"What were the Japanese invasions of China and the rest of the Pacific about, the higher values of Buddhism?"
are you saying the japanese shintos invaded china to try and convert them to buddhism?
i thought the bushido code got its buddhist influences from the chinese in the first place?
i think you're missing my point.
any religion that makes sense will probably resonate well with people, without the need to ram it down their throats.
hence why the samurais liked what the chinese taught them about buddhism, and why they nicked a few concepts from them.
but a religion that is founded on illogical ideas that you are expected to just take for granted, heck, no wonder it took a bit of torture to spread the word.
convincing people that 12 uneven months makes more sense than the lunar and solar cycles is no mean feat.
