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Japan's forces took control of Manchuria. The United States didn't approve, and this caused tension.
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Japan targeted China, which was weakened by the civil war, and decided to invade the Eastern part of China. The Chinese government was forced to move to the interior of China. Tension between Japan and the US increased.
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World War II broke out in Europe, and Japan announced plans to create a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" in East and Southeast Asia, under Japanese rule, of course. Japan also strenghthened ties to Germany and Italy during this time.
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Due to tensions created by Japan's expansion into Asia, the US eventually cut off all exports to Japan. So Japanese bombers attacked the US military base located in Pearl Harbor. This led to the Pacific War.
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Japan suffers it's first major defeats to the US, and was gradually driven from their (taken) islands over the next three years. By the end of 1944, Japan was being bombed by US planes.
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Hiroshima was attacked by an atomic bomb, a new secret US weapon. Just days after, another and larger bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan was horrified and so were other countries.
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Japan signed peace treaties with most of the nations they had fought against in the war, and started to rebuild itself. Japan is now the most developed nation in Asia.
