Japanese Lebensraum

Suppose that the Japanese had attempted a form of settler colonialism which involved replacing the indigenous population of their conquered territories. Would they have had more success than Germany at doing so?
 
Suppose that the Japanese had attempted a form of settler colonialism which involved replacing the indigenous population of their conquered territories. Would they have had more success than Germany at doing so?

\the Japanese could get away with a lot in Korea or Manchuria assuming their hubris doesn't get the best of them and drags them into war with the west... which seems unlikely.
 

Marc

Donor
Taiwan, obviously - mass deportation of the population to where ever. Close to what they tried, saving they preferred assimilation.
 

Ban Kulin

Banned
True. The Japanese were tough to beat yet still to many in the West "all those Asians are the same". Talk about Germans replacing Poles and Russians and Frenchmen and many Americans and Brits take notice. Talk about Japanese replacing Koreans and Chinese and, at that time and even in a way nowadays, many Americans and Brits of the time don't care much for non-economic reasons, "those people are basically the same, right?"
 
It would be very difficult to get away with genocide in 20th century. Besides, Japan needed cheap labour in their colonies.

If somehow Japan did get away with genocide, it would reduce the population pressure on the mainland Japan. However, the sugar production in Taiwan and Rice production in Korean would reduce dramatically. They would impact the industries on Japanese mainland.

If Okinawa is good example, I believe assimilation is or was best resolution in the long term.
 
The Japanese did plan to settle millions of colonists throughout their colonies. Like the Nazis, the Japanese leadership believed the homeland was overpopulated and that the excess population would need to be sent elsewhere. For example, the Japanese planned in the early 1930s to send 5 million colonists to Manchuria over a period of 20 years. IIRC, nearly a million Japanese had actually settled there by 1945.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
Uh...

The Japanese did this. Not just in the Mandates (there were 30,000 Japanese civilians on Saipan at the time of the U.S. landings), but in Manchuria as well. The Japanese were colonizing with settlers.

The difference was that, unlike the Reich, the Empire saw the local population as an exploitable asset. The Nazis saw vermin, the Empire saw cheap labor (or, more properly, something close to slaves) that could be used for the good of the Emperor.
 
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