Japan and the Koreas

Early History: Japan 700s A.D. Had Emperor Japan – Feudal system Religion – Shinto Respect for nature and ancestors

1100s - Emperor lost power Power rested with Shogun

Shogun – powerful warlord Samurai – professional warriors Served shogun Peasants – farmed and dug ditches Merchants and artisans

Under this feudal system; local lords invaded each other

Threat of Mongolians Forces Japanese lords to unite 1274 – 1st invasion sent by Kublai Kahn Japanese fended off

1281 – 2nd invasion force Japanese were ready Built wall – unable to land

Mongol Fleet Large ships filled with men; huge armada Japanese Fleet Small, light, crafts

Fleet destroyed by typhoons kamikaze or “divine wind” Mongols never returned

Kamikaze WW II – the suicide pilots

Map of the Japanese Empire at its height in 1942.

Japanese Zero

Doris “Dorie” Miller African American Awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during Pearl Harbor – Dec 7, 1941 “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” poster – used in WW II Died 1943

Admiral Nimitz Citation "For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge”

"Howard A. Wooten." Graduated December 1944 from Air Corps School, Tuskegee, AL. Ca. December 1944.

1600s to 1800s, Japan limits trade with Europeans

1853 – Commodore Matthew Perry, U.S. Navy, went to Japan to open trade Treaty of Kanagawa – opened Japan to trade with America

Meiji Restoration Samurai wanted reforms Overthrew last shogun Restored emperor’s power Meiji – “enlightened rule” Capital moved to Tokyo

Emperor begins to modernize Japan 1890 – Japan has strongest military in Asia

1895 – take Taiwan 1905 – take territory from Russia 1910 – annex Korea After WW I – gain more territories 1937 – invade China - 1939 – Hitler begins invasions

Korea

After WW II Japan looses Korea North Korea – Soviet Union South Korea – U.S. 1949 – Soviet and U.S. withdraw from Korea

1950 – N. Korea invades S. Korea U.S. helps defend S. Korea China steps in to help N. Korea 1953 – two sides sign armistice, or truce, to end the fighting

DMZ – demilitarized zone Land between N. and S. Korea “buffer zone” No military forces enter 38th parallel

North Korea Under communist leader – Kim Jong IL His father communist leader of China 1948-1994