In the mid to late 19th century China was carved up. Notably Hong Kong and Macau were owned by Britain and Portugal respectively. Both were only returned to China in the late 1990s. So less than 20 years ago Europeans still had oversea colonies in Asia.

The carving up of China only started in the mid-19th century with the first of the Unequal Treaties. This resulted in a loss of sovereignty for China starting in 1839 (with the treaty of Nanjing following the First Opium War) and is said to have ended in 1949 when the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Kuomintang.

These treaties also opened up many trade ports, forcing China to trade with the European powers on their terms (rather than using the traditional Canton System that made the Emperor a rich man). The Canton System had severely restricted foreign trade and gave the Chinese Imperial authorities greater control over Western influences. It was a sore point with the European powers.

The Japanese had their own dealings with the West, who first came to Japan in the mid-16th century. By the 17th century Japan restricted trade to the Portuguese Dutch around the port of Nagasaki. Since it was so far, the trade was profitable, and the Japanese would prove a difficult enemy without the ability to quickly and easily reinforce troops there really was no reason to challenge them at this time.

The San Felipe incident involved a Spanish ship wrecking off the coast of Shikoku in 1596. Hideyoshi is said to have learned from its pilot that the Spanish Franciscans were some sort of vanguard to an Iberian invasion. It was at this time that Christianity really started to be persecuted, with 26 Catholics being crucified. By 1614 Catholicism was officially banned by the Tokugawa Shogunate.

It's not until the 19th century that the Americans, who were far superior militarily, forced open the Japanese trade ports. The Japanese quickly realised the old ways were not working and undertook the Meiji Restoration. This caused rapid Westernization. Japan grew their military and became a powerful force in the East, it established itself as a world power with the defeat of Russia in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War.