When events in China cooled off, the ones back in Japan heated up. With the exit of Japan from the League of Nations in 1933, the unilateralist approach was chosen to secure the empire. But even then, there was disagreement on approach that would create conflict on the home islands that were only starting to get resolved by the time formal war with China broke out in 1937. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Duus, Peter The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 1988
3. Young, Louise Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]