Japan

1
Japan

• A World Apart

2
A chain of Islands

• Archipelago chain of islands
• 4 main islands
• Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Hokkaido
• Seas isolated and protected Japan from invaders.
• Inland Sea is a major highway between the
  islands.

3
Landforms and Climate

• Mountains and plains 80 mountainous
• Arable land limited to coastal plains and river
  valleys.
• Fertile lowland areas are densely populated.
• Mild climates mild summers and winters
• Long growing season and plentiful rainfall

4
Landforms continued

• Intensive land use to maximize available land.
• Carve terraces, drain marshes and swamps, and
  deltas.
• Can harvest two crops a year.
• Rice is major crop.
• Fish is major source of protein in Japanese diet.

5
Limited Mineral resources

• Few mineral resources.
• Not a problem when people were just farmers and
  fishermen.
• As Japan industrialized it needed to import raw
  materials.
• Caused a dependency on world trade.
• Disruptions in trade threatens Japans economy.

6
People of Japan

• Homogeneous society
• People speak a common language and share a common
  culture.
• Very few ethnic minorities.
• Separate, special identity leads to
  ethnocentrism.
• Immigrants rarely given citizenship.

7
People continued

• Strong national identity has led to predjudice
  against sub-groups.
• Ainu early inhabitants excluded from society.
• Burakimin came from butchers and tanners who
  lived during feudal times. Outcasts because of
  Buddhists beliefs against killing.
• Both groups suffer discrimination today.

8
War in the Pacific

• By 1900 Japan was a modern industrialized
  nation.
• Wanted an overseas empire
• 1905 defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War
  and gained control of Korea and a foothold in
  Manchuria.
• Gained raw materials for its industries

9
Extreme Nationalism

• Japans trade fell due to the Great Depression.
• Factories closed and unemployment rose.
• Led to domestic unrest.
• Extreme nationalists argued that Japan should
  have continued overseas expansion.
• Angry that Australia and U.S. excluded Japanese
  immigrants.

10
Military Dictatorship

• During the 1930s Japan became a military
  dictatorship.
• Promoted militarism glorification of the
  military and readiness for war.
• Promoted special mission to free Asian nations
  from western imperialism.

11
World War II

• Japan made a major drive into China.
• Actions by Italy and Germany brought war to
  Europe.
• 1940 Japan joins with Italy and Germany to form
  the Axis.
• Japan seizes French Indochina
• U.S. places embargo on oil and other supplies.

12
Pearl Harbor

• December 7, 1941
• Japan launches surprise attack on U.S. Naval Base
  at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• U.S. declares war the next day.
• The War in the Pacific has begun.

13
Battle of Midway

• June 4-7, 1942
• Occurred just 6 months after Pearl Harbor
• Imperial Japanese Navy planned a surprise attack
  on Midway atoll in the Pacific.
• U.S. found out and planned a surprise attack on
  the Japanese Navy
• Japan suffered heavy losses and was never able to
  fully recover its naval strength.

14
Island Hopping

• U.S. began attacking a series of Japanese-held
  islands in the South Pacific.
• Guadalcanal- 8/1942-2/1943.
• Part of Solomon Islands Campaign which lasted
  until the end of the war.
• Iwo Jima 19 February 26 March 1945
• Part of the Home Islands
• Famous photograph of Marines raising U.S. flag
  ove Mt. Suribachi.

15

• Of 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima only 216
  were captured. The rest were killed or missing in
  action.
• Okinawa 1 April to 21 June 1945
• U.S. planned to use Okinawa to stage its
  invasion of Japan.
• Japan used Kamikaze fighters to inflict serious
  damage.
• Japan lost over 100,000 soldiers

16

• The U.S. had over 66,000 casualties.
• Many Japanese civilians committed mass suicides
  after being frightened by Japanese soldiers
  telling them of abuses by American soldiers.
• Some reported being ordered by Japanese soldiers
  to commit suicide.

17
End of the War

• U.S. was planning a massive incasion of Japanese
  homeland.
• Predictions were that over 250,000 and maybe as
  high as 1 million U.S. casualties would occur.
• President Harry Truman decided that this cost was
  too high and ordered the dropping of the atomic
  bomb.

18

• First bomv was dropped on Audust 6, 1945 on the
  city of Hiroshima.
• More than 80,000 people were killed.
• 3 days later a second bomb was dropped on
  Nagasaki killing over 40,000.
• 5 days later, on August 14, Japan surrendered and
  WWII came to an end.