Japan is such a small country compared with the rest of the area it attempted to control. How would Japan ever effectively rule and control China let alone the rest of South East Asia?
Can someone explain this to me? It seems like a major over extension from the beginning.
It's a myth that Germany and Japan were trying to conquer the world. Japan didn't want all of Asia.
Japan wanted a fortified ring around the home islands with resources to fuel industry and defense. They wanted the iron and coal of Manchuria, oil and rubber of Indonesia and absolutely no foreign land claims within the ring from which a rival could cause trouble. That means taking out the Philippines and European colonies.