alternatehistory.com

According to my college professor (one of them at any rate), while Tsushima certainly contributed to Japanese overconfidence, the real cause of Japanese distrust/disregard of the west was being cheated out of their war aims despite their apparent victory, i.e. losing the peace as it were.

So what if Japan was able to force Russia to give them everything they wanted: the entirety of Sakhalin (as opposed to just Kuril and the Southern Sakhalin) as well as large indemnity? Assuming that Japan sees its Great Power status as implicitly recognized by the west (and that WWI still happens with further gains - explicit recognition of Great Power status - for Japan), moderating western influences still remains strong in the empire.

How would this affect the 20th Century? Would Japan even go on an imperialist rampage across Asia?
Top