Why did China and Japan move to self isolation from the international community???

I'm talking about ANCIENT china and japan.........Why did China and Japan move to self isolation from the international community???
The isolation allowed traditional art and writing to flourish and expand into more contemporary work untouched by western ideas. For two centuries during the Edo period in Japan the shogun refused western ships and missionaries entry to consolidate their power base and keep their customs pure. During this time Kabuki came about, just one of the indigenous explorations of creative expression.Why did China and Japan move to self isolation from the international community???
I think I learned somewhere sophomore year that they (China %26amp; Japan) started to realize that they were behind in technology (yes, I mean the technology during ancient times) and that it made them fall behind on what the other powerhouses (European states) could do and could gain more land for their empires. It also has to do with being able to keep up in their navies and weaponary, seeing that if they were still isolated, they could not trade with other people to obtain these supplies in order to make what they needed to gain land and power.. because back in the ancient times, certain places specialized in certain raw materials or refined materials because what was available to them on all the land that they owned. Also, there was no way to get certain items except by trade, and sea-trade was one of the ways to obtain these goods (land-trade is the other).





I hope that helps. I was trying to think of some more to tell you, but I couldn't exactly remember everything from AP World History two years ago. Haha, yeah.





Good luck. :)
power base== allows gov to est base over people...


complete loyalty...
both sought to control their domains and keep them in the way of life that were established. they were well aware of the greed of others, the need for conquest, the need to 'convert'. it was easier to just say no. we do not want that
Since their culture was drastically different then of Europeans they didn't want their cultures to assimilate and lose parts of their traditions.