samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> From: "midorinotoradesu" <bkirkham@...>
>
>
>I think Tristan might be right with the annex of Hawaii to Japan.
>According to the book "Stolen Kingdom", the Hawaiian monarchy had
>asked Japan for the referndum.
>
Maybe this is a misunderstanding, usually when I hear referendum I
assume that citizens are voting on the subject and it's not the monarchy
negotiating with foreign powers.
>I don't think it was a ploy to push Japan's buttons. I don't even
>think annexing Hawaii was a US decision.
>
Yep, it was a coup that the US backed.
> From: "Michael Peters" <shdwstel@...>
>
>
> The Japanese of today are NOT the japanese on 70 years ago.
>
This is so true, we are also not the Americans of the period as well.
Japanese tenant farmers were still little better than slaves. Their
lifestyle had not changed since the Tokugawa bakafu decided to squeeze
them. In many ways all but the urban elite and the military were still
fairly bad off. In many ways it was a continuation of the fuedal state
with technology thrown in. It's the ugly ending of the military classes
as rulers of Japan.
Jim