What would society be like if the Japanese won WWII?

Answer 1

I just asked a similar question about Germany.

It depends on what the circumstances of the Japanese victory were, and whether America was soundly defeated in the Pacific or fought to a stalemate. Let's take an intermediate scenario--the US retains an effective presence in the Pacific, but ends up being unable to bring about the collapse of the Imperial Greater-Co-Prosperity Sphere. Let's also assume that Nazi Germany fell, with the US and Soviet Russia carving up Europe, as happened in reality.

In the 1950s, the Japanese would focus on stomping out revolutions and insurgencies that would have been almost incessant in certain provinces, particularly China. The communists would have to be dealt with with great brutality. Naive and inexperienced at governing a large empire, the Japanese would likely get arrogant and bleed its provinces dry, exacerbating the empire's problems. Add European and American not-so-covert support for insurgency movements, and I see a recipe for imperial collapse.

However, let's assume that Japan survived. This could happen in one of two ways in the 1960s--the empire is REFORMED from within to become a modern egalitarian state, or the empire EXPANDS again (more likely, given its past) to draw attention away from its fundamental economic problems and win new raw materials. India, probably recently free from British control, would be the most likely next target, though war with Russia over Manchuria would also not be out of the question (particularly with US support). The resulting situation would probably have resulted in a war with similar human losses and perhaps even worse destruction than World War 2. History would probably have known it as World War 3.

Let's assume that by a miracle, Japan continues to survive. It would have to do so by choosing a strong ally, probably the US against the Soviets if Japan were smart. Japanese/American victory would probably have resulted in something like an informal American Empire deep into Europe and central Asia (shades of today), and a more formal Japanese empire beyond the frontier encompassing the whole of East Asia.

The 1970s would probably see economic prosperity as Japan and the United States enjoyed their world conquests. If the Japanese retained an imperial structure instead of creating a sort of "European Union" in East Asia, the US would probably end up going to war with the Japanese by the 1980s or 1990s, depending on how tense their relationship was in the past and whether or not Japan continued to pursue an imperial agenda--considering its success with the imperial agenda up until this point, another war is most likely.

By 2007, the world would be just recovering from this most recent conflict, and a weakened Japan would probably start to have to face national insurgencies again (even if it won, the cost of victory would have been quite grim). Nuclear bombs thrown on the US, particularly the West Coast cities, would seriously undermine confidence in the American government, and coupled with continued mass movement from Latin America, spell a fundamental transformation of American culture similar to what was seen in the Roman Empire--the threat of the fall of the republic would be a real one.

Keep in mind that the reason I predict so many wars is that the structure of imperial Japan was built on the idea of rapid conquest--if the Japanese ever "settled down" and really focused on creating a cohesive imperial whole, they could have created a world superpower like the US.

Ari-gato.

Answer 2

There's a book about it by Philip K. Dick, the same guy who wrote the story that inspired Blade Runner, called "The Man In The High Castle".

Answer 3

Japan would have a far worse economy, they'd feel threatened by over investment from the USA and Europe and everything would still be made in China

Answer 4

If Japan won WW2 the world would already have been destroyed by WW3~

Answer 5

GM, Ford & Chrysler would make kick-***, fuel efficient vehicles that sell really well, and last a long time.

Answer 6

Mitsubishi would still be allowed to make planes and boats.

Answer 7

The bow would replace the high five.
We'd all know how to use chopsticks.
We'd have more respect for our elders.
O.J. would be dead.

Answer 8

Much shorter.