Japan Today

Young Japanese are growing up in a Japan far different from the one their parents and grandparents knew. Because schools are co-educational, young men and women now have a more relaxed attitude toward each other. Parents and children talk to each other more frankly, and there is more respect for individual rights. A higher standard of living and a more varied diet have increased the average Japanese life span to 81 years, one of the highest in the world.

Throughout their history the Japanese have shown a remarkable ability to absorb new ideas and influences and adapt them to their own needs. This ability accounts in part for the great strides the Japanese have made in science, industry, and technology. At the same time, Japan remains a nation with distinctive cultural traditions. Although Japan's recent economic problems are challenging its traditional ways of doing business, the country remains a powerhouse in the world economy.

More On World War II

World War II began in Europe in September 1939. In September 1940, Japanese troops occupied the northern part of French Indochina. When they moved into the southern part of Indochina the next year, the United States cut off its exports to Japan. In the fall of 1941, General Hideki Tojo became prime minister of Japan. Japan's military leaders began preparing to wage war against the United States. Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese bombers attacked the U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. They also bombed U.S. bases on Guam and Wake Island and in the Philippines. The bombing brought the United States into war against Japan and Japan's European allies, Germany and Italy. Japanese empire in 1942 Japan quickly won dramatic victories in Southeast Asia and in the South Pacific. By 1942, the Japanese empire spanned much of the area from the eastern edge of India through Indonesia, and from the Aleutian Islands near Alaska to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The Japanese fleet suffered its first major setback in May 1942, when the United States fought the Battle of the Coral Sea to a draw. The U.S. victory in the Battle of Midway the following month helped turn the tide in favor of the United States. As Japanese defeats increased, political discontent in Japan grew. On July 18, 1944, Prime Minister Tojo's Cabinet fell. Eyewitness account of the bombing of Nagasaki Early in 1945, the battle for the Japanese homeland began. American bombers hit industrial targets, and warships pounded Japanese coastal cities. American submarines cut off the shipping of vital supplies to Japan. On August 6, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on the city of Hiroshima. Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria and Korea. The next day, U.S. fliers dropped a second and larger atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan agreed to surrender on August 14. The next day, Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people that Japan had agreed to end the war. On Sept. 2, 1945, Japanese officials officially surrendered aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Japan lost all its territory on the mainland of Asia. It also lost all the islands it had governed in the Pacific. The nation kept only its four main islands and the small islands nearby. In the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's the United States returned to Japan the Bonin Islands, Iwo Jima, and the Ryukyu Islands. Russia still occupies the Kuril Islands.