Modern History of Japan

The Tokugawas ruled Japan over the 15th generation from 1600, and during that time there was no major war.

However, the 15th generation Tokugawa Yoshinobu did not maintain its former authority because it had an unfair treaty with Western countries.
So he decided to return to the emperor and avoid civil war.
Because at that time, many other Asian countries were colonial of Europe, and he wanted to avoid Japan becoming colonial.
And Japan tried to build an equal relationship with Europe and the United States by enriching the country and strengthening its military power.

Meiji

Westernization

In the Meiji era, the goal of the country was to increase the industrial power of the country and to increase its military strength.
Therefore Japan actively learned Western technology.
For example, Japan studied engine technology from the United Kingdom, studied medicine from Germany, and studied gas lamp technology from France.

2 Wars

Ironically, an increase in national power leads to war.
The war with China began in 1984, fighting for territorial rights over Korea and a part of China.
Japan who won this will also war with Russia for the same reason. Even in this war, Japan barely won, but suffered a great deal of damage.

Taisho

WW1

Japan will participate in World War II and will again fight China.
Japan, which was on the Allied side, became practically winner, and Japan became a boomer economy, but domestically ran out of food due to soaring prices.

People who run out of rice and cause riots

Great Kanto Earthquake

Tokyo meets the biggest earthquake damage ever made.
This turns Japan into a recession.

Shouwa

WW2

Japan which continued the aggression war is gradually isolated.
Therefore, Japan has formed an alliance with Germany and Italy.
And, the United States notified that Japan would stop supplying resources if it did not release part of its territory.
Then, Japan launched a first strike without a declaration in 1941.
This triggered the war between Japan and the United States.
The victory continues at first, but due to scarcity of Japan’s resources, the battle situation gets tougher.
The United States took control of the airspace, and Germany was defeat, and then defeat is .
Japan is bombed in various places, dropped atomic bombs and lost to war.

High Economic Growth

The fierce air strikes and defeats turned Japan into a poor country.
However, after this, Japan has grown rapidly due to the special demand for weapons from the Korean War and the Tokyo Olympics.
By 1968 Japan became the world’s second largest economy with GDP.
On the other hand, people’s QoL was not considered, and they were plagued by pollution and stress from overwork.

Heisei

Collapse of bubble economy and resession

The booming economy did not last forever, and a major economic crisis occurred. After this, Japan’s economy has not grown for 30 years.

New Entartainment appered

While not growing economically, a new culture was born. The games, manga, animation, etc. that were born in this era are especially representative of Japanese culture.