Imperialism and colonialism can be explained fundamentally to be able to better observe the differences between the methods and reactions that Japan and the West encounter. Imperialism is generally defined as a system of constraint and control exercised over the people and territories. It can be politically controlled or not depending on the need of the nation. Colonialism varies from imperialism in that it does not necessarily impose rule over the tributary countries, but merely controls trade and foreign relations. Alteration of the local political structure often occurred if the ruling country deemed it necessary. For example, expansion in India, where the state was taken over, was quite different from that in China, where the state was maintained but society was influenced. Whatever the differences, the main goals of establishing a colony by imperial or colonial means is to better the home country by exploiting others. There are many motivations towards expanding the reach of a country. Desire for new knowledge, the spread of religion, and the search for allies are all desired components of expansion. However, economic motives seem to lead the group. Imperialism is seen as an integral component of global capitalism. By the 1900's imperialism was driving the capitalist world economy and expanding it tremendously. The search for new sources of wealth was key to the West. Japan differed from the West in this respect. Japanese society in this period bore very little resemblance to Western capitalist societies, regardless of the basic economic imperialist theories. Economic motivation was not completely disregarded, but it was simply not the main reason for the decision to expand in the case of the Japanese. The West wanted to take complete advantage of all of the opportunities expansion can provide. They wanted a cheap supply of consumer goods and of raw materials, a new market for their exports, a way to avoid taxing tariffs (especially in the Orient where spices and luxury items were a premium), and a new and rich supply of natural resources. Imperialism offered those aspects of economic returns and the West demonstrated just how beneficial it could be.

Japan and the West seemed to have different purposes behind expanding their country's reach on the world. The West developed an imperial experience relatively naturally. As they got more modernized the West realized the potential for expanding their economic market. Other areas of the World offered new opportunities that the West was interested in. The West realized the potential that Asia and Africa presented and wanted to reap some of their wealth to better themselves. To do so they had to incorporate the foreign country into their economy by beginning to establish foreign relations. They looked to exploit the countries as much as possible and could do so because of how powerful they were. It was the West's goal to implement spheres of influence all over the world where they could gain all of the advantages that other countries could provide. It was a natural process over a period of time for the countries of the West. New benefits were witnessed year after year. Japan, in contrast, chose to expand for defensive reasons. There was a certain level of fear in the Japanese political and economic systems. The Japanese were reacting to the rest of the world by expanding the power of their country. They were in fear of the West and were in danger of becoming another China, an area of exploitation by contending foreign powers. When the West was colonizing countries in the Pacific, South East Asia, and the Far East, and instability was apparent in the periphery, Japan was running the risk of losing any of the power they had in Asia. The Japanese elite realized the world was being separated into colonizers or colonies and committed the Japanese to take action to prevent them from becoming a colony. Therefore, Japan believed fundame

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Approximate Word count = 3035
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)