Post-Meiji Period Japan

Japan as an Imperial Power Citizens asked for more voice in government Had more money to spend Politics and society were more open than ever 1925: Universal suffrage granted

Zaibatsu Economy Zaibatsu: manufacturing processes concentrated within single enterprise Mitsui Mitsubishi Sumitomo Yasuda

Zaibatsu Economy Led to growing economic inequalities Great Depression added to crisis Return to “traditional” values Militarist group gained control of Japanese political system

Militarist Japan Japanese society was put on wartime status: Economic resources under gov’t control Political parties merged into Imperial Rule Assistance Association Called for Japanese expansion Education and culture purged of Western ideas

Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Japan was desperate for raw materials 2400 Americans were killed 5/8 battleships were sunk or sinking

Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6, 1945: First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima 60% of buildings destroyed 140,000 were killed August 9, 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki

Outcome The bombs left the Japanese no choice but to surrender Soviets declared war too