What countries has Japan gone to war with?
The first war with a foreign country that appears in history was the Battle of Hakusukinoe in 663 in which Japan fought the allied forces of China and the Korean Kingdom of Silla.
Next was the Battles of Bun'ei and Koan with the Mongols in 1274 and 1281.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi made an attempt to conquer the Korean Peninsula in 1592 and 1596, but in 1598 his men had to withdraw because of his death.
During the Edo period, the government adopted a national seclusion policy and broke off all relations with foreign countries.
However, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan's ambitions to invade the Korean Peninsula were rekindled, posing a threat to Chinese interest there.
In 1894, the Qing Dynasty of China dispatched troops to the peninsula, which started the Sino-Japanese War.
Japan's victory the next year resulted in the independence of Korea from Chinese sovereignty and the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and the P'enghu Islands to Japan.
However, Russia, Germany and France were strongly opposed, and so Russia bolstered its strategy of advancing southward to occupy parts of Manchuria.
The Russo-Japanese war broke out in 1904.
Japan once again won in the following year and increased its dominance in the Korean Peninsula, while also obtaining the southern part of Sakhalin Island.
Attempting to expand its interests in China, Japan wound up in an all-out war against China, and started the Pacific War in 1941 against allied forces, which included the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.
Japan lost the war in 1945.
The number of wars greatly increased during the period of only 100 years after Japan became a modern country.