Uichiro Niwa (丹羽 宇一郎) - Japanese Ambassador to China, former Chairman and President of Itochu, former CEO of Japan Post Holdings
On September 18, 2012, the Japanese government of Yoshihiko Noda nationalized the Senkaku Islands.
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The Noda government chose to nationalize the islands on the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, which served as a pretext for the Imperial Japanese Army to invade northeastern China, which became a step leading up to the Pacific War.
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It was Imperial Japan's efforts to invade and colonize other Asian countries that eventually led to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between Japan and the U.S. in the years leading up to the Pacific War.