Comments by "Arthur Mosel" (@arthurmosel808) on "Why wasn't Japan colonized?" video.

  1. Actually maps of Japan from the beginning of the 1700s show all of Sakhalin and the island all the way to the Kamchatka Peninsula as well as locations on the coast of Siberia. Most of these were gradually lost during the next 150+ years. By 1875, it had lost all of those except the last half of Sakhalin and a few nearby islands with the Russians pushing toward those islands and Hokkaido; so a treaty was made ceding the last half of Sakhalin to protect those islands and Hokkaido. This video also ignores that Spain actually ruled Portugal during part of the period, and the very real concern was the Catholic Church. An embassy left Japan in the late 1500s and went around Spanish South America and saw what happened in Peru to the Incans. After they returned, the Japanese increased their opposition to Roman Catholicism (notice them continued to have limited ties with the Protestant Dutch). This ultimately led to outlawing contact with those nations following the Catholic Church. Initially, they also continued trade with England, who cut ties because it wasn't profitable and the Civil War in England; when they tried to restart it following the Stuart Restoration; however, due to the King's wife being Roman Catholic, they were banned. Is video left out a great deal of detail and fact that would have made it more accurate and infinitely more complex. There is a Japanese word "aite" (sp? Not working with my notes), it means both companion and opponent. This is like the history of Japan and the West, complex and not simple.
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  2. A far better explanation.
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  3. In 1700, Japan actually owned all the Kyrils, areas along the coast of Siberia and all of Sakhalin was Japanese. The Russian empire slowly ate up most of the Kyrils,the Siberian enclaves and by 1875 half of Sakhalin. In 1875, a Russian Japanese Treaty guaranteed further Russian moves in the Kyrils and Hokkaido ; but surrendered the last half of Sakhalin to Russia. This history and the expansion of the Russian Empire was part of the 1904-1905. Why because Rusdia had moved into competition in Korea and Manchuria. So, the issue is that much more complex. By the way, Spain and Portugal shared the a the actions that repulsed Japan.
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