Japan is one of the first colonized countries by Europeans...

[Hwen Hoshino]

When colonization was at it's peak. How would the colonial administration be set up? What social engineering projects happen?

[BjornP]

Your topic is about the alternate history scenario of a Japan colonized by Europe and how that colonization process takes place, right?

[Hwen Hoshino]

Your topic is about the alternate history scenario of a Japan colonized by Europe and how that colonization process takes place, right?

Yep, but only after the tech gap is wide enough so the Westerners could just roll over them like thy did in Africa and other Asian countries.

[TheReal_ND]

Commodore Perry basically did. We forced them to open trade to us. Before that the Dutch and Portuguese had already colonized a small island that Japan had set aside specifically for them. Of course at no point do I think Europeans or Americans were interested in settling there by force due to the lack of a large enough technology gap like say the Aztecs and Conquistadors.

Supposing there was one China and or Mongols would have likely colonized them long before. But if that didn't happen.... hmm. No idea.

[Hwen Hoshino]

Commodore Perry basically did. We forced them to open trade to us. Before that the Dutch and Portuguese had already colonized a small island that Japan had set aside specifically for them. Of course at no point do I think Europeans or Americans were interested in settling there by force due to the lack of a large enough technology gap like say the Aztecs and Conquistadors.

Supposing there was one China and or Mongols would have likely colonized them long before. But if that didn't happen.... hmm. No idea.

How would the politics of an occupation would had worked?

[TheReal_ND]

Portugal would have been interested in spreading Catholicism before other nations could get established, thereby strengthening ties with their colony. They did in fact try and had some moderate success with one or another shogun or emperor showing interest in Christianity. This had political ramifications iirc concerning a contender to the shogunate using Japan's innate xenophobia to his advantage and Christianity was promptly cracked down on. I would imagine that in a scenario where Japan had been out and out colonized they still would have been a very xenophobic people with rivaling internal factions making them resistant to any foreign culture at first. With their constant internal warring though it's plausible that a foreign people could play one faction off against another. Really England would have the greatest success at that out of any other nation of colonizers. Though I know England was very successful with Hong Kong for some reason or another they didn't have a lot of business with Japan. At least not to the same extent the Dutch and Portuguese did. Quite likely they had their hands full trying to fuck over China all the time.

[Montegriffo]

Though I know England was very successful with Hong Kong for some reason or another they didn't have a lot of business with Japan. At least not to the same extent the Dutch and Portuguese did. Quite likely they had their hands full trying to fuck over China all the time.

Britain was interested in China because of the fine porcelain they produced. Hong Kong was the result of the opium war manufactured by Britain when it deliberately created addicts and supplied them from India because it was running out of silver to buy the porcelain with.
Japan had no such desirable product worth going to war for.

[GloryofGreece]

I don't think the historical record would suggest colonizing Japan in the 1600s or 1700s would have been easy at all. Probably more trouble than it would pay off even if a single country could do it..which I doubt. Not with all the over extension around the entire globe going on. England had its empire spread thin as hell adding Japan to the mix in any real way wouldn't work. I don't think the Portuguese or the Dutch had the military might and soldiers enough to do it either. In the end it took nuclear bombings and years of mechanized modern warfare to brake them. And I don't think there was really any other way to completely subjugate them other than annihilating millions of them through costly protracted warfare across Asia and bombing all their infrastructure and so on. I don't think any European nation at the time could conquer and colonize Japan during the Age of Discovery or Enlightenment era.

[TheReal_ND]

He was supposing if their had been a large enough technological gap like other places had which were successfully colonized. I maintain if there was one, the Chinese, Mongols or even Koreans would have long before the age of discovery.

[GloryofGreece]

I'd think pretty much everyone would think with a large enough technological gap any civilization could conquer Japan. What made Japan unique is the willingness to adapt to adopt certain western technological developments and integrate them into their society and military specifically. Japan is a helluva rise global power and then destruction and within a generation after being ground into powder being a world player again. Amazing really.