<P> Japan emerged from the Tokugawa - Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized nation . From the onset, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism . Rapid growth and structural change characterized Japan's two periods of economic development after 1868 . Initially, the economy grew only moderately and relied heavily on traditional Japanese agriculture to finance modern industrial infrastructure . By the time the Russo - Japanese War began in 1904, 65% of employment and 38% of the gross domestic product (GDP) were still based on agriculture, but modern industry had begun to expand substantially . By the late 1920s, manufacturing and mining amounted to 34% of GDP, compared with 20% for all of agriculture . Transportation and communications developed to sustain heavy industrial development . </P> <P> From 1894, Japan built an extensive empire that included Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, and parts of northern China . The Japanese regarded this sphere of influence as a political and economic necessity, which prevented foreign states from strangling Japan by blocking its access to raw materials and crucial sea - lanes . Japan's large military force was regarded as essential to the empire's defense and prosperity by obtaining natural resources that the Japanese islands lacked . </P> <P> Prior to its engagement in World War I, the Empire of Japan fought in two significant wars after its establishment following the Meiji Revolution . The first was the First Sino - Japanese War, fought in 1894 and 1895 . The war revolved around the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the Joseon Dynasty . A peasant rebellion led to a request by the Korean government for the Qing Dynasty to send in troops to stabilize the country . The Empire of Japan responded by sending their own force to Korea and installing a puppet government in Seoul . China objected and war ensued, a brief affair with Japanese ground troops routing Chinese forces on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the near destruction of the Chinese navy in the Battle of the Yalu River . The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed between Japan and China, which ceded the Liaodong Peninsula and the island of Taiwan to Japan . After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula . Soon afterwards Russia occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, built the Port Arthur fortress, and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port . Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia Squadron in this port . </P> <P> In 1900, Japan and many western countries dispatched forces to China to protect their citizens and Chinese Christians from the Boxer Uprising . After the uprising, Japan and the western countries signed the Boxer Protocol with China, which permitted them to station troops on Chinese soil to protect their citizens . After the treaty, Russia continued to occupy all of Manchuria . </P>

In both europe and japan the major reason for the development of the political system