What were the historical circumstances that led the Japanese going into WWII to have an aggressively imperialist mindset?

by [deleted]

I've been reading a book about myths of Australian military history (because it looked interesting and it's a topic I know nothing about), and there's a chapter that seeks to dispel the myth that there were Japanese invasion plans for (or even a "secret" invasion of) Australia. In the chapter, the author states:

Many senior Japanese officers were imbued with the aggressive imperialism that carried Japan into a ruinous war... to ultimate defeat.

What, if any, historical circumstances led to the development of this mindset among the Japanese officer corps and in the general population? I understand that there would have been cultural influences as well (and I plan on posing the equivalent question in /r/askanthropology), but I'm curious about the historical influences on this mindset. If you can recommend any books on the topic for further reading, I'd be interested.

For those who are interested in the book I'm reading, it's called Zombie Myths of Australian Military History edited by Craig Stockings, and it's really interesting. Borrowed it from the library today and I'm already over halfway through.

ParkSungJun

I wrote a bit about the possibility of a Japanese invasion of Australia here for a few more bits about ANZAC hilarity.

For an answer about imperialist attitudes, I wrote one here also.

Bob9999999999999

In a nutshell, it's similar to what happened in Germany during the same time period. The Depression wrecked the economy and, in desperation, people turned to far-right extremism. The Imperial Rule Assistance Association, an essentially fascist party dominated by the military, came to power and established a single-party, totalitarian state.