Japanese nationalism
Tensions with China increased over the 1920s, and in 1931 Japanese Kwantung Army based in Manchuria seized control of the region without admission from Tokyo. Intermittent conflict with China led to full-scale war in mid-1937, drawing Japan toward an overambitious bid for Asian hegemony (Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), which ultimately led to defeat and the loss of all its overseas territories after World War II (see Japanese expansionism and Japanese nationalism).