Japan and germany
how were these countries' approaches to the great depression different?

The close dependence of the German economy on the American caused that it was this country, along with the United States, the most affected by the crisis. The collapse of industrial production, the ruin of the banks, the large number of unemployed, created an environment of great hostility towards the governments of the Weimar Republic. This atmosphere was exploited by the Nazi Party led by Hitler, who assumed power in 1933. Once in the government he proceeded to transform all the structures of the German State, implanting a dictatorship that was significantly reflected in the economic plane.

The Thirty Depression also hit the Japanese economy hard. Its traditional customers imposed customs barriers on industrial products. For Japanese leaders it was vital that their country constituted an empire from which to access cheap raw materials, while having a guaranteed market. China would be the territory chosen for that purpose.