Transcript Japan - Woodland Hills School District

Japan
A World Apart
A chain of Islands
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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.
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
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.
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 Japan’s
economy.
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.
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.
War in the Pacific
• By 1900 Japan was a modern industrialized
nation.
• Wanted an overseas empire
• 1905 – defeated Russia in the RussoJapanese War and gained control of Korea
and a foothold in Manchuria.
• Gained raw materials for its industries
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Extreme Nationalism
• Japan’s 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.
Military Dictatorship
• During the 1930’s 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.
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.
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.
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 it’s naval strength.
Island Hopping
• U.S. began attacking a series of Japaneseheld 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.
• 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 it’s
invasion of Japan.
• Japan used Kamikaze fighters to inflict
serious damage.
• Japan lost over 100,000 soldiers
• 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.
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.
• 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.