... This meant that Japan needed to expand and create an empire to house the rapidly growing population (It was growing by one million people per year) and to gain easy access to cheap raw materials. Japan already controlled Korea, the area of Kwantung (around Port Arthur) and the South Manchurian railway (although this area was on Chinese territory). These places had few raw materials and Japan needed an Empire which had useful land with lots of raw materials and living space. In 1931 an incident in the Chinese province of Manchuria gave the Japanese the opportunity they had been looking for. The Japanese army controlled the South Manchurian railway (it carried Japanese goods into Manchuria and the rest of China and brought food and raw materials back to Japan eg. Coal, iron and timber) and in September 1931 the oversees army (Kwantung) decided to invade Manchuria which is part ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now