Japan wasn't colonized in any meaningful sense by "Western" powers at any point in its history. European merchants were present in Japan during the period depicted and they even owned some land, but they were very much subject to the will of local daimyo and later the shogun. 1/
Eventually the Portuguese were expelled and only the Dutch were allowed to trade in Japan, and their movement was very limited. Now then, Japan did have to deal with American, British, French, and Dutch gunboat diplomacy in the 19th century, but Japan still wasn't colonized. 2/
And due to the Meiji restoration and rapid modernization, Japan was able to escape the worst parts of "Western" imperialism and became an imperial power in its own right. Which went... uh... not great for anyone involved to put it mildly. 3/
Speaking of which, the Meiji restoration and relations with the "West" before the restoration are a very interesting topic. I'd recommend checking out Joshua Provan's (@LandOfHistory) "Wild East" for more info on Japanese relations with the British. 4/
Contributed by @luke_d_ismas and @Dauntlesssix6
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.