Dupuy Т. Asiatic Land Battles: Expansion of Japan in Asia

Franklin Watts, Inc., 1963. ― 80 p. ― (The Military History of World War II Volume 8).
The Background
7he Rise of Modern Japan
ABOUT THE year 1600, following an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Korea, Japan cut herself off from all contact with the rest of the world. Japanese were not allowed to visit foreign lands; foreigners were forbidden to enter Japan. This self-imposed isolation continued until American Commodore Matthew C. Perry negotiated a trade treaty with the Japanese government in 1854.
The Japanese soon realized how far they had fallen behind the rest of the world in two and a half centuries of isolation. They began an intensive and remarkable effort to modernize their country. Fearful that the powerful colonial nations of the West might take advantage of their weakness and backwardness, the Japanese devoted particular attention to building up an army and navy comparable to those of the West.