About Japan in wartime.
14-15th Century were the top of samurai *warfare*
Then, the country got united (the Edo period) from the 16th century to 1862 (?) and during that period, samurai, no longer allowed to fight, were converted into the bureaucracy. Strangely enough, this made them even more rigid and military in life and mindset.
Note that "you better do seppuku when captured" was a mindset Japanese farmers would find just as strange. "typically a Samurai thing"
Japan successfully fought and conquered China in 1985. Successfully attacked and sank the Russian navy in 1905. Got Taiwan as colony. Looked at other countries in the world to see what they did well and copied that.
After conquering China, the three most powerful nations - France, Germany, Russia - prevented Japan from taking large concessions from China because they feared too much influence.
Japanese soldiers were trained on live people at times.
