[amake]

> This includes Japan, which I believe a large majority of their signs are written in simplified version of kanji.

Japanese simplification has some overlap with Chinese, but overall they are not the same, and the simplification was definitely not "forced" on Japan by China.

[desdiv]

To add to that, China's simplification process happened during the 50s and 60s, back when China was deeply impoverished, had massive famines thanks to the Great Leap Forward[0], and had basically zero international influence (didn't even have a UN seat). They weren't in a position to influence Japan in any way. Not to mention that Japan was in the opposite camp during the Cold War.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward

[swang]

I mean what you're saying is correct, but I never said China instantly switched everyone over to simplified once China decided in the 50s/60s.

I am saying the superpower it has since become has "forced" most other countries to defer to using simplified rather than traditional.

[swang]

After looking this up, yeah you are right. I just assumed there was a conversion of Traditional->Simplified for the most part because I had noticed earlier in my life that most of the written forms of kanji (I saw) were written in traditional form and only towards the past decade or so have I noticed that there were more characters that looked "simplified"