Invasion of Chôxen and China[]
On April 13, 1592, the first Japanese troops arrive on the Korean Peninsula. The peninsula was quickly occupied, and Manchuria entered. Despite guerrilla resistance to the Japanese in Korea, it proved a more than suitable invasion route to China. With little naval resistance (Yi Sun-sin had died several years earlier), Japan was able to maintain a steady supply line, beating back resistance.
The Ming Dynasty fought hard against the Japanese, but the Japanese continued to push into Manchuria.
Toyotomi's Death and Consolidation[]
The war with China was an expensive undertaking, and the Toyotomi family required support to maintain its position. As a result, the Council of Regents, established by Fideyoxi on his deathbed to rule in his son's name, sought a peace treaty with China. Japanese forces withdrew from the parts of Manchuria then occupied in exchange for which China acknowledged Japanese dominion over Chôxen
Resistance to Toyotomi rule soon appeared, with Tokugawa Iyeyasu, based in the town of Yedo in the Quantô region, leading the opposition. Katô Kiyomasa, a prominent general in the invasion of Chôxen and the first to cross over into Manchuria, remained behind to continue the pacification of Chôxen, which proved an advantage to the Toyotomi loyalists, as Katô had favored Tokungawa.
Fideyori's Reign and Resumed Expansion[]
In 1613, Fideyori was officially named Quampaku. His early reign was spent consolidating authority and dealing with the Europeans. Soon afterwards he set his eyes on continuing his father's expansion. He learned from the Europeans of a vast land which they called America and which the Japanese came to refer to as Tôbankoku (東蛮国, literally "Eastern Barbarian Land"). Japan acquired Taiwan from the Dutch, and moved into the Philippines, driving Spain from them. Japanese influence continued to expand southward, as the Philippines came under the dominion. Upon the discovery of Australia or (Xinnoranda), colonies were established in that new southern land.
In America, Japanese exploration began with Alaska (Areska-dô), moving down into the Oregon Country, and bumping against New Spain. The name Tôbankoku later came to be written with the kanji 東曼国, literally "Eastern wide/beautiful land"
Conflicts with Russia[]
In North Asia, Japan spread westward, seeking the fur trade and an overland trade route to Europe, eventually bumping into Russia. Japan claimed all the territory east of the Ob River, while Russia sought a Pacific coast. This lead to several minor clashes in the 1680's, which resulted in the acceptance of the Ob-Irtysh River as the border between the two nations. Buddhist missionaries began crossing the border into Russia, seeking, without much success, to convert the Russian people to their faith.
Dutch-Japanese Alliance[]
The Dutch were Japan's major connection with the West in the early days. As such, the Dutch and the Japanese enjoyed a mutually profitable trade. At the same time, however, the Dutch also sought territorial gains in Indonesia, coming into conflict with Japan. These disputes were resolved peacefully, however, and both Japanese and Dutch colonies were established around Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
After the First Anglo-Dutch War, a secret Japanese-Dutch treaty was signed. Thus, by the time of the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667), Japanese troops fought alongside Dutch, to the dismay of England. The English were defeated, and returned the province of New Netherlands to the Dutch. Japan gained the island of Run in the Banda Islands of Indonesia.
Japan was pulled into the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674). This war was inconclusive, resulting only in minor expansion of the New Netherlands colony. Not long afterwards, the Dutch Stadtholder, William III, became William III of England and II of Scotland, unifying Britain and the Netherlands.
Anglo-Japanese Alliance[]
The Alliance with Japan was inherited by the newly unified Anglo-Dutch entity. However, this alliance gradually began to sour as Britain and Japan competed over North American colonies, and in India and Indonesia.
War of Spanish Succession[]
In 1701, King Charles II of Spain died. He had named as his heir Philip, Duc d'Anjou, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France. As *here*, a war broke out to oppose the French claims to Spain.
Japan joined in the fighting, primarily in the New World, seeking to expand her holdings in Tôbankoku (North America).
At the end of the war, Spain ceded Alta California to Japan. Japan also gained the French territory of Louisianne. This was to mark the zenith of the Japanese colonial empire in America.