Question

How did Japan and Ethiopia survive not becoming a colonized country?

Answer 1

Japan survived not becoming a colonized country due to its defensability, its geography and its military might.  It was only humiliated once before WWII, It took two nuclear bombs to get Japan to surrender.

Ethiopia survived becoming a colonized country particularly due to its geography and fauna and because of its centralized government as well, in spite of other countries from Africa which were organized by tribes.