Finally, industrialization, which pushed for overseas expansion and the opening of foreign markets, as well as domestic politics and international prestige, fueled Japanese imperialism.
Answer: The rise of the militarists. The notion that expansion through military conquest would solve Japan’s economic problems gained currency during the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was argued that the rapid growth of Japan’s population—which stood at close to 65 million in 1930—necessitated large food imports.
