Japanese trade has remarkably started since Tokugawa (Shogunate) period(1603-1867). During Tokugawa period, resource acquisition (gold, sliver and copper) didn't constitute much of a problem for the nation as Shoguns forced the country to remain in a feudal state and effectively kept it restrained to outside trading; by 1637 all missionaries must leave by a decree of Ieysu Tokugawa, but Dutch was only allowed to carry on trade in "Deshima islet in Nagasake harbor." Nowadays, you couldn't imagine that we had a ton of the mineral resources in Japan, because we have now, very low grade coal. Other minerals include copper, lead, zinc, manganese, limestone, pyrites, and quartzite in insufficient quantities to meet domestic demand.
             Around Tokugawa's period many wealth cliques started to control the Japanese economy under Tokugawa's power. The greatest of these families were the Mitsui, Iwasaki, Sumitomo, and Yasuda; they started a little trade in Deshindma islet, and later on, they controlled most of the industries until World war 2 finished (In 1945-46 family ownership of immense trusts was dissolved by the Allied occupation authorities. The business organizations remained intact, however, and have since acquired even greater economic power by expanding into shipping, banking, and other industries.)
             Japan's isolation effectively ended in 1853 when commodore Matthao Perry of the United States sailed in to Tokyo bay. Perry led to a dramatic intellectual change in the nation. Because their incursion strengthen a wave of democracy with happened Tokugawa's death in 1853. Industrialization and population growth had turned from a resource-surplus country into a resource-deficit country. Between 1872 and 1935 the population grew by nearly fifty percent to 69,251,000. Japan needed reliable sources of
             food for its growing population. Japan started to invade Korea, Taiwan, and Manchur
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