I don't know enough about Japanese history to comment further, but I have a hunch there is more to the picture than an absence of imperialism.
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Japanese elites responded to the threat of imperialism with a coordinated program of restructuring and modernization. The appearance of Admiral Perry's 'Black Fleet' in Edo (now Tokyo) harbor in 1853 caused a great cultural shock.
Instead of paralyzing the culture however, it became a focal point for rapid action.
For generations, the Tokugawa shogunate had marginalized the emperor system and ruled the country. Wars between clans was not unheard of. Now, with clearly superior naval technology, manned by foreigners, right before their eyes, the inability of the Tokugawa to protect the nation from invasion was obvious.
This crisis created the space for reformers to push the Shogunate aside, restore the emperor system and launch a swift restructuring project - all aimed at catching up with the West.
The Meiji restorationists (named for the restored-to-the-throne Emperor Meiji) consciously and cannily used the mythology of the imperial system, as well as a collection of Japanese cultural elements (Bushido, etc) to create the unifying themes of their program.
Documents such as the 'Imperial Recript on Education" explicitly describe the agitprop use of certain Japanese cultural elements for their collectivizing effect.
Not a few of the behaviors that we consider to be uniquely Japanese were nurtured and cultivated via the training system the Meiji team started.
The template the restorationists created was so successful, that by the first decade of the 20th century it was obvious to the world that Japan had arrived on the stage. The Russo-Japanese war was one of the fruits of the Meiji effort.
The post WW2 climb of Japan to economic prominence was, therefore, the second restoration made somewhat easier because a method for dealing with foreigners (learn-emulate-match-overtake) was already available.
The Japanese response to imperialism can be contrasted with that of China in which a sense of disbelief that barbarians could ever breach the Middle Kingdom played a role in preventing elites from reacting in a coordinated fashion to the external threat.
So yes, the absence of the sort of occupation/imperialism that other peoples suffered only partially explains Japan's long history of success in dealing with the West.
Of course, this 'success' came (during the militarist period) at the expense of Japan's neighbors and also at the expense of the liberty of the Japanese people.
But that's a discussion for another time.
DRM
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