I’m not saying that things were hunky-dory by any stretch, but looking at the horror stories from most of the world, Japan seems tonhave been considerably less fucked over. Why?

  • blight [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    9 months ago

    pulling these from my ass:

    1. islands, harder to threaten with violence, and by extension, harder to colonize, or even impose more unequal trade agreements
    2. the Meiji Restoration, the stars aligned to create rapid industrialization
    3. useful ally against China and Russia, acts sort of like Israel, a giant NATO aircraft carrier with a country awkwardly crammed into it