what was the importance of Japan's rise as great Power for the asian continent ?
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Answer:
When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Japan had accomplished its goals. ... In the 45 years of his reign, Japan became a modern industrial nation. In many ways, it was now equal to the Western powers. Japan had built a modern army and navy that had won two brief wars
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In East Asia, ‘the times they are a-changing,’ and the pundits are full of speculation about what the new ‘architecture’ for the region will look like. After the Democratic Party of Japan’s historic electoral defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party in August, the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has the opportunity to take the country in new directions, but it is unclear whether it will have the vision and determination to prevail. America, the world’s only superpower, is in serious trouble, and meanwhile China is on the rise. The focus is on how relations between United States and China will work out, and a discussion of new forms of multilateralism. Often ignored in these discussions, however, is the key role of Japan. Japan is too rich and too powerful to be left out. Whatever the future of East Asia, Japan will have to be a founding participant. In my view, Japan is an indispensable power in the region.
The Japanese are worried about the rise of China, but they worry even more about how to manage their relations with their post-World War II security guarantor, the U.S. Ever since the end of the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952, Japan has relied on the U.S. to guarantee its security. But now, American hegemony in East Asia has become problematic. The disastrous policies of President George W. Bush’s eight years in office have left the U.S. weakened militarily, economically, and morally. Over-stretched militarily in two unwinnable wars, staggered by a global financial crisis largely of its own making, and humiliated in its claim to be a moral example to the world by incontrovertible evidence of torture, America under Barack Obama must try to find new ways to lead in what looks to be a post-hegemonic world — while Japan watches anxiously.
Japan’s leaders worry about what those new ways might be. Conservatives in Japan would much prefer to maintain the status quo, but there is no longer a status quo to depend on. Hilary Clinton in her initial trip as Secretary of State visited Japan first, but it is clear that she and President Obama seek to build their East Asian policy in cooperation with China. There is no way that Washington can hope to deal effectively with the global financial crisis, climate change, Iran, and North Korea without Beijing’s cooperation. Like all countries in East Asia, Japan has to consider how to position itself within this process of fundamental power transition.
Japan will have to play a major part in any new design for East Asia. If Japan is ignored, it can readily sabotage the new arrangements. For example, there cannot be a successful East Asian Community without Japan’s participation. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) doesn’t want to find itself vulnerable in an ‘ASEAN +1’ arrangement just with China, but insists on an ‘ASEAN +3’ (with China, South Korea and Japan).
Similarly, the Six-Party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs cannot succeed without significant financial incentives offered to Pyongyang, for which Japan is expected to make the major contribution. Alternatively, if the region were to turn away from cooperation toward a confrontation between the two major powers, the U.S. and China, in some version of a new cold war, Japan would be the mainstay of the American strategic position in East Asia. The U.S. could not hope to confront China successfully in the region without Japan’s full support. Finally, if Japan’s interests are ignored, it could go nuclear and destroy any future hope for multilateral cooperation in the region.