East Asia in the early 20th century had a main theme of nationalism. The most powerful nations in East Asia in the early 1990s were China, Japan and Korea. All three shared similar political ideals that were drawn from Confucianism; these shared principles created a zone of sustained political engagement and occasional warfare. Occasional warfare with each other bound China, Japan and Korea together. Along with invasions of other nations and territorial expansion, this showed that these three were each equally powerful so the best solution was in a way, to co-rule East Asia with peace between one another. These characteristics gave all three nations their sense of nationalism. All shared a common written language of Chinese. Not to mention they all had geographical and cultural familiarity; via mainly trade routes and economic interdependence. They were economically interdependence, through metals, medicines and manufactured goods which increased global integration. This commonality and shared strengths also gave them their pride and nationalism. Along with turning their silver imports to commodities; like opium and ginseng,
The nations of China, Japan and Korea also shared a zone of cultural interaction and adaption. In post WWI Eastern Asia, this interaction and adaptation lead Japan to gain many Germany territories and several Chinese territories. This represented an extension of Japan’s rise to prominence after the Meiji restoration. With all of this Japanese expansion, the Japanese honestly had no other choice but to have a strong pride in their nation. The Japanese had no reason not to be satisfied and proud of their country, proud because of their expansion, their dominance and their economic success.