The Meiji Restoration transformed Japan from an isolated, samurai-based patchwork of aristocratic states, to an industrial powerhouse with a modern army and imperial ambitions.

The resultant insatiable greed of Japanese industrialists and imperialists would transform the face of Asia through bloody wars and occupations.

This talk will investigate the roots and impacts of Japan’s war machine, as well as the brave sources of resistance - from China, to Korea, to the Japanese working class - that were the only potential antidote to empire.