Relations between the United States and Japan had grown steadily worse throughout the nineteen thirties. Both nations were important industrial powers. But they had very different ideas about the economic and political future of eastern Asia, especially China. Until the late eighteen hundreds, Japan had been a nation with ancient political traditions and little contact with the Western world. Visits by Commodore Matthew Perry and American warships helped open Japan to trade with the United States and other nations in the eighteen fifties. And in the years that followed, Japan took giant steps toward becoming a modern industrial nation. By the nineteen twenties and thirties, Japan was a strong country. But it lacked oil, rubber, and other natural materials of its own. For this reason, Japanese leaders looked with envy at the Dutch colonies in Indonesia, French colonies in Indochina, and British colonies in Malaya and Burma. And Japanese businessmen saw huge markets for their products in such nearby countries as Korea and China. Japan's desire to use eastern Asia to gain natural materials and sell manufactured products was in direct conflict with American plans for Asia. This was especially true concerning China. Washington was the creator of the "Open Door" policy toward China. It wanted to keep China's natural materials and markets free from control by Japan or any other foreign nation. For this reason, Americans were very concerned when Japanese forces invaded the Manchuria area of China in nineteen thirty-one. And they watched with great interest the efforts of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek to oppose the Japanese invaders. The United States was also very concerned about protecting its imports of oil, tin, and natural rubber from southeast Asia. This area of the world was a major supplier of these natural materials in the nineteen thirties. The Middle East had not yet become a leading producer of oil. In these ways, the United States and Japan were competing for the same natural materials and Asian markets. However, there also was a good deal of trade between the two nations. In fact, Japan depended on the United States for most of its metal, copper, and oil. This trade with Tokyo became a major concern for President Franklin Roosevelt and the Congress in nineteen thirty-seven. In the summer of that year, more Japanese troops moved into China. They quickly captured much of the Chinese coast. Continued Japanese Path to WW2, Page 2