How did Japanese try and build a pacific empire?

Japan sought to build a Pacific empire through aggressive military expansion and Imperialism, beginning in the late 19th century and escalating during World War II. They aimed to secure resources and territory by invading China, Korea, and Southeast Asian nations, promoting the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This ideology framed their expansion as a liberation of Asian nations from Western colonial rule, though it often resulted in brutal occupation. Japan's military campaigns were marked by significant naval power, exemplified by the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, which aimed to establish dominance in the Pacific.