Why did Japan become an imperialistic country?
First of all Japan had a military history. The military was always considered an honorable profession. The Samurai, with his code of “Bushido” was an important figure in Japanese history. For centuries Japan was divided into clans with the “daimyo” or feudal lords fighting each other with their loyal samurai. After the restoration of Imperial power, people transferred their loyalty to the the emperor and nation instead of their feudal lord. Japan had a growing population in a small country with few natural resources. She saw other countries like France, Britain, Holland, Germany, the United States acquiring colonies. These colonies supplied the colonial powers with raw materials such as oil, coal, iron, rubber, etc. Also these same nations could market the finished products in the lands that they occupied. So Japan wanted to do the same. She saw other lands like Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria as being ripe for exploitation. Japan saw the European nations opening up “treaty ports” in China
