East. To put pressure on countries
supporting Israel, especially the US, Arabic countries decided to decrease their supply of
oil. As a result, the oil prices increased more than three times within three months,
resulting in the First Oil Crisis.
— Since Japan’s industrial structure was based heavily on the heavy industry and chemical
industry that consumed lots of energy, and 80% of oil consumed by Japanese enterprises
came from the Middle East, the economy of Japan took a great hit.
2.2 Collapse of the Bretton Woods system
— In 1971, the Nixon Shock occurred in the US. The Nixon government announced that the
US dollar would no longer be linked to gold and ended the gold standard monetary
system.

Revision notes
— In 1973, the US dollar further fell in value. Major currencies in the world implemented
the floating exchange rate, leading to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, which
had been adopted since 1944.
— The Japanese yen grew in value greatly, which negatively affected its exports. The sale of
industrial products was poor. Japan’s GNP recorded negative growth.
3 Factors leading to stable economic growth
3.1 Policies of the Japanese government
Promoting commercial activities
— The Japanese government greatly increased its expenditure to stimulate economy. It
reduced the official interest rate from 9% in June 1975 to 6% in September 1977, and
further to 3.5% in March 1978, in order to encourage merchants to borrow money for
investment.
— The government intervened more often in the foreign exchange markets. It bought a large
sum of US dollars and sold the Japanese yen. It hoped to lower the negative effect on
Japan’s exports by the appreciation of the Japanese yen.
Developing new energies and encouraging energy saving
— In 1974, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry established the Sunshine
Programme to encourage the development of new energy sources, such as solar energy,
geothermal energy, natural gas and hydrogen energy, in order to reduce the reliance of
Japanese enterprises on oil. By the early 1990s, 440 billion yen had been invested.
— The number of nuclear power plants increased from three in 1970 to 23 in 1981.
— To reduce the reliance on oil from the Middle East, the government also imported oil
from countries such as China, Indonesia and Mexico. In 1970, oil from the Middle East
accounted for 85% of the total oil supply in Japan. By 1980, it dropped to 73%.
— The Japanese government also encouraged energy saving. The government officials set an
example by reducing the frequency of using air conditioners and heaters. In the summer,
they did not put on their ties and wore short-sleeved shirts instead.
— To reduce wastage, the whole country promoted activities that called for switching off the
lights and stopping the use of neon lights.
Encouraging the development of advanced technology
— In the 1950s and 1960s, Japan focused on developing high energy-consuming industries,
such as iron and steel, cement and petrochemistry.
— After the 1973 Oil Crisis, the government proposed to ‘develop the nation through
technology’ as well as promulgated The 1979 White Paper on Science and Technology
and The Vision of MITI Policies in the 1980s. It encouraged enterprises to focus on
knowledgeintensive industries that consumed less energy, such as the production of
household appliances, semi-conductors and integrated circuits.
— The government also gave these industries financial incentives and tax reduction.
— Encouraged by the government, the hi-tech electronic industry attained great

Revision notes
achievements. The imports of oil fell by 30% between 1974 and 1985.
Implementing the policy of a low interest rate
— In 1985, the US signed the Plaza Accord with Japan, Britain, France and West Germany.
Together, the five countries jointly interfered in the foreign exchange market. Through
depreciating the US dollar, it solved the problem of huge trade deficits in the US. As a
result, the Japanese yen grew in value greatly.
— To stimulate domestic investment, Japan implemented the policy of low interest rate and
monetary easing policy in 1986. A large amount of funds flooded the stock market and
that in turn helped the large-scale expansion of Japanese enterprises overseas.
3.2 Contributions of Japanese enterprises
— In order to consume less oil in industrial production, many Japanese enterprises changed
to produce high-tech goods, such as industrial robots, fax machines, calculators and
automatic cameras. Integrated circuits were installed inside these products to red uce their
size and improve their performance. Subsequently, energy consumption was reduced.
— In 1980, while the US and China had to consume eight and 23 tons of coal respectively to
produce goods with value of US$ 10,000, Japan only consumed 3.5 tons of coal to
produce goods of the same value.
— In addition, Japanese enterprises were able to greatly expand the sale of their products in
overseas markets. Apart fromthe markets in Western countries and Southeast Asia, Japan
actively promoted its products in Africa and Central America.
— While the capitalist countries were hit by the Second Oil Crisis in 1979, Japan’s economy
remained relatively stable. Between 1975 and 1983, the total amount of Japanese exports
rose from US$ 55 billion to around US$ 150 billion.
4 Traditional Japanese customs
— The Japanese customs and habits contributed a lot to its rapid economic growth from the
post-war period to the 1990s.
4.1 Willingness to learn
— The Japanese always loved to learn from foreign countries and be exposed to new
knowledge, leading to the success of the Meiji Modernisation.
— This could also explain why Japan was able to develop new industries, such as
petrochemistry, automobile, semi-conductor and video gaming after WWII.
4.2 Obedience and sacrifices
— Japanese Bushido and education require people to obey their superiors, and even to
sacrifice for them.
— This led to the rise of militarism before WWII. However, when the government focused
on economic recovery after WWII, the tradition united the people under the government’s
lead.
4.3 Savings and investment
— Japanese Bushido and education also encourage savings. Therefore, most people did not

Revision notes
spend much even though their income increased a lot after WWII. Instead, they deposit
their savings in banks.
— In 1965, the private deposit rate was 16.8% in Japan. In 1975, it rose to 23%. In 1990, it
even increased to 24.7 %. The savings of the people became the major source of capital
for Japanese enterprises.
— On the other hand, Japanese companies usually re-invested their profits instead of paying
a large amount of dividends to shareholders. This helped to speed up Japan’s economic
development.
4.4 Unique management style
— Unlike the West, Japan had unique management style. For example, it had a life -time
employment system and a wage system that allowed older employees to achieve a higher
salary (the seniority-wage system). This management style resulted in a stable
employment rate and a harmonious working environment.
— The managers of many companies took great care of their employees as if they were sons
and daughters. A sense of belonging therefore developed among the employees.
— In addition, many Japanese companies established unions for their staff to resolve labour
disputes and to increase work efficiency.
iv. Economic development from 1990-2000

1 Overview: Negative economic growth
— The Tokyo stock market crashed twice in August 1990 and February 1992. The Nikkei
Stock Average fell sharply from a record high of about 38,000 in 1989 to about 14,000 in
1992, a decline of 63%.
— Property prices also fell. The fall of land price increased from 4.6 % in 1992 to 8.4% in
1993.
— As a result, Japan plunged into a deep recession. Many banks and businesses closed down
due to bad debts. In 1991, over 10,000 enterprises were closed down.
— Most companies gave up the life-time employment system and the seniority-wage system.
They cut salaries, reduced the number of employees and forced some of them to retire.
— In the 1990s, Japan’s GNP growth rate was only 1.3%. Between 1998 and 1999, Japan’s
GNP even recorded negative growth.
— Japan’s fiscal deficit continued to increase. By 2000, the national and regional
governments had already accumulated debts exceeding 1.4% of its GNP. Japan’s
economy had not yet recovered.
2 Factors leading to negative economic growth
2.1 Trade disputes between the US and Japan
— In 1965, Japan reversed its trade deficit with the US. Afterwards, the trade gap between
the two countries continued to become wider. For example, the volume of Japan’s car
exports to the US increased six times in 20 years. Economic friction between the US and

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Japan grew acute.

— In the late 1980s, the US levied a 100% punitive tariff on semi-conductors, calculators
and colour televisions made in Japan. In the mid-1990s, the same tariff was also levied on
Japanese cars. Japan’s exports were badly hit.
— The US believed that the closed agricultural market in Japan was the reason for its weak
exports. Therefore, under the pressure of the US, Japan reached an agreement with the
US in 1993 to gradually open up its market for rice and other agricultural products. This
hindered the domestic sales volume of Japan’s agricultural products.
2.2 Revaluation of the Japanese yen
— From 1973, Japan no longer maintained a fixed exchange rate between the US dollar and
Japanese yen under the pressure from the US.
— Due to Japan’s economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, the Japanese yen grew in value.
Three months after Japan signed the Plaza Accord in 1985, the exchange rate of the
Japanese yen rose by 20%.
— This increased the prices of Japanese exports, and that negatively affected Japan’s exports
and slowed down its real GNP growth rate.
— In addition, the increase in value of the Japanese yen also encouraged speculation. A large
amount of capital entered into the stock and property markets, leading to a bubble
economy.
2.3 Over-investment
— Japan’s stock prices had a twofold increase in the 1970s and another fourfold increase in
the 1980s. The rise in stock prices largely exceeded the growth in GNP.
— Many enterprises borrowed money from banks for financial speculation. An economic
bubble was thus created.
— In the late 1980s, many enterprises made large profits because of the rise in property
prices in urban areas. They therefore built more factories to increase production, resulting
in over-production and reduction in the return on investment.
➢ For example, 3 million cars were overproduced at that time in Japan.
— Since over-investment and over-production had led to excessive borrowing and a
decrease in corporate profits, Japan’s economic bubble finally burst in the early 1990s.
The two stock market crashes drove many companies into bankruptcy. Many banks also
faced the problem of bad debt.
2.4 Suppression of over-investment by the Japanese government
— To suppress the soaring stocks and property market, the Japanese government gradually
tightened its credits to halt speculative capital. Yet, it sped up the burst of the bubble
economy.
— Between 1987 and 1990, the government drastically raised the interest rate five times
from 2.5% to 6%.
— In 1991, the government further devised a land value tax to collect taxes from land

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owners. This discouraged speculative activities of land and led to a fall of land prices.
— In 1997, Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro decided to increase the sale tax by 3-5%,
further weakening consumer confidence.
C Social development after WWII

i. Society with great freedom
— Japan’s society after WWII became more liberal due to the democratisation and
demilitarisation policies of the SCAP government.
— According to the new constitution, Japanese were called ‘people’ instead of ‘subjects’.
They were no longer subordinate to the Emperor, and the Emperor could not take away
their basic rights at will.
— Besides, more human rights were guaranteed, such as equality before the law, gender
equality and academic freedom.
— The SCAP government abolished the National Textbook System and issued new
curriculum guidelines. Schools had to promote peace and democracy instead of war and
obedience.
— Words such as tanks and warships were prohibited in textbooks. Teachers who had
advocated militarism were dismissed.
— In the religious aspect, the SCAP government ordered that the state should be separated
from Shintoism. Shintoism could no longer be Japan’s state religion. No religious gro ups
could receive privileges from the state.
— Under the new constitution, Japanese enjoyed religious freedom. By 1990, the number of
Japanese Christians amounted to 1.5 million. The numbers of believers of Shintoism and
Buddhism were around 10 million each.
— The SCAP government also allowed workers to form labour unions and conduct
collective bargaining.
ii. Extension of universal education

— The SCAP government extended compulsory education to nine years to require all
Japanese children to finish junior secondary education.
— It also established a tertiary education system, including three-year senior secondary
education and four-year undergraduate education or two-year post-secondary education
(known as short-term universities or junior colleges).
— The number of schools continued to increase. Gradually, Japan became one of the
countries that had the highest rate of universal education.
— According to statistics in 1997, the literacy rate of Japanese aged fifteen or above was
almost 100%. The average time in school for its citizens was around twelve years. The
enrolment rate of senior secondary school was over 90%.
— Before WWII, Japan only had a few state universities for elite. Many universities were

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built throughout the country after WWII.

— In 1997, 48% of the school age teenagers received university education. Between 1963
and 1973, the number of Japanese master’s students rose from 3,000 per year to 12,000
per year.
— Japan’s rapid post-war economic growth enhanced social mobility. As education was seen
as a key to raise social status, parents would try their best to send their children to famous
schools and put great pressure on them.
iii. Urbanisation
— Post-war economic growth created more employment in the cities, which led to rapid
urbanisation and a reduction of the working population in agriculture from 34% in 1955
to 19% in 1970.
— In the 1950s and 1960s, around 1 million people migrated from villages to cities each
year. Cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya developed rapidly. Between 1950 and 1970,
the population in Tokyo rose by 5 million.
— In 1950, the urban population in Japan only accounted for 38% of the total population. In
1975, it rose to 75%. By the late 20th century, it increased to 80%.
— Regarding transportation, the underground railway systems had covered most major cities
in Japan, including Nagoya, Kobe, Yokohama, Kyoto, Fukuoka, etc. In 1964, the Tokaido
Shinkansen high-speed railway line, which connected Tokyo and Osaka, came into
operation. The transportation time dropped from eight hours to four hours.
— By 2000, there were seven Shinkansen high-speed railway lines in service, including the
Akita Shinkansen high-speed railway line connecting regions in Northeast Japan. This
made travelling in Japan more convenient.
— As for highways, the highway connecting Nagoya and Kobe was in full operation.
— The development of air transport grew fast. From the late 1950s to late 1963, the
kilometres of domestic freights in Japan increased from 6,700 to 32,000 kilometres.
— Rapid urbanisation also caused serious pollution. For example, many factories released
toxins, such as mercury and sulphurous acid, into the sea and the air in the 1950s and
1960s, causing the ‘four big pollution diseases’. It harmed the residents’ health and led to
loss of human lives and property.
iv. Narrowing rural-urban disparity

— The government was concerned that the reduction of the rural population would create
serious social problems. Since the LDP wanted to gain support of the peasants, the
government set a price floor for rice to secure the income of peasants.
— The price of rice in Japan was thus threefold higher than that of the world market in the
1960s.
— By 1975, the average income of peasants came close to that of the workers. The Japanese

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government also put in more resources to develop villages. The amount increased from
1.3 billion yen in 1965 to 19.2 billion yen in 1971. It aimed to increase the peasants’
standard of living by improving the roads and water conservancy facilities.
— The railway system shortened the distance between villages and cities. People in the
villages could have a better chance to receive higher education.
— Although there was a great difference in the population density between villages and
cities, the rural-urban disparity was narrowed after WWII.
v. Improvements in material life

— In the early post-war period, the ‘three treasures’ were blackand- white television,
laundrymachine and refrigerator. In the late 1960s, colour television, air conditioner and
car became the new ‘three treasures’.
— In the late 1980s, most families owned hitech products, such as hi-fi, air conditioners and
video games. The ownership rate was between 50% and 80%.
— The wealth gap in Japan had narrowed. In the late 1960s, over 80% of Japanese believed
that they belonged to the middle class.
— In 1965, only 300,000 Japanese travelled overseas, but most of them travelled for
business. However, the number of Japanese people travelled abroad increased to 3 million
in 1980 and 10 million in 1990. Most of them were tourists with high purchasing power.
— In addition, the income of the Japanese increased. They had a greater demand on leisure
activities. Japanese popular culture, such as films, comics and pop songs, grew popular
and spread quickly in different parts of Asia.
— However, the quality of life in Japan was worse than that of the Western countries due to
overpopulation.
— Owing to the high cost of housing in cities, the mortgage on a house had to be repaid by
two generations of an ordinary family.
— Besides, the traffic congestion in the cities was very serious even though the railway
system of Japan was very modernised and efficient.
vi. Slight improvements in workers’ welfare

— In the 1950s and 1960s, Japan underwent rapid economic growth. Most of the large
enterprises offered a wide range of staff welfare to keep the talents, including medical
service, housing allowance and different kinds of activities. However, this was not the
case for workers in small factories.
— Thus, the government introduced the National Pension system and the Health Insurance
Scheme in 1961. Moreover, it provided financial assistance and health care services for
the victims of pollution. Therefore, more Japanese workers could enjoy welfare.
— In the 1980s, the ageing problem became more apparent. To avoid the heavy medical
insurance expenses, the government shifted the social welfare burden to the people.

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— In addition, Japanese had very long working hours. Some even worked over 100 hours
per week, triggering the phenomenon of ‘overwork death’.
➢ In 1990, the annual average working hours of Japanese employees reached 2,200
hours, which was 10% more than that of the US.
— Therefore, the Japanese people were not quite satisfied with the social welfare system
despite the fact that they enjoyed more welfare after WWII.
vii. Changes in the population and family structures

— After WWII, Japan experienced a baby boom. Between 1947 and 1949, 7 million babies
were born. Between 1945 and 1955, the overall population increased to 18.6 million.
— Later, the government attempted to control the birth rate. In 1948, it announced the
legalisation of abortion. In the 1950s, the number of abortion cases was over 1 million.
— In the 1990s, the proportion of late marriage and people remaining single continued to
rise. Hence, the fertility rate in Japan dropped from 2.14 in 1965 to 1.34 in 1999.
— Besides, the life expectancy in Japan rose steadily. In 1977, the average life span of
Japanese men and women were 73 and 78 respectively. An ageing population was
resulted due to a low birth rate and a low death rate.
— Between 1970 and 1998, the proportion of elderly in Japan’s population rose from 7% to
16%. The speed of ageing in Japan was the fastest among the developed countries.
— On the other hand, the average number of family members in a Japanese family continued
to fall. Before 1975, most families had had four to six members. After 1975, traditional
big families had been replaced by nuclear families. 50% of the families had only one to
three family members.
— Families comprising members that were single and lived alone, or married with no
children became more common. As this reflected, Japan shared similarities to the Western
countries. The youngsters tended to start their own families.
viii. Improved status of women

— The SCAP government actively promoted gender equality.
— In the first election for the House of Representatives in 1946, 39 women were elected as
members, accounting for nearly 10% of the total number of seats.
— According to the constitution enacted in 1947, men and women had the right to vote. The
constitution also guaranteed women the same rights as men on the matters of marriage,
divorce and heritage.
— Since the 1980s, the government had protected women’s rights through law.
➢ According to the Nationality Law revised in 1984, children born by a Japanese
mother and a non-Japanese father could still obtain Japanese nationality.
➢ In 1985, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act was passed. It safeguarded
women’s equality in hiring, job training and promotion.

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➢ In 1996, the Tokyo District Court ruled that thirteen female former bank employees
were being discriminated during their work in the bank. They received compensation
amounting to US$ 1 million.
— However, men still maintained superior status in society.
— For a long period of time after WWII, most of the women received education in the
short-term universities, whereas men mostly studied in the four-year universities. In the
four-year universities, the number of male students was far more than that of the female
students.
— Female graduates were mostly assigned to clerical work. Management positions were
occupied by men.
— Some employers even saw female graduates as tools to boost the morale of male staff in
offices.
— The salaries of women fell short of the salaries of men. According to statistics in 1999,
over 63% of women earned less than 3 million yen in annual salary, and this percentage
was higher than that of men by 16%. In contrast, 25% of men obtained an annual salary
of 7 million yen or above, whereas only 3% of women had this amount of salary.
— From the 1950s-1970s, the income tax rate of a married couple would be greatly reduced
if one spouse had an income of less than 10,000 yen. As a result, many women chose to
resign and become housewives after getting married.
— In addition, until the early 1990s, many Japanese companies retained the practice of
requesting women to resign after they got married.
ix. Popularised Western culture

— Japan had been one of the most Westernised countries in Asia before WWII. It became
even more Westernised after 1945:
➢ Clothing: Both men and women wore Western-style clothing. They would only wear
traditional Japanese-style clothing in some important festivals.
➢ Cuisine: American fast food became very popular.
➢ Culture: Western pop songs, comics and movies were widely accepted.
➢ Daily living: People pursued free love and became more materialistic.
x. Preserving traditional values and cultural practices

— Japanese preserved various traditional cultures and practices. For example, they would
put on traditional Japanese-style clothing in important festivals. Schools emphasised the
teaching of traditional virtues, such as team spirits and obedience.
— In addition, Shintoism was still the most popular religion in Japan. Many Japanese would
pay a formal shrine visit in the New Year. Some would celebrate the birth of a baby and
get married in the shrine.
— Although traditional culture, such as tea ceremony, kendo (a martial art using bamboo

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swords) and enka (a music genre resembling traditional Japanese music), became less
popular compared with popular culture, Japanese actively preserved and promoted it.
D Political, economic and cultural relations with other Asian countries

— Before WWII, Japan’s foreign policies had been influenced by the theory of‘Departure
from Asia for Europe’. It followed the example of the Western powers, established
colonies and seized economic benefits.
— After WWII, Japan adopted a peaceful diplomatic strategy under the US occupation.
Further affected by the Cold War, Japan followed the US diplomatic policy between 1945
and 1971.
— As Japan grew into an economic superpower, it regained its diplomatic autonomy in 1972.
Since 1982, it had become a great power in Asia.
— The shift in Japan’s diplomatic policies greatly affected the political, economic and
cultural relationships between Japan and the Asian countries.
Changes in Japan's post-war diplomatic strategies
Year Development
Following The It followed the US strategy of containing communism in Asia. It had no
the US 1950s intent to establish normal diplomatic relations with China and North
diplomatic Korea.
policy 1951 Under the US arrangement, Japan signed the Treaty of San Francisco and
paid reparations to some Southeast Asian countries. It hoped to re-build
relationships with the Southeast Asian countries and enter the local
markets.
1957 Kishi Nobusuke served as Prime Minister. He proposed economic
diplomacy and sought to develop diplomatic relations with other Asian
countries.
Regaining 1972 ➢ Tanaka Kakuei served as Prime Minister. He hoped that Japan could
its rely less on the US foreign policy. He eagerly promoted diplomatic
diplomatic autonomy.
autonomy ➢ It followed the lessening of the Cold War and established normal
diplomatic relations with China.
1977 Due to waves of anti-Japanese demonstrations in Southeast Asia, Japan
realised that developing economic relations with the Southeast Asian
countries alone was inadequate. At the same time, the then-Prime
Minister Fukuda Takeo gave a speech that was later known as the Fukuda
Doctrine. Fukuda announced that Japan would not become a military
power. He emphasised that Japan would establish political, social and
cultural relations with Southeast Asian countries on an equal basis.

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Becoming 1982 Nakasone Yasuhiro served as Prime Minister. He proposed that Japan had
a great to transform itself from a pure economic power into a political power. It
power in should have more say in world’s politics and took up more responsibility
Asia in the world.
1990 Prime Minister Kaifu Toshiki advocated the development of pro-active
diplomacy and visited 19 countries.
1994 Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi expressed that Japan would humbly
reflect upon the disaster it brought to Asian countries during WWII. He
apologised verbally in order to clear these countries’ doubts over Japan.
i. Political relations
— Although Japan regained its autonomy after 1952, the US continued to have great
influence on its diplomacy.
— Japan was the anti-communist ally of the US. Therefore, in the 1950s and 1960s, Japan
did not establish diplomatic relations with the communist countries in Asia.
— As for other non-communist countries, Japan re-built its relationships with them through
war reparations or economic aid.
— In the 1970s, Japan became the world’s second greatest economic power. It did not want
to remain a politically weak country. Instead, it wanted to stop following the US lead and
to achieve diplomatic autonomy.
— Thanks to the changing Cold War situation, the relationships between Japan and Asian
countries had further improved.
— In the 1980s, the influence of the US and the USSR in East Asia and Southeast Asia was
declining, and Japan took the chance to fill up this power vacuum.
— During the period 1982-1987, Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro decided to transform
Japan into a political power. He increased its diplomatic activities and exceeded the
military expenditure limit (less than 1% of the GNP).
— Therefore, the political relations between Japan and other Asian countries became much
closer. Japan also took up a more important role in Asian affairs.
1 Relations with South Korea and North Korea
1.1 South Korea
— Korea had been a colony of Japan for 36 years, during which the Korean people were
under oppressive rule and their economic resources were exploited. Although it was
divided into North Korea and South Korea after WWII, people in both places hated
Japan.
— In 1950, Japan supported the US intervention in the Korean War against North Korea.
— After the Korean War ended in 1953, the US needed South Korea and Japan to be its
partners in the containment of communism. It arranged for the two countries to establish
normal diplomatic relations in 1965. Japan also paid reparations and offered loans to

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South Korea.
— However, the establishment of diplomatic relations did not greatly improve the
relationship between the Japanese and the Koreans.
— When the South Korean dissident leader Kim Dae-jung went into exile in Japan in 1973,
he was kidnapped by agents of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. This violated
Japan’s sovereignty. The relationship between Japan and South Korea grew tense.
— Japan’s Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro visited South Korea in 1983 and promised to
provide 4 billion yen loans to South Korea and tried to mend the relations between Japan
and South Korea.
➢ In 1984, South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan visited Japan. Emperor Showa
was deeply regretted for Japan’s atrocity in South Korea during the colonial period.
➢ In 1990, South Korean President Roh Tae-woo visited Japan. Emperor Akihito
admitted that the sufferings of South Korea in the past were caused by Japan.
— Since then, there had been more political co-operation between Japan and South Korea.
— In October 1997, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited Japan. Next year,
Japanese Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo and Kim signed the Japan-South Korea Joint
Declaration. It extended the degree of political cooperation and strengthened
communication in the diplomatic aspect and national defence in order to tackle North
Korea’s nuclear threats.
— However, issues such as the colonial history, war reparations and territorial disputes over
Dokdo continued to bring challenges to the relationship between Japan and South Korea.
The South Koreans could hardly overcome their anti-Japanese feelings.
1.2 North Korea
— In 1948, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was established. It
adopted communism. Under the influence of the Cold War, Japan, a member of the
capitalist bloc, did not recognise the North Korean regime. It further provided aid to the
US during the Korean War.
— Although the relationship between Japan and South Korea normalised, Japan’s
relationship with North Korea had no breakthroughs.
— Japan started to establish a normal relationship with North Korea only by the end of the
Cold War in the 1990s. In the early 1990s, both countries had meetings but no significant
improvement was achieved.
— Between 1992 and 1994, two nuclear crises broke out in the Korean Peninsula. Moreover,
North Korea launched missiles towards the Sea of Japan. However, Japanese then -Prime
Minister Murayama Tomiichi opposed isolating North Korea. To tackle the nuclear crisis
through talks, he pushed for meetings between the US and North Korea.
— By the late 20th century, both countries had not established a formal diplomatic
relationship with each other.

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2 Relations with China

2.1 The 1950s and the 1960s
— In 1950, the Korean War broke out. Japan became the base for the US military. In 1951,
Japan signed the Mutual Security Pact with the US. Therefore, Japan was in hostility
against China.
— In 1952, the US ended its occupation in Japan. However, Japan followed the footstep of
the US in the diplomatic aspect. Under the anti-communist containment policy of the US,
Japan played a key role in isolating the Communist government of China during the Cold
War.
— Therefore, it had no official relations with China, and China did not recognise the Treaty
of San Francisco.
— On the other hand, the two countries remained in contact because they both needed to
import daily necessities from each other. Japanese enterprises hoped to get industrial raw
materials, such as iron ore from China.
— In 1952, China and Japan signed the First Non-governmental Trade Agreement to carry
out limited trade. The number of Chinese missions to Japan continued to rise. By 1955 ,
there had been fifteen missions.
— Yet, after Kishi Nobusuke became Japanese Prime Minister in 1957, he was hostile
towards China. Furthermore, he even visited Taiwan, which further hindered the
Sino-Japanese relations.
— In 1958, the Nagasaki National Flag Incident occurred. During a Chinese stamp
exhibition held at a department store in Nagasaki, members of a Japanese right -wing
group pulled down the Chinese flag. China strongly resented against the way Japan
handled this incident, and ended all relations with Japan.
— Later, Japan strove to improve relations with China. In 1959, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai
invited Japanese Prime Minister Ishibashi Tanzan to visit China.
— As the economic development in Japan sped up, Japan started to modify its diplomatic
policies and to work on improving relations with China.
➢ In 1962, Japan signed the Memorandum Concerning Sino-Japanese Trade. This
signified that the Sino-Japanese relations had raised to a semi-official level.
➢ In 1965, Japan opened its government office in Beijing. In the following year, the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry started sending staff members there.
2.2 The 1970s
— In the early 1970s, the Cold War came to the détente. Moreover, the Sino- Soviet relations
worsened due to the Zhenbao Island Incident and the mutual criticism between Mao
Zedong and Nikita Khrushchev. The US therefore changed its policy to co-exist
peacefully with communist countries. It particularly wanted to improve its relations with
China.
— Japan followed the global trend towards the détente and re-established relations with

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China.
— In addition, as private trade and cultural exchanges continued to grow between China and
Japan, the Japanese asked its country to establish relations with China officially. This laid
a foundation for improving relations between the two countries in the 1970s.
— Shortly after the visit of President Nixon of the US to China in February 1972, Japan’s
Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei visited China in September 1972. The Sino-Japanese Joint
Declaration was issued, and China and Japan were no longer in a state of war. Diplomatic
relations between them were officially established.
— Japan also recognised the PRC government as the only government representing China.
To develop friendly relations, China and Japan took a further step to sign the
Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1978.
— Entering the 1980s, Japan and China formed closer relations.
— Apart from providing economic aid and loans to China, Japan also engaged in m ore
political exchanges with China. There were also more official exchanges between the two
countries.
➢ The number of mutual visits between key officials in the two countries increased
from eighteen times in 1983 to 34 times in 1984.
➢ They discussed issues about regional problems, international orders and armament
control. It was crucial in stabilising the situation in Asia.
— During a visit to China in 1991, Prime Minister Kaifu Toshiki stated that the era had
arrived when Sino-Japanese relations should be considered in a global context.
— To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the normalisation of the Sino-Japanese relations,
exchanges of high-level visits were made between China and Japan.
➢ Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, visited Japan in
April 1992 and met with the Japanese Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister
Miyazawa Kiichi.
➢ In the following October, Emperor Akihito paid an official visit to China. He was
the first Emperor of Japan to visit China. During his visit, he openly stated that he
regretted for the Japanese invasion of China.
— In 1995, Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi delivered the Murayama Statement. He
admitted that Japan’s colonial rule and invasion in the past had caused damage and
sufferings to people in many countries.
— In November 1998, Jiang visited Japan in his capacity as President of the PRC. This was
the first visit to Japan from China’s head of state.
— Jiang met with the Japanese Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo. Afterwards, they signed the
Japan-China Joint Declaration and declared the establishment of ‘a partnership of
friendship and co-operation for peace and development’.
— However, China and Japan were drawn into disputes about matters of technology transfer,

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the political status of Taiwan, the history of Japanese invasion of China, and sovereignty
over the Diaoyu Islands. The alliance between the US and Japan also created new
tensions. The Sino-Japanese relations became unstable as a result.
— When Deng Xiaoping met with the leader of the Clean Government Party from Japan in
1987, he criticised Japan for increasing expenditures in national defence, which showed a
tendency towards reviving militarism.
— During his visit to Japan in 1998, Jiang Zemin stressed that Japan had to learn from the
past. Besides, he refused to accept the honorary degree granted by Waseda University,
signifying the tension in the Sino-Japanese relations.
3 Relations with the Southeast Asian countries
— After WWII, Japan always wanted to establish relations with the Southeast Asian
countries because their big markets and rich resources could help it develop into a
political and economic power.
— Besides, Southeast Asia was the key route for Japan’s sea transport. Japan even regarded
the Strait of Malacca as the lifeline. To ensure safe and smooth navigation after the US
withdrawal, Japan had to improve its relations with Southeast Asia.
— However, the resentment over the Japanese invasions during WWII became a hindrance.
It was only because of the US help that Japan could finally establish economic relations
with the Southeast Asian countries.
— In 1951, the US arranged for Japan to sign the Treaty of San Francisco with some
Southeast Asian countries and other Allied Powers.
➢ The Treaty stated that Japan should pay reparations to the countries it had invaded
during WWII, and the reparations could be paid in kind or labour.
➢ Later, Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia asked
Japan for reparations.
— In 1957, Kishi Nobusuke became the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit Southeast Asia
after WWII. He visited countries such as Burma and Thailand.
— However, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Southeast Asian countries remained suspicious of
having diplomatic contact with Japan. Therefore, Japan established pure economic
relations with the Southeast Asian countries. There was not much political contact.
3.2 The 1970s to 1990s
— In 1974, Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei visited the Southeast Asian countries
and encountered many anti-Japanese demonstrations.
— In 1976, Fukuda Takeo served as Prime Minister. In 1977, while he was visiting the
Philippines, he gave a speech that was later known as the Fukuda Doctrine. It became a
turning point in Japan’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia.
➢ Fukuda announced that Japan would not become a military power. He expressed his
hope of establishing relations with Southeast Asian countries in different aspects, not

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just economic relations.

➢ In addition, he emphasised that Japan would establish relations with them on an
equal basis and cultivate ‘heart-to-heart’ relations.
— The Fukuda Doctrine led to closer relations between the Southeast Asian countries and
Japan. It later became Japan’s core policies towards Southeast Asia after the 1970s.
— In 1991, Emperor Akihito of Japan visited the Southeast Asian countries for the first time,
including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
— Japan strengthened its co-operation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
➢ In 1994, it entered the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), promoting talks about
politics and security in the Asian region.
➢ In 1997, it started to participate in the ASEAN Plus Three Summit and play the role
of a political power.
4 Relations with the South Asian countries
— In 1952, Japan signed peace treaties and established formal diplomatic relations with
India and Pakistan.
— However, India adopted a pro-Soviet policy at that time. Geographically, Japan was
closer to North Korea, South Korea, China and Southeast Asian countries. Therefore,
Japan focused on developing relations with these countries. It did not have much political
contact with the South Asian countries.
— In the 1980s, Japan hoped to become a political power. It started to establish stronger
connections with the South Asian countries.
— In 1984, Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro visited India and Pakistan. It had been the
first time for a Japanese Prime Minister to visit these two countries since 1961. This
greatly improved Japan’s relations with India and Pakistan.
— In 1990, Japan even proposed a new principle of developing relations with South Asian
countries, such as providing aid, strengthening economic co-operation and expanding
cultural exchanges. This laid a solid foundation for further communications between
Japan and South Asian countries.
ii. Economic relations

— Many Asian countries remained resentful over Japan’s war crimes. Therefore, Japan tried
to carry out ‘money diplomacy’, paying reparations to the Asian countries or providing
them with economic aid. This enhanced the diplomatic relations between them.
— In addition, Japan had limited natural resources. It had to rely on imported raw materials.
— After WWII, Japan focused on economic reconstruction. In order to gain more
resourcesand develop overseas markets, Japan was eager to develop economic relations
with Asian countries. Gradually, it became the main trading partner and the source of
investment for many countries.

Revision notes
— In order to improve its image, Japan had not required the receiving nations of its
economic aid to purchase Japanese products or hire Japanese labour since the 1980s.
— In 1991, the total amount of its Official Development Assistance exceeded that of the US.
Japan became the biggest aid-providing country in the world, showing that it had become
a world power.
— In addition, Japan was eager to promote economic co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region.
For instance, Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi proposed the Vision for Economic
Co-operation in the Pacific Rim in 1978, leading to more economic co-operation with the
other Asian countries.
1 Relations with South Korea and North Korea
1.1 South Korea
— In 1965, the relations between Japan and South Korea became normalised. It fostered
economic exchanges between the two countries.
— Japan continued to increase its amount of trade and investment in South Korea. In 1977,
it provided US$ 2 billion loans to South Korea. This helped South Korea develop into one
of the ‘four Little Dragons of Asia’ in the 1970s.
— Before 1980, Japan had accounted for 35% of the total foreign investment in South Korea.
Through participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) that was
established in 1989, the economic relations between Japan and South Korea grew even
closer. In 1995, Japan became the host country of APEC. Japan and South Korea
discussed issues including liberalising trade and investments, creating favourable
business and commercial environments, etc.
— In the 1990s, South Korea became Japan’s third biggest trading partner. When South
Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited Japan in 1997, Japan agreed to grant South Korea
US$ 3 billion loans.
— However, Japan’s trade surplus with South Korea continued to widen. For instance, in
1990, Japan’s trade surplus with South Korea reached US$ 6 billion. As a result,
economic conflicts arose between them.
— In addition, the economic competition between the two countries grew fierce. Regarding
the electronic industry, the South Korean enterprises gained the government’s support and
developed rapidly. They gradually seized Japan’s international markets of electronic
products.
1.2 North Korea
— After WWII, North Korea also had to rely on Japan to develop its economy. In the 1950s
and 1960s, the economic interactions between Japan and North Korea started to increase.
North Korea also regarded Japan as the main target for gaining Western technology and
investment.
— In the early 1970s, the restoration of Sino-Japanese relations expanded Japan’s range of
diplomacy. Hence, it encouraged Japanese enterprises to have economic co-operation

Revision notes
with North Korea.

— In 1989, Japan became North Korea’s second biggest trading partner. In 1995, the total
amount of trade between the two countries reached around US$ 600 million. In 1999,
Japan even provided US$ 1 billion loans to North Korea.
2 Relations with China
2.1 The 1950s to 1970s
— Although China and Japan did not establish official relations, the huge market in China
attracted Japanese enterprises and firms. They hoped to revive Japan’s economy through
trading with China. In order to reduce its production cost, the steel industry in Japan
hoped to import raw materials such as iron ore and coal from China.
— Since the signing of the first Japan-China Private Trade Agreement in 1952, Japan and
China had started to trade goods in a limited scale. Japan also held Chinese trade fa irs.
— Since the 1960s, Japan’s economy had grown rapidly. It had closer economic ties with
China.
— After the break up between China and the USSR, China’s main trading partners shifted
towards the capitalist countries such as Japan.
— In 1962, both countries signed the Memorandum Concerning Sino-Japanese Trade and set
up a five-year trade agreement. Bilateral trade increased continuously.
➢ In 1969, the trade volume between the two countries was over US$800 million.
➢ By 1975, it reached US$ 3.8 billion.
— After China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1978,
the relations between China and Japan further improved.
➢ As China was under the period of Reform and Opening-up at that time, China
needed to attract foreign investment that could develop its economy.
➢ As China could provide cheap land and labour, Japan seized the opportunity to
strengthen economic connections with China.
— Japan began to offer a large amount of Official Development Assistance to China and
introduced advanced technology into China. Japanese enterprises soon invested in China.
— In 1984, Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro visited China and declared that Japan would
give it a long-term loan of 470 billion yen. In this way, Japan could get into the Chinese
market and obtain Chinese resources, such as oil and coal.
— Between 1979 and 1988, China received US$ 46.5 billion loans, out of which 30% came
from Japan. Japan became China’s biggest creditor nation.
— Since the mid-1980s, the total volume of Sino-Japanese trade had increased greatly from
US$ 10 billion in 1981 to US$ 39 billion in 1993. China became Japan’s third biggest
trading partner, after the US and South Korea.
— After the June Fourth Incident in 1989, the Western countries imposed economic
sanctions on China. Japan maintained its trade with China, and only froze part of its loans

Revision notes
to China in the short term.

— However, frequent economic contact also brought about conflicts between the two
countries. In the 1990s, China experienced rapid economic development. Gradually,
Japan had changed trade deficit with China. Therefore, Japan demanded China to import
more goods and reform the renminbi exchange rate, resulting in frequent economic
conflicts between the two countries.
— Besides, China was dissatisfied that Japan restricted its exports of military and high
technology goods.
3 Relations with the Southeast Asian countries
3.1 The 1950s to 1970s
— Although the Southeast Asian countries still remembered the Japanese invasions in the
past, they relied heavily on the Japanese loans and aid to maintain the development of
their domestic economies (except Singapore). Therefore, Japan’s relations with Southeast
Asian countries had been restricted to economic in nature until the early 1970s.
— On the other hand, the Japanese government adopted a hostile policy towards China in
the 1950s. As a result, it hoped to develop economic relations with the Southeast Asian
countries in order to replace the loss of the Chinese markets.
— In addition, Japan lacked natural resources. It had to import huge amounts of raw
materials, such as rubber, copper and tin, from the Southeast Asian countries.
— After the First Oil Crisis of 1973, in view of the sharp rise in oil prices, Japan was more
eager to look for energy resources in Southeast Asia in order to maintain its industrial
production. Therefore, it highly valued the relations with the Southeast Asian countries
and devoted to obtain more oil resources.
— According to the Treaty of San Francisco signed in 1951, Japan had to pay reparations to
the Southeast Asian countries it invaded during WWII. Yet, the reparations could be paid
in kind and labour services. This settlement helped Japanese enterprises entered into the
Southeast Asian markets.
— The payment of reparations also provided a good chance for Japan to establish relations
with the Southeast Asian countries.
— Japan built for them hydropower stations, railways, roads and factories. As a result, Japan
exported a large number of heavy industrial products to the Southeast Asian countries, as
well as provided them with grants and loans.
— However, the grants and loans were mostly ‘tied aid’, which could only be used to buy
Japanese products or hire Japanese labour.
— The economy in Southeast Asia became more and more dependent on Japan.
➢ Between 1969 and 1971, the dependency of the Southeast Asian countries on
Japanese products increased from 29% to 34%.
➢ In 1969, Japanese capital accounted for one-third of the foreign investment in
Thailand. Japan made up 36% of the total amount of trade in Thailand.

Revision notes
➢ In 1976, Japan’s direct investment in Southeast Asia reached US$ 2.9 billion.
— Japan held firmly the economic pulse of the Southeast Asian countries, which led to
anti-Japanese resentment there.
➢ For instance, in November 1972, a boycott of Japanese products broke out in
Bangkok, Thailand. It called for the public not to buy the Japanese products or go to
the Japanese restaurants.
— Japan had invested heavily in the Southeast Asian countries since the 1980s and had
become their biggest trading partner. From 1986-1989, Japan’s investment in ASEAN
countries increased five times, and another five times by 1993.
— In addition, since the 1980s, Japan had assisted the Southeast Asian countries to develop
the Mekong River Basin. Moreover, it expanded its economic aid to Southeast Asia. For
example, 65% of its aid was given to the Southeast Asian countries in the 1990s.
— In 1989, APEC was established. Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand had closer
economic co-operation.
— In the 1990s, the Southeast Asian countries made up 30% of Japan’s total amount of
exports. This exceeded the amount of Japanese goods exported to the US. Southeast Asia
became a key export market for Japan.
— Although the Southeast Asian countries benefited from Japan’s investment and economic
aid, they had trade deficits with Japan for a long time.
— Japan also strictly controlled the exports and transfer of advanced technology. Therefore,
the Southeast Asian countries were resentful against Japan’s domination over their
economies.
iii. Cultural relations

1 More frequent cultural exchanges
— The Japanese invasion led to anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea. Therefore, South
Korea resisted the penetration of Japanese culture after the War. It banned Japanese songs,
films and television shows from spreading in the country.
— On the other hand, Japan and the people of some Asian countries also maintained limited
cultural contact. For example, Chinese Peking opera artist Mei Lanfang performed in
Japan in 1956. An exhibition of Chinese stamps was held in Nagasaki in 1958.
— Since the relations between Japan and Asian countries improved, there had been more
cultural exchanges. In 1965, fifteen cities in China held activities promoting friendships
between the Chinese and Japanese youth. In 1972, China sent Shanghai Ballet Company
to perform in Japan.
— In 1979, Japan and China agreed to build China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
— The number of Japanese visiting China continued to rise from 190,000 in 1983 to 280,000
in 1984. The number of exchange students in the two countries rose sharply.

Revision notes
— On the other hand, after the signing of the Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration in 1998,
South Korea removed sanctions against Japanese films, comics, etc.
— In 1996, Japan co-operated with South Korea to win the right to co-host the 2002 FIFA
World Cup.
2 Promotion of Japanese culture
— To alleviate the hostility of the Asian countries towards Japan, the Japanese government
sought to improve its international image and promote Japanese culture eagerly.
— In 1968, Japan established the Agency for Cultural Affairs, coorganised the International
Exchange Year with other Asian countries and sent its arts organisations to perform
abroad.
— In 1972, Japan set up Japan Foundation to spread Japanese culture. For instance, it held
talks and exhibitions about Japanese culture abroad. It also provided Japanese films and
television programmes with subtitles in foreign languages for various countries.
— In addition, to promote friendship between Japan and Asian countries, Japanese private
and semi-official organisations were eager to set up Japanese language courses and hold
cultural exchange programmes in Asian countries.
3 Spread of Japanese popular culture
— Japan’s economy developed rapidly after the 1950s. The rising income of the Japanese
boosted their demand for entertainment. Different forms of popular culture, such as
television drama series, movies, comics, video games and pop music, were well -liked by
the young generation, and spread quickly to other Asian countries.
— Since the 1980s, Nakasone Yasuhiro had proposed to transform Japan into a political
power. Japan also continued to promote Japanese pop culture, playing the role of a
cultural power.
— Some Asian companies imported Japanese movies, comics and pop music to their
countries.
— In addition, some businessmen copied the Japanese styles and made similar products.
— At the same time, Japanese companies exported their pop cultural products to other Asian
countries.
— The spread of Japanese comics and pop music made many other Asian people gradually
accept other aspects of Japanese culture, such as Japanese food, karaoke and electronic
games.
— By the end of the 20th century, Japan had established itself as a cultural power in Asia.
iv. Factors hindering the improvement of relations between Japan and other Asian
countries
— The Japanese governments after the 1980s shared Nakasone Yasuhiro’s hope of
strengthening Japan’s position as a political power. However, the following problems
hindered the realisation of this hope.

Revision notes
1 Denials of aggression and falsification of history textbooks

— Some Japanese people, organisations and officials believed that Japan’s military activities
in WWII were not acts of aggression.
— They vigorously argued that the Japanese troops only ‘entered’ China at the time and that
the Nanjing Massacre took place simply because the Japanese troops had been attacked
by Chinese armed forces and civilians.
— In addition, they emphasised that the occupation of Southeast Asian countries during
WWII was only aimed at liberating Asians from Western exploitation.
— In 1982, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture allowed the above opinions to be
included in history textbooks. This act drew serious criticisms from other Asian countr ies
that had been invaded by Japan.
— Although the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture was forced to amend the
textbooks eventually, it approved the falsification of history textbooks every few years.
2 Official visits to Yasukuni Shrine
— The Yasukuni Shrine was mainly a place of worship for Japanese militarists who had
sacrificed their lives for Japan in WWII, including war criminals like Tojo Hideki. They
were all honoured by the Japanese as the ‘Showa martyrs’.
— For a long time, the existence of the Shrine showed that Japanese militarism had not died
out.
— Nakasone Yasuhiro and some Prime Ministers often paid official visits to the Shrine. The
visits caused the fear of the revival of Japanese militarism among other Asian countries.
3 Refusal to pay reparations to Asian peoples
— Japan caused great miseries to many Asian peoples in WWII, including massacres, forced
sales of private properties, forced labour and ‘comfort women’.
— After WWII, many Asian governments did not claim reparations from Japan, but the
Asian peoples and non-governmental organisations did not give up this right.
Nevertheless, their claims were rejected by the Japanese courts for several times.
— The Japanese government claimed that the peace treaties signed with each country had
already solved the disputes of war reparations. It refused to compensate ‘comfort
women’.
— In 1995, the Japanese government established an organisation named Asian Women’s
Fund. Through private donations, it offered ‘comfort women’ the atonement money (later
called the compensation money).
— However, most ‘comfort women’ protested against it. They insisted that Japan must give
formal apology and the compensation should come from the government directly.
4 Territorial disputes with China and South Korea
— Since the Sino-Japanese War, Japan had gained the territory of Taiwan and its
neighbouring islands, including the Diaoyu Islands (known as the Senkaku Islands in
Japanese).

Revision notes
— According to the post-war arrangements, Japan had to return all the territories it had
taken through wars from other countries in the past.
— However, the Diaoyu Islands were seen as part of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan and was
mandated by the US. In 1972, the US returned the prefecture together with the islands to
Japan. Thereafter, the Diaoyu Islands led to diplomatic disputes between Japan and China.
Both sides claimed sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.
— In 1990, the Japanese government allowed Japanese right-wing groups to repair the
lighthouses on the Diaoyu Islands. This incident triggered formal protests from China
against Japan.
— In the late 20th century, Chinese from around the world held large-scale anti-Japanese
demonstrations because of the Diaoyu Islands.
— Japan also had territorial disputes with South Korea over Dokdo (known as Takeshima in
Japanese).
— After WWII, Japan agreed to give up the Korean Peninsula. However, it claimed that
Dokdo did not belong to South Korea. Both Japan and South Korea took Dokdo as part of
their territory. They insisted on their sovereignty over the island.
— Till now, the two countries are still not able to solve the sovereignty dispute over Dokdo
between them. Yet, the island has actually been administered by South Korea.
— Japan’s territorial disputes with China and South Korea were closely related to the
scramble of economic resources.
— Japan was a country lacking in natural resources. However, the territorial waters of
Diaoyu Islands and Dokdo had rich marine resources and natural gases. That is the main
reason that Japan took a firm stance over these territorial disputes.
5 Rebuilding its military power
— To alter its image as a pure economic power, Japan sent 500 members of its Self -Defence
Forces to help removing sea mines in the Persian Gulf after the Gulf War in 1991. This
act broke the post-war constitutional restrictions on Japan’s overseas military operations.
— Besides, Japan’s military expenditures continued to increase. By the end of the 20th
century, Japan’s budget for national defence ranked second in the world, only after the
US.
— Japan had strong economic foundation and advanced technological development. It was
not hard for Japan to redevelop itself into a military power.
— In Japan, there have been calls for revising the ‘Peace Constitution’ and establishing
formal armed forces.
— The above trends made the Asian countries cautious against Japan. This also affected the
regional stability in Asia.
6 Taiwan Issue
— In 1995, the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan grew worse. The mainland
conducted missile tests in the waters surrounding Taiwan. Some Japanese officials

Revision notes
worried that the act was not only to target Taiwan, but also was meant to check Japan.
— The incident also raised the concerns of the US. Therefore, Japan and the US pronounced
the Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security in 1996. It stated that whenever incidents
broke out in the regional territories of the Korean Peninsula, the US military could send
its army from its military base in Japan for intervention.
— The mainland believed that Japan and the US jointly established a securit y framework
because they took it as an imaginary enemy. Hence, the Taiwan Issue worsened the
Sino-Japanese relations.

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New Century World History

3 Modernisation and Transformation of Japan and

1 A constitutional monarchy infused with Japanese tradition

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access to the Emperor.

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the Army and Navy.

ii. Diplomatic conditions

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alliances with the Western powers.

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Japan in case of an American-Japanese war. This greatly disfavoured the US.

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iii. Economic conditions

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iv. Social conditions

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in the Western democratic countries during the early 20th century.

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leaving the dormitories.

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the early 20th century.

Impact of Western cultures on Japan

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B Rise of militarism and its impact

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ii. Factors leading to the rise of Japanese militarism

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2 Weaknesses of the party government

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Anti-Western nationalism started to develop.

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iii. Impact of militarism on Japan

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cover the huge military expenses.

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5 Enduring war destruction and consequences of the defeat

iv. Impact of Japanese militarism on Asia

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industries in Manchuria. It built roads and airports. Manchuria became a highly

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affected the course of WWII.

II Reconstruction and growth after WWII

— After WWII, Japan was occupied by the US troops.

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iii. New constitution

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not dissolve the Diet.

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iv. Resuming to party politics

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v. Features of Japan’s politics after the occupation

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B Economic recovery and growth after WWII

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