Japan colonization?

[ULTIMATEGP]

Well what if Tokugawa never closed his borders to the world and they still built boats meant for long range travel. Could Japan be a major colonizer of the Pacific?

 

[Tee Kay]

Japan would probably dominate much of North American west coast, Siberia, East Coast of Australia, NZ, and New Guinea by 1700. Might also conquer China...if they can beat the Manchus to it.

 

[The Yankee]

No idea, though if they might have tried again for taking Korea. Their attempt at the end of the 16th century ended in failure. I do think that they would have tried that first, given how close it was to them, then they'd spend time building up to ensure that they do not become a victim to the colonial empires themselves.

 

[Lord Chambers]

If they hadn't closed the borders why wouldn't they have just been exploited the same way as China? While the divergence between modern Japanese history and modern Chinese history is due to some subtle cultural factors, they still are essentially Eastern, and by that I mean essentially non-Western. Therefore I doubt Japan would have become some sort of military/imperial power in the 17th century.

Would they have modernized faster in non military areas? Probably, but not enough to dominate North Amerca, Siberia, or China. I don't really know what was going on with Austraila and New Zealand at the time, but I would doubt for any sort of dominance there.

 

[Nobody]

If the British stuggled to control New Zealand in the 1800s i doubt japan could have overthrown the Maori 200 years earlyier

 

[Tee Kay]

Japan have something in common which European states: the need for territory and resources. They are confined to islands (eg just like Britain) and poor in resources. If it have the capability, (eg during WWII) it may try to conquer other areas of the world and take their resources.

If Japan did really became a colonial power the main threats to its ambitions would be 1.jealous European imperialists 2.internal strife: as Japan expanded it's likely that some sort of political movement will took hold, to challenge the power of the conservative shogunate.

As for China, i suppose that if the Japanese took over china, they would play the role similar to that of the Manchus in the real world, but could they fare better than the Manchus?

 

[Shaihulud]

As for China, i suppose that if the Japanese took over china, they would play the role similar to that of the Manchus in the real world, but could they fare better than the Manchus?

I think you are talking about the Tokugawa SHogunate instead of the guy Tokugawa Iyesu. The closing of the Japanese ports were in response to the fear that they would suffer the same fate as China, in the mid 19th century, too late to play the colonising games. Contrary to popular beliefs, Japan was never a threat to China, in fact many of the prefecture in Japan were tributary nations to China. Qing was already an existing dynasty in the 1600.

The only time in history that Japan was militarily superior to China was during the WW2 and we can see how well they did.

 

[The Yankee]

The Shogunate also had a history of closing itself off as much as possible from the 17th century onwards. It really wasn't until the appearance of the American Navy that Japan opened up and modernized itself very quickly, since they did not want to be dominated.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I think they could have if it wasn't for there lack of iron and western technology.