JAPAN'S HISTORY

Japan has been around for as long as we can think of countries. China, Korea and Southeast Asia may have been the only countries to know this but that does not mean that Japan did not exsist. The Portugese discovered Japan in 1543 they brought Christianity with them. The Japanese welcomed Europeans into their country until they became worried that Europe might try to conqure them and in 1639 they no longer allowed any European country into Japan and told any remaing Europeans to leave. The United States Navy sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Nagasaki, Japan in 1853 to convince the shogun to let others into Japan, he had artillery and military power with him which made the shogun agree because Japan did not have military power like the United States did. This was the beginning of Western influence that changed Japan forever.This was called the Meiji Restoration period. During this time the Emperor was belived to be a god by the Shinto religion. When the a Japanese Parliment was created in order to make more Westernized civilization the Emperor could no longer be considered a god. This came as such a shock to the Japanese people (especially those of the Shinto belief) that many comitted suicide. On December 7, 1941 Japan made a surprise with a raid on Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. This surprise attack on the Untied States of America forced them to become part of World War II by declaring war on Japan. There were several battles on Pacific islands between the U.S. and Japan. The United States prepared an invasion of the Japanese motherland. They knew that many men would be lost so they tried to reason with Japan. President Harry S. Truman suggested that Japan surrender or suffer the consequences of the atmoic bomb. Japan would not surrender so The U.S. dropped the first Atomic Bomb ever used on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Over four and a half square miles of the city were destroyed. Japan still would not surrender so the U.S. dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 where over 40,000 persons were killed. Japan surrendered after this attack. Japan recovered quickly and rebuilt a better more modern Japan. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because when they rebuilt their industries they were (and still are) far more modern that any other country. I suggest that if it is WWII history that you want check out 2001's PEARL HARBOR or 1970's TORA! TORA! TORA! which looks at both sides.