Why did japan enter world war 2?

Japan entered world war 2 as US imposed oil sanctions on Japan due to their invasion of China. When US imposed sanctions Japan had an option of either backing down or raising the stakes even further .They decided to raise the stakes and capture resources in Asia under their Eastern Asia Co-prosperity sphere. read more

In World War I, Japan entered on the side of the Allied Powers and picked off Germany's colonial empire in the Pacific Ocean. This was probably the high-water mark of Japan's acceptance by the Western powers prior to 1945. And to this point, Japan had really acted exactly as the various European colonial powers had. read more

While traditionally, World War II is said to have started Sept. 1939 when Poland was invaded by Germany (typical Eurocentric thinking), the war had been going on for some time in the Far East, beginning with Japan taking over Manchuria in the early 30's and then attacking and invading much of Eastern China in about 1937. read more