"Twenty-six years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan was undertaking an aggressive programme to modernise its industry and its army. It was also eager to join the ranks of Europe’s imperialist nations."
Well, the last sentence needs explanation - it was not eager to line up with the West for the sake of it.
It is important to understand the history in the context of the time.
The reason why Japan
undertook the Meiji Restoration and vigorously pushed forward modernization of
its industry and army was to defend the country from the waves of colonization
of Asia by the great powers of the West. By the end of 1800s, almost all
countries in Asia, except the far East, were colonized by the West. This fact, highlighted
by the Opium War in 1840 where the British defeated the Qing empire and took
Hong Kong, gave Japan a growing sense of crisis.
What Japan pursued as
a matter of course was joint defense of Asia with the Qing empire and Korea. At
least, Japan wanted both countries to acquire the power to reject the advance
of the West into the region, and thus be modernized. However, the two countries
strongly held Sinocentrism and even hostility toward Japanese modernization
strategy. Meanwhile, the West steadily expanded its control over Asia.
Knowing the
consequence of non-action, Japan finally declared war with the Qing empire in 1894
to demand independence of Korea, which was a tributary state of the Qing empire
(in response to the Qing army’s intervention in Donghak Peasant Revolution in
Korea). Japan won the war, and Korea gained independence. In 1897, Korea named
itself the Korean Empire, with its “Emperor” gaining the equal status as the
Qing Emperor.
After the WWII, both
China and Korea have been thoroughly inculcating anti-Japanese propaganda and
biased history to their population. The issue of the Senkaku Islands is also mixed
up with the anti-Japanese sentiment. The process of obtaining the Senkakus was
nothing to do with “the invasion”, since Japanese government incorporated the
Islands in its territory in 1895 only after it confirmed that the islands were
no man’s land based on the 10 years of field study. This is a valid way of
gaining a territory according to the international law (“Preoccupation”).
This is a sovereignty issue, and we need to
discuss based on the facts, not emotions.
“The
Senkaku Islands Constitute an Intrinsic Part of Japan” explains the issue in
much detail based on the historical evidence: http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/79_S4.pdf
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