This is probably a stupid thing to ask... but here I go.
After (lightly) reading on the Treaty of San Francisco and what happened to Japan following WW2, I wonder how large the amount of resentment was towards the U.S., Soviet Union, and former territories in Japan.
Could the Japanese have rebuilt something resembling there old Empire (land wise). Would the U.S. have let the Japanese regain strength if they thought it could help them against the USSR in East Asia and the Pacific?