Sphère de coprospérité de la grande Asie orientale
Tensions between Japan and the prominent Western countries (the United States, France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) increased significantly during the increasingly militaristic early reign of Emperor Hirohito. Japanese nationalists and military leaders increasingly influenced government policy, promoting a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as part of Japan's alleged "divine right" to unify Asia under Hirohito's rule.