I believe that the militarism and agression of Imperial Japan would hve been avoided. Consider the code of Bushido which governed the Empire during the feudal era.

The Samurais during the Boshin War 1868 to 1869 was an attempt by the Samurais to regain power. Would they have succeeded than Japan would have rejected the western influences and returned the Empire to a more introspective and zenophobic power rather than an expansionist.

The Samurai respected civilians and did not molest local populations. Incidents such as the Rape of Nanking would never have occurred.

The goal of a Samurai is to "die a good death". Loyalty and fidelity were highly prised. And when a samurai faced a fellow warrior he would honor him even after the later's death.

An example of a "good death" may be when two samurai's kill eachother at the same time. It is thought to be good honor.

My opinions are somewhat colored by talking to several Japanese people I know but this is something that they believe.

What do you think?

See
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/samurai2.html

A Japan that returned to feudalism would have been a Japan as ripe for colonial status as China was. The Japanese, or at any rate the oligarchy acting in the emperor's name, saw what the Manchus did not: it was critical to modernize or be swept away. I guess it is possible that this could have occurred under a strong shogunate, but I don't think it is all that likely assuming the trappings of feudalism had been kept up.

See
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/samurai2.html

From the link:


Battles with the Mongols in the late 13th century led to a change in the Samurai's fighting style.


Samurais fought Mongols? This I'd like to read more about, especially since I'm surprised that either there were Samurai on mainland Asia or Mongols in Japan at that time. I wonder if they were any more successful than European knights were? (And that sets the bar pretty low. Europeans were whupped just about every time they faced Mongols, I think Hungarians being the lone exception.)

Samurais fought Mongols? This I'd like to read more about, especially since I'm surprised that either there were Samurai on mainland Asia or Mongols in Japan at that time. I wonder if they were any more successful than European knights were? (And that sets the bar pretty low. Europeans were whupped just about every time they faced Mongols, I think Hungarians being the lone exception.)

Duh. For some odd reason I got confused, thinking Khubilai Khan was Chinese and not a Mongol...obviously it is past my bedtime. :hmm:

Duh. For some odd reason I got confused, thinking Khubilai Khan was Chinese and not a Mongol...obviously it is past my bedtime. :hmm:KHUBILAI KHAN IS A MONGOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE INVADED CHINA :rolleyes:

AT THE PERIOD OF HIS REIGN, CHINESE IS LIVING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY.

REVIEW YOUR WORLD HISTORY AGAIN!

KHUBILAI KHAN IS A MONGOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE INVADED CHINA :rolleyes:

AT THE PERIOD OF HIS REIGN, CHINESE IS LIVING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY.

REVIEW YOUR WORLD HISTORY AGAIN!

Sheesh. Lay off the tofu, willya?

Sheesh. Lay off the tofu, willya?i never tout tofu and i don't like having tofu, too. :|

its hard to say, with all the new weapons and technologies, i doubt they could have stuck with that code really. the world had changed.

i never tout tofu and i don't like having tofu, too. :|

Look, dou fu (bean curd) is called tofu in Japanese, and you see the pronunciation is almost the same. As a matter of fact, bean curd is traditional Chinese food.

However the Japanese did improve the recipe and I like their tofu. They can always make such good stuff as the delicate, fine china that I saw at the lobby bar of the Grand Hyatt. And my boyfriend worked in Japan in late '80s and was greatly impressed with everything there. He considers the four years in Japan as the most comfortable time he's ever had. I just have to say the Japanese are weird yet terrible in some respects and I admire them in this regard. Don't get me wrong. :rock:

Oh, I'm so talkative...No, wait. How far am I off Samurais... :shakefist

A Japan that returned to feudalism would have been a Japan as ripe for colonial status as China was. I think that is exactly right.

The reality is, the Bushido code applied to a very small minority of the Japanese population...the samurai. So, saying that adherence to that policy would have helped avoid Japanese imperialism is strange. There were never very many people adhering to it to begin with.

The Samurai respected civilians and did not molest local populations.


That's not true. Japan was divided into many castes, and the samurai were the highest. The lowest were called eta. An eta's life had no value. A samurai could chop off an eta's head just to test the sharpness of his sword.