During the Nara period (7 10-794) in the middle and early Tang Dynasty, which was the so-called ancient grave period, Japan highly respected the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and it was for this reason that it sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty. In Heian period (794- 1 192), Japan respected the Tang Dynasty as much as Nara period, and had closer contacts with China. However, in 895 AD, the envoy to the Tang Dynasty was abolished, because it was already sunset in the Tang Dynasty. Less than ten years later, the Tang Dynasty perished (907).
The Tang Dynasty had a great influence on Japan. Japan introduced many oriental cultures from the Tang Dynasty, such as Confucianism and Buddhism (Jian Zhen traveled to Japan and became the ancestor of Japanese Buddhism). It can be said that the Tang Dynasty created Japanese culture, and Japan had its own writing because of the Tang Dynasty. The kimono worn by Japanese women is based on the processing and transformation of women's clothing in Tang Dynasty.
Even later, Japan maintained trade relations with the Song Dynasty. During the reign of Ping Qingsheng, there were trade and cultural exchanges with the Song Dynasty.
Although western culture entered Japan at the beginning of16th century and gradually replaced China culture, fundamentally speaking, the influence of China culture on Japan is incomparable to western culture.
In ancient Japan, when addressing China, they always mentioned the Tang Dynasty, the land of the Tang Dynasty, the people of the Tang Dynasty, and so on, showing the great influence of the Tang Dynasty on their culture.
The Japanese people were hysterical, and only recognized China people in the Tang Dynasty, thinking that only the Tang Dynasty could be regarded as China.
The answer to your last question is: you are right. The Japanese hope is to move to the mainland, then control the whole Asia, and then dominate the world. Although the Japanese are ambitious, they are small in territory and lack of resources. Before16th century, it was always attacked by China (Emperor Kublai Khan sent troops to attack Japan twice in the early Yuan Dynasty, but both times when he almost conquered Japan, the warship was overturned by the strong wind at sea, so Japan called this wind "Kamikaze", which was the source of Kamikaze in the Kamikaze Death Squad).
The first Japanese expansion to the mainland was during the reign of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1592 (when China was the Ming Dynasty). At that time, the Japanese Warring States period had just ended, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi was ambitious. He poured all his military strength into attacking North Korea, hoping to seize North Korea as a bridgehead for attacking the Ming Dynasty. As a result, both attacks were held by the Chinese and Korean Coalition forces. In China, this battle was called "the Battle of Wanli in Korea", in Korea it was called "the Battle of Renchen to protect the family", and in Japan it was divided into two times, namely "the Battle of Leuven" and "the Battle of Gyeonggi". If you are interested, you can find out for yourself. In short, Japan believes that mainland expansion began at that time.
I must have written it myself, because I know something about Japanese history. I didn't copy anything. I'm tired of typing so many words. ..