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You could say that Japan's modern imperial ambitions started at the end of the 19th century when they invaded and took Korea. Korea had introduced Buddhism, which was initially viewed favourably by the ruling classes until 1050 or so, when the capital was moved to Kyoto. So we can guess Korea was always seen as a threat to part of Japanese culture. But the ideas of Japanese imeprialism surely came from the meiji era and the state shintoism that followed.

Guess work is not needed here. Korea has never been seen as a threat to part of Japanese culture. It is more politically practical. Although Korean peninsula was topologically significant at the time of Russian expansion, and Chosun Dynasty at that time was unstable and some Japanese politicians feared that it might give in to Russia in the future. To avoid the critical situation, Japan needed Korean peninsula and "annexed" it in 1910 with pro-Japan supporters in Korea. However, the annexation was in reality colonization and many Koreans were disappointed at it and stared to resist Japan's rules. The start of Japanese empire should be dated to the annexation of Korea, or at least when Japan started to use the term Dai-Nippon Teikoku, or The Empire of Japan.

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13y ago

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