What did Japan want to do in the 1930s?

Answer 1

Japan invaded Manchuria. They did this because Manchuria was poorly defended and had many resources. It had living space for their surplus population and Manchuria had enough raw materials, food and other goods that would make Japan self-sufficient.

Answer 2

Japan sought after an extended empire in the 1930s, in short, because of the Great Depression in America.

Japan had virtually no raw materials of its own and therefore had to buy them all from overseas. They'd sell silk to get enough money to buy the goods they needed to run the country. Following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929, the US economy slumped and placed high tariffs (taxes) upon Japanese imports. The USA were Japan's main trading partners so this struck them hard.

By 1931, nearly half of Japanese factories had stopped production. The Japanese had control of Korea at the time and had a railway in the Chinese province of Manchuria. Manchuria was industrial and was attacked by the Japanese.

Later in the decade, 1937, Japan launched a full scale invasion of China - getting the empire they desired.

Answer 3

Japan wanted more land and more resources to make their island country an empire. To acheive this Japan invaded a province in China named Manchuria for its resources and kept going and took control of Korea. The League of Nations saw this and was going to do something about Japan's sudden hostility but couldn't because it League itself wasn't powerful enough, not like the United Nations today. The League of Nations told Japan not to do anything else to build its empire, Japan responded to the League of Nations by withdrawing from the League of Nations. By Japan doing this, it showed the world that the League of Nations wasn't very powerful and couldn't even stop a threat like an invasion. This helped developed World War 2 in Asia.

Answer 4

Completely control China