Expert: Jennifer - 4/26/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Has China ever owned Japan? (not the people,but rather the land). I was told the Japanese leased Japan from China.
Answer -
Hi!

The Japanese are technically different from the Chinese by their dialect group. According to some text, the Japanese dialect group fled to the island of current-day Japan after a civil war. Hence, Japan was technically part of China in the past.


So today the Japanese owns Japan? If so, when did this occur? And how.
Thanks, Russell


Answer
Hi!

You are right - today Japanese owns Japan. There is no clear date when the Japanese started owning Japan. Japan's case is rather like what is happening in Taiwan today, except for the fact that Japan eventually became an economic powerhouse and had the support of the Western countries and at the same time, China was ploughed by internal problems. Hence, Japan became a country on its own.

You might want to do some research on the history of Japan. I'm not very well-versed in that area, but I'll do whatever I can to help.