How Did Imperialism Affect Japan

Imperialism was good for developing countries because imperialism promoted modernization, improved the economy, and increased military advances and power. Because Japan was a developing country at this time and drastically changed because of imperialisms, it is perfect example of this.

Imperialism helped modernize many developing countries. Japan is an exemplary example of this. During this time, Japan was isolated from other countries and did not have the desire to trade or engage in other “normal” pursuits like Europe, Asia, America, and other various countries did. However, in 1853, Matthew Perry, a U.S commodore, sailed into a bay in Japan and gave a letter to the shogun of Japan. The letter was written by Millard Fillmore. The letter contained a threat against Japan; it threatened Japan into trading with the U.S. This was the first step of modernization. Mutsuhito, a young Japanese ruler, decided that it was finally time to modernize. This was called the Meiji Restoration. The goal was to make Japan stronger and increase the amount of power that they had. By 1890, Japan had grown and modernized a lot. It had became an extremely powerful country with dozens of warships and thousands of dangerous and lethal soldiers.

During Japan’s transition to becoming modern, their economy increased greatly. Japan built over 7,000 miles of railroad tracks. Of course the trails needed coal, so over 21 million tons of coal were produced. Because of the high demand for coal, many coal miners were needed and this opened up numerous jobs for the Japanese. Another thing that helped the economy was trade. Trade, at first forced upon the Japanese by America, began to increase and Japan started trading with other countries. The Japanese mostly traded silks, and tea. Trading helped Japan gain more money and that contributed to their growth. The money helped Japan expand and colonize, and enlarge the size of their