ABSTRACT
Contrary to popular belief, Japan has fought fewer external wars in its history than any other major nation. Up to the end of the nineteenth century, it had made only one attempt to expand on the mainland (Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the sixteenth century) and was only once threatened by a hostile power (the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century). Both the attempt to expand and the attempt to invade Japan ended in failure.
