Is Japan part of the United States?

Answer 1

No, Japan is not part of the United States. Japan remained an independent nation, both before and after WWII. I don't know it's beginning history to know whether it was ever under the control of another nation.

Answer 2

Japan is one of the United States' most valuable and closest allies.

The relationship between Japan and the U.S. is over 100 years old. It began when Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay in 1883 with four American ships which were much more advanced than any ship Japan had a the time, and forced Japan into a trade treaty. Japan had been isolated from the rest of the world for 300 years, but Perry's arrival sparked a rapid modernization. The two countries became close trading partners and Japanese began emigrating to the U.S. in large numbers during the 1880s, supplanting the Chinese laborers who were banned from entering the US after the 1883 Chinese Exclusion Act.

Leading up to World War II, Japan's invasion of Asia cooled the relationship, and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 led to World War II. The war ended when the U.S. used the atomic bomb to obliterate two entire cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945.

After the war, the U.S. became the main occupying force in Japan, under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur, who made critical decisions (including allowing Emperor Hirohito to remain as titular head of state without charging him with war crimes) that helped Japan rebuild and remain a peaceful ally throughout the 1950s and '60s. By the 1980s, there were trade frictions as Japan's economy boomed, but during the 1990s and 2000s Japan entered two decades of recession, and is now the third largest economy in the world behind the U.S. and China.

Because of Japan's strategic location in the Pacific and as a gateway to Asia, the country remains an important partner, and one worth supporting in regional disputes such as the one during the spring of 2013 with China over uninhabited islands claimed by both countries.

Japan's manufacturing prowess still influences American consumers a great deal. A quick look on any U.S. roads shows the prominence of brands such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan -- all Japanese autos. The same is true of many product categories including electronics. Increasingly, Japanese cuisine and pop culture (especially anime, or animated films) are popular in the U.S. And in return, Japanese have been in love with American pop culture for decades.