Under German Imperial control, and even before then, the Marshall Islands were from time to time visited by Japanese traders and fishermen, but contact with the islanders was not on a regular basis. After the Meiji Restoration the Japanese government undertook a policy of turning Japan into a great economic and military power in East Asia.In 1914, Japan joined the Entente powers during World War I, and found it possible to capture German colonies in China and Micronesia. On September 29, 1914, Japanese troops occupied the atoll of Enewetak, and on September 30, 1914 the atoll of Jaluit the administrative center of the Marshall Islands. - After the war, on June 28, 1919, Germany renounced all of its Pacific possessions, including the Marshall Islands. On December 17, 1920, the Council of the League of Nations approved the mandate for Japan to take over all former German colonies in the Pacific Ocean, located north of the equator. - The Administrative Center of the Marshall Islands atoll remained Jaluit. Unlike the German Empire, which had primarily economic interests in Micronesia, the accession of the territory, with a small area and few resources, to Japan would to some extent alleviate Japan's problem of increasing population but an ever increasing scarcity of land to house this exploding population. - During the years of colonial rule in the Marshall Islands Japan moved more than 1,000 Japanese to the Marshall Islands. Unlike in the Mariana Islands and Palau, their share in the archipelago never exceeded the number of indigenous people. Under Japanese rule a greatly enlarged administration was introduced and local leaders were appointed by the Japanese, which weakened the authority of local traditional leaders. Japan also tried to change the social organization in the islands from Matrilineality to the Japanese Patriarchal system, but with no success. - In addition during the 30s one third of all land up to the high water level was declared the property of the Japanese government. On the archipelago, before it banned foreign traders, the activities of Catholic and Protestant missionaries were allowed. - Indigenous people were educated in Japanese schools, studying Japanese language and Japanese culture. This policy was the government strategy not only in the Marshall Islands, but on all the other mandated territories in Micronesia. In March 27, 1933, Japan left the League of Nations, but despite that, it continued to manage the islands in the region and in the late 1930s, even started the construction of air bases on some atolls, which also further served local residents. The Marshall Islands were an important geographical position, being the easternmost point in Japan's defensive ring at the beginning of World War II. - 5 -