Japanese Imperialism and the Road to War

About This Lesson

In this lesson, students explore primary and secondary sources that shed light on the underlying causes of the outbreak of World War II in Asia. Students examine the rise of Japanese Pan-Asianism, militarism, and ultranationalism, and the racial and imperialist ideologies underpinning them. They also consider Japan’s needs, as a rapidly industrializing country, for China’s natural resources, and its increasingly isolationist stance after what it perceived as mistreatment by imperial Western powers and in the League of Nations. Taken together, these sources give students insight into the complexity of the factors that led to the outbreak of war and provide a framework that will help students prepare to investigate the Nanjing atrocities in the next lesson.

Essential Questions

How do nations create their identities by separating “us” from “them”? How might a sense of nationalism built around such ideas contribute to the outbreak of war, the dehumanization of enemies, and the perpetration of atrocities?

Guiding Questions

• What are some factors that could fuel a nation’s desire to become aggressive toward its neighbors, expand its territory, and create an empire?
• In Japan, how did a “we”-and-“they” attitude toward China begin to take hold? What were some of the causes for that attitude?

Learning Objectives

Students will understand the underlying causes of Japanese imperialism and wartime aggression, including the rise of militarism, ultranationalism, and isolationism.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Review the Cartoon Caption from Lesson 1

If you have graded the caption for the Imperialism Cartoon students investigated in Lesson 1, return it to students. If you did not collect the cartoon, ask students to retrieve it. Review the following concepts with students:
 

• This French political cartoon, published in 1898, depicts China as a pie about to be carved up by Queen Victoria (Britain), Kaiser Wilhelm II (Germany), Tsar Nicholas II (Russia), Marianne (France), and a samurai (Japan), while a Chinese court official helplessly looks on.
• By 1898, when this cartoon was published, China had made significant concessions in a number of unequal treaties, signed under duress after the country suffered defeats by various imperial powers. Note too that the cartoon shows Japan as an imperial power alongside the European countries.

Activity 2: Introduce the Concept of Japanese Pan-Asianism

Tell students that one way to understand Japan’s ambitions as an imperial power (which they studied in part in Lesson 1) is through the concept of Japanese Pan-Asianism. Write the term Pan-Asianism on the board, and tell students that they will be recording notes on characteristics of Pan-Asianism as they watch the short video Japanese Pan-Asianism: An Introduction (1:45). Once students have watched the video, ask volunteers to share their notes, and write them on the board. Leave the notes on the board so students can refer to them throughout class. Be sure that students take away the following point:

Japanese Pan-Asianism is based on two contradictory beliefs. On the one hand, the Japanese argued that their expansion into other parts of Asia was for the greater good of their “Asian brothers” and justified their actions by distancing themselves from Europeans. At the same time, the Japanese invoked ideas of racial and cultural superiority that had justified Western imperialism in Asia in a previous era.

Activity 3: Explore the Historical Context behind World War II in East Asia

• Tell students that one outcome of Japanese Pan-Asianism was the outbreak of World War II in East Asia, sparked by Japan’s invasion of China in 1937.
• Tell students that in class today, they will be examining historical documents related to the underlying causes of the outbreak of World War II in East Asia. Divide the class into small groups of three to five students. Give each group the handout The Outbreak of World War II in East Asia Documents, which contains five documents.
• Tell students the directions for the Little Paper teaching strategy (a variation of Big Paper): each member of the group begins with a different document. They should read and annotate the source, looking for information that helps explain Japan’s desire to become aggressive toward its neighbors, expand its territory, and create a Pan-Asian empire.
• After a few minutes, students should pass their paper to the person next to them. This process is repeated until all students have had the opportunity to comment on every paper. All of this is done in silence. Then have students review the Little Paper they had first, noticing comments made by their peers. Once each student has read and annotated each source, project the following discussion questions and ask students to respond to them in their small groups:
  • Japanese professor Kazuki Sato observed, “As early as the 1870s, the idea of a distinctive Japanese national identity was intricately linked to imagining differences from people in China. In order for the Japanese to form their own national identity, the construction of the Chinese as racially different people was crucial to that purpose.” ¹  To create a “we,” do we need to create a “they”?
  • Japanese historian Marius Jansen has said about the period of Japanese Pan-Asianism, “After decades of weakness, it was good to be a Japanese and to humble the mighty neighbor that had dominated the horizon for so long.” ²  What changes in Japanese society might have contributed to Japan’s growing sense of confidence? How do you think that growing confidence impacted the way that the Japanese thought of China?
  • Former US ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer described how he believed attitudes in the West influenced Japan’s imperial ambitions: “Westerners, far from condemning the Japanese for their aggressions, applauded them as being apt pupils. They also taught the Japanese how ruthless the game of imperialism could be and how unwilling Westerners were to accept other races as full equals.” ³  What lessons might Japanese nationalists have learned from the experience of Western imperialism?
• Be sure that students are touching on the following topics in their discussions:
  • Japan’s need for China’s natural resources, in order to speed the process of industrialization and modernization
  • The popularity of ideologies such as racial superiority and militarism in Japan
  • Japan’s previous history and ideology of expansion into China and other parts of Asia
  • Japan’s increasingly isolationist stance, after what it perceived as mistreatment by imperial Western powers and in the League of Nations
• Then regroup as a class, asking a representative from each group to share one key takeaway from their small-group discussions.

• 1Kazuki Sato, “‘Same Language, Same Race’: The Dilemma of Kanbun in Modern Japan,” in The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan, ed. Frank Dikötter (London: C. Hurst & Company, 1997), 125.
• 2Marius Jansen, Japan and China: From War to Peace, 1894–1972 (Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing, 1975), 71–72.
• 3Edwin O. Reischauer, Japan: The Story of a Nation (New York: Knopf, 1970), 147.