To strengthen Japans economy → Government continued to support wealthy zaibatsu. While this built cooperation and trust between government and big businesses → it also resulted in wealth being concentrated in the hands of the big businesses - while workers and peasants continued to live in poverty. → Gap between rich and poor widened.
In the countryside → Richest landlords, who made up about 2-3% of Japanese population → did not work on the farms → but lived on rent collected from tenant farmers. These landlords → lived in luxury and engaged in leisure activities → such as visiting hot spring inns → which was in sharp contrast to the poverty of the tenant farmers.
Growing unhappiness of poor towards wealthy → led to uprisings such as rice riots of 1918. → these riots → led by angry workers → were triggered by a sudden increase in the prices of commodities → especially rice → which is a staple food.