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The Meiji Restoration is the time period when the people in Tokugawa Japan wanted to expand their empire, and insert foreign cultures into their own, in order to modernize. This was the start of breaking away from their isolation. -
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If Japan had never decided to come out of their isolation, there are two options as to what could've happened. Either the Japanese people wouldn't have wanted to come out of isolation, or they would've failed at overthrowing the current emperor. -
The Japanese Constitution was adopted in 1889, as a result of the new emperor coming into power. However, if the new emperor never came into power, the constitution, as well as many other new things that were implemented, would never have changed. -
During the 19th Century, Japan began to come fully out of isolation, and started wanting to prove their power to others by taking over other lands. They began trying to take over places, such as Korea and China. -
In 1895, Japan had successfully gained control over the Korean Peninsula, and had forced China to give them access to their ports. In addition to all this, they renegotiated their treaties with Europe, demanding equal treatment. -
By 1910, Japan had annexed Korea. This chain of events was all started by Japan coming out of isolation by overthrowing the old emperor. None of these events would have occurred at all if Japan had not exited isolation. -
Another big part of Japanese involvement in the world in general is the effects that they had on World War 2. For example, the Tripartite (Axis) Pact, was the alliance that Germany, Italy, and Japan had for the war. If Japan had not come out of isolation and proved that they were a strong country, it's likely that Germany and Italy would not have taken notice of them. -
When Japan had occupied Indochina, the U.S. reacted by freezing assets for the Japanese, including oil. Things progressively got worse and worse for Japan, and all of this lead up to Pearl Harbor, and the bombings. -
The attack on Pearl Harbor stays in the memories of many people. We can assume that if Japan stayed in isolation, many of the things that had happened to/because of them in the war never would've happened in the first place. -
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. These things came as a result of Japan coming out of isolation, which would've been avoided had they not done it. -
If Japan had never exited isolation, we would essentially be facing a world without Japanese influence. Japan has had massive effects on this world, what with trading physical, as well as cultural ideas. The world as we know it would be completely different.