Japan's island geography resulted in an isolated history. It developed its institutions, culture, and history as distinct from nearby peoples such as the Chinese or Koreans who lived on the opposite side of the sea. Additionally, Japan has very few sources of natural, strategic resources and is not as mineral-rich as nearby nations. As the nation underwent industrialization in the 20th century, it had to import necessary materials from other countries; the need for resources partly contributed to the Japanese invasion of the material-rich Asian mainland in the 1930s.
