<P> In 1938, Japan prohibited the expulsion of the Jews in Japan, Manchuria, and China in accordance with the spirit of racial equality on which Japan had insisted for many years . </P> <P> The Second Sino - Japanese War had seen tensions rise between Imperial Japan and the United States; events such as the Panay incident and the Nanking Massacre turned American public opinion against Japan . With the occupation of French Indochina in the years of 1940--41, and with the continuing war in China, the United States placed embargoes on Japan of strategic materials such as scrap metal and oil, which were vitally needed for the war effort . The Japanese were faced with the option of either withdrawing from China and losing face or seizing and securing new sources of raw materials in the resource - rich, European - controlled colonies of Southeast Asia--specifically British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies (modern - day Indonesia). </P> <P> On September 27, 1940, Imperial Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy . Their objectives were to "establish and maintain a new order of things" in their respective world regions and spheres of influence, with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in Europe, and Imperial Japan in Asia . The signatories of this alliance become known as the Axis Powers . The pact also called for mutual protection--if any one of the member powers was attacked by a country not already at war, excluding the Soviet Union--and for technological and economic cooperation between the signatories . </P> <P> For the sake of their own people and nation, Prime Minister Konoe formed the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) on October 12, 1940, as their own ruling party in Japan, avoiding the influences of German Nazism and Italian Fascism . </P>

How did the united states consolidate its influence in japan