alternatehistory.com

The Point of Divergence for this scenario ... From 1633 to 1853, Japan enforced a policy known as Sakoku, which was an isolationist policy which banished all foreigners from the islands of Japan. This was mostly due in response the arrival of Portugese Catholic monks on the island and spreading the word of Christianity among the common folks. During this time, the only point of entry into Japan was the island of Nagasaki, where Dutch traders would come to trade. It wasn't until 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay with four warships in tow, that the process to open Japan to the world began, making Japan the modern superpower it is today.

What if Commodore Matthew Perry never arrived in Tokyo Bay in 1853 and the United States never forced Japan's doors open? Would another country have done so? And if Japan still had maintained its isolationist policy until the present day, how might the world be different?
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