Japan's Imperial Strategy. Why did the leaders of the Meiji government in Japan decide to construct a great empire in Asia?

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Japanology, grade: 93, , course: International Relations, language: English, abstract: The world in 19th century had seen the breakdown and collapse of numerous empires and kingdoms of Europe and Asia: first The Holy Roman Empire in 1806, then the defeat of Waterloo (1815) - which marked the end of Napoleonic Era, moreover, 19th cent...