The Japanese aspired of having an empire in Asia for a long time. Japan had their reasons to why they desired so much to expand and dominate Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The practical reason was based on natural resources. Japan, as an island nation, was an incredibly resource poor country. They lacked crucial reserves a prosperous industrialized economy would need during this century. That meant it had to import a great deal of it's resources from outside countries, including food. They imported more than eighty percent of its oil and was dependent on raw material imports to sustain its industrial base. Unable to be self-sufficient, Japanese had no other choice but to go to war and take by force the resources they desperately required.