History of Japan (The II World War and Postwar Period) - Essay Example

The World War II ended in May 1945 in the European land and August 1945 in the Pacific. The war between the United States and Japan was an outcome of several years of Cold War due to the strong economic, political and cultural differences. The War erupted in December only when the Japanese military leaders and the civilian supporters decided to put an end to the Cold Wa. One of the main reasons for the Japanese outburst was their motivation to achieve their goals for autonomy and hence accomplish industrial, economic and political success as a nation and country.

The clash between the United States and Japanese governments was driven by strong confrontations of racial and political dissimilarities which led to severe manifestations and penalties. The Americans forced Japan to adopt a racial and ethnic identity which they never wanted. Americans wanted to develop Japan commercially in the nineteenth century with a racial dominance of “whiteness”. The Japanese were convinced that the West’s military and technologies wanted the feudal nation of Japan to become entirely westernized.

On the other hand, the influx of the Japanese immigrants to the West was a source of fear for the Americans that this was a slow and gradual invasion of the Asians into the American land. One of the important factors which led to the Japanese attack of the Pearl Harbor was the dysfunctional democratization in Japan that was going on for several years. The civilian leaders supported the Western-style democratic institutions which diminished the roles of the military and emperors. Bureaucratic politics and status discrepancies among the country also led to the Japanese outburst.

Japanese invasions into China and Russia increased Japan’s strength and the victories brought Japan forward as a strong opponent against the United States (Cashman & Robinson 2007). Japan’s mainland in Asia was increasing and the United States and Japanese elited started seeing each other as stong military and economic rivals. The Japanese troops started occupying the French clony in Indochina and as a response the United States cut off the oil export to Japan in 1940. Japan attack the Pearl Harbor in December 1941 along with two other islands Wake and Guam.

In April 1941, US bombers started a bombing raid against Japan starting in Tokoyo. The United States also forced the Japanese-Americans to relocate in various isolated areas. This was followed by different attempts of invasions and fight made by both sides, some successful and other interepted. It was in August 1945 that the first atomic bomb was prepared and dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the final straw causing the death of 100,000 people and followed by the surrender of the Japanese government.

Japan signed a surrender document on Spetember 2nd 1945 (National Geographic, 2001). The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not just an end to the Pacific war but also ended the Tokyo’s dreams of racial reversal (Horne, 2004). Japan has a strong national identity as the first and historically only country which had been a victim of atomic bombing and its dreadful consequences. Japanese had a strong emotionalism which is associated to the atomic bombing victimization and the historic racial prejudice by the Americans.

In the early post-war years, the Japanese, although harbouring strong hostility towards the Americans, were not able to bring their voices in front of the world because of many reasons. They were faced with circumstances of unemployment, hunger and no homes, and expressing hostility was the least thing on their mind. There was a sense of fear and many refrained from expressing any views against the