The Japanese borrowed the following three things from Korea and China:
1. Buddhism
2. A centralized, imperialist government3. The Chinese writing system.
It is also important to note that whatever the Japanese borrowed from other nations, they adapted and made their own. An important example of this is the idea of a centralized, imperialist government, that they borrowed from China. In China, the emperor rules by virtue of a mandate from heaven which can be withdrawn. The Japanese changed it to believe in the eternal rule of one imperial family.