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The Forum of Interesting Things / Re: Japanese get Bakker.
« on: November 30, 2013, 01:55:26 pm »If I could distill my final thought on this now it would be that, I basically see Japan as a funhouse mirror of the Western Empire. Bomb dropped. They embraced the culture and corporatism of their conquerors and in doing so became some sort of disturbed parody (if they do still retain a rich historical culture).Inasmuch as Japan was 'World-slapped', I'd say it occurred in 1853 rather than 1945. Their emulation of the West (rapid industrialisation, modernisation of the military, openness to foreign trade, the idea that real nations build empires...) started long before WW2. Arguably, it was their 'disturbed parody' of Western imperialism that got them nuked in the first place.
I'm not sure one can really tie such big changes in national worldview to a single historical event, though. There were incidents all through the 19th century suggesting that hiding from the world wasn't going to work for much longer.