Japan's Foreign Response Essay

To begin with, the way China and Japan responded to the West’s increasing pressure to open to trade was very diverse. In the 19th century, after a long period of seclusion, China and then Japan was pressured from the West to open to foreign trade and relations. The Industrial Revolution in Europe had fashioned a vast gap between Japan, China, and the West, consequently, leaving the two Asian nations falling behind in military brute force strength as well as technological advancements. During that period, neither of the two Asian nations had the strength to overtake and overthrow the Western nations. Therefore, eventually both China and Japan had to succumb to the West, both signing inadequate agreements. Theses treaties mandated China and Japan to open their cities and ports to foreign merchants and trades. Both of these countries had a history of long preserved isolationist tendencies, with limited interactions and …show more content…
Western nations did not force Japan to end its remote seclusion until the 1850’s, almost a decade after the start of the First Opium War in China. Reasons for this was, the West was already present in other parts of Asia, which created a safeguard, and because of their shortage of resources, and a demand for Western goods diminished Japan’s appeal to the Westerners. However, regardless of its isolation, Japan was kept well informed of what was transpiring overseas during the Opium War by their Dutch allies. Therefore, Japan was able to see first-hand, the consequences of China’s defiance of Western demands, before it was their turn to respond to them. China, on the other hand, had no proof of Western military dominance and no previous examples to be guided by.
In the movie, The Last Samurai, the film depicted the battles of old technology, samurai swords, against the new technological advancements of the West,