Even without the racial aspect the Japanese were boxed in at the second tier. The colonial land grab was over & their were not more 'uncivilized' nations remaining to colonize. Everything either had a flag stuck in it, or was inside someones 'sphere of interest'. The British Free Trade policies were falling away in the face of growing imperial mercantile systems, tariffs, ect... China represented a enormous market potential, but a century plus of trade Concession treaties made it difficult for new coming Japanese business to find market share. That Chinas economy was in chaos during the Warlord era and later made it even more difficult. There was also the problem of dependance on Europe, specifically Londons centralized banking, for capitol. That more than anything else made Japan (like many others) a client state of Britain. Defacto members of the empire, even if not directly controlled politically. The Zaibatsu, who were the real rulers of Japan were perfectly aware of all this & modern Japans history is in large part the search for a solution to enabling the ambitions of the Zaibatsu. The rise of the New York banking center was a false hope as dependance on the US for capitol only changed the vulnerability from one major power to another. This was in part behind the tension between the US and Japan from the end of the Russo Japanese War and on into the 1920 & eventually to 1941. The asset freeze was one of the two really devastating parts in the 1941 Embargo Acts. That the loss to the international banking system, and the ability to plan and draw more short and long term loans was for Japans economy every bit as bad as probable losses in a war. Probablly worse in the longer run.
A somewhat similar problem existed for Germany, particularly post 1919. Boxed in by mature empires and a congealing trade/capitol flow a economic and or political domination of the Russian empires territories looked to many Germans like the long term solution. In the 1920s it was the US stepping in twice with the Young and Dawes plans for keeping Germany afloat with new loan structures from the US. The NSDAP with its expansionist policies looked like a solution to many German businessmen.