AnarWiki/markdown/Japanese_Empire.md

The **Japanese Empire** or '''Empire of Japan '''was an empire that
existed from 1868 to 1947 in what is now [Japan](Japan "wikilink"),
Korea, [China](China "wikilink") and much of Southeast Asia.

## History

### Origins

Japan had imposed isolation on itself for 200 years after the in a
policy dubbed '''Sakoku' ''(closed country) to prevent the rise of
Christianity in the country. This ended after the US forcibly opened the
country up for trade, leading to an ultra-nationalist movement forming
that murdered foreigners and several parts of the former military
attempted coups. Soon, a new authoritarian government was installed
during the [Meiji Restoration](Meiji_Restoration "wikilink").

### Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration saw the rapid modernisation and industrialization
of Japan. Japan adopted new compulsory education techniques, began
subsidising factories, built new railroads, telephone lines and habours
and began to build a large army. Using the state to help develop by
developing a state capitalist model, the government consolidated
economic powers in an elite in an authoritarian industrial revolution.
The government also began to argue that it was performing free market
capitalism despite (sound familiar?)

### First Imperial Conquests

In

### First Sino-Japanese War

Main articles: First Sino-Japanese War and Taiwan under Japanese rule

The First Sino-Japanese War, fought in 1894 and 1895, revolved around
the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the
Joseon Dynasty. Korea had traditionally been a tributary state of
China's Qing Empire, which exerted large influence over the conservative
Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon
kingdom. On February 27, 1876, after several confrontations between
Korean isolationists and Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty
of 1876, forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. The act blocks any other
power from dominating Korea, resolving to end the centuries-old Chinese
suzerainty.

On June 4, 1894, Korea requested aid from the Qing Empire in suppressing
the Donghak Rebellion. The Qing government sent 2,800 troops to Korea.
The Japanese countered by sending an 8,000-troop expeditionary force
(the Oshima Composite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on
June 9 en route to Seoul, and 3,000 landed at Incheon on June
12.<sup>\[35\]</sup> The Qing government turned down Japan's suggestion
for Japan and China to cooperate to reform the Korean government. When
Korea demanded that Japan withdraw its troops from Korea, the Japanese
refused. In early June 1894, the 8,000 Japanese troops captured the
Korean king Gojong, occupied the Royal Palace in Seoul and, by June 25,
installed a puppet government in Seoul. The new pro-Japanese Korean
government granted Japan the right to expel Qing forces while Japan
dispatched more troops to Korea.

China objected and war ensued. Japanese ground troops routed the Chinese
forces on the Liaodong Peninsula, and nearly destroyed the Chinese navy
in the Battle of the Yalu River. The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed
between Japan and China, which ceded the Liaodong Peninsula and the
island of Taiwan to Japan. After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and
France forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula. Soon afterwards
Russia occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, built the Port Arthur fortress,
and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port. Germany occupied
Jiaozhou Bay, built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia
Squadron in this port.

### Boxer Rebellion

Main articles: Boxer Rebellion and Boxer Protocol

In 1900, Japan joined an international military coalition set up in
response to the Boxer Rebellion in the Qing Empire of China. Japan
provided the largest contingent of troops: 20,840, as well as 18
warships. Of the total, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the
5th Infantry Division under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder
were 540 naval *rikusentai* (marines) from the Imperial Japanese
Navy.<sup>\[36\]</sup>

At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion the Japanese only had 215 troops
in northern China stationed at Tientsin; nearly all of them were naval
*rikusentai* from the *Kasagi* and the *Atago*, under the command of
Captain Shimamura Hayao.<sup>\[37\]</sup> The Japanese were able to
contribute 52 men to the Seymour Expedition.<sup>\[37\]</sup> On June
12, 1900, the advance of the Seymour Expedition was halted some 30 miles
from the capital, by mixed Boxer and Chinese regular army forces. The
vastly outnumbered allies withdrew to the vicinity of Tianjin, having
suffered more than 300 casualties.<sup>\[38\]</sup> The army general
staff in Tokyo had become aware of the worsening conditions in China and
had drafted ambitious contingency plans,<sup>\[39\]</sup> but in the
wake of the Triple Intervention five years before, the government
refused to deploy large numbers of troops unless requested by the
western powers.<sup>\[39\]</sup> However three days later, a provisional
force of 1,300 troops commanded by Major General Fukushima Yasumasa was
to be deployed to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because he spoke
fluent English which enabled him to communicate with the British
commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5.<sup>\[39\]</sup>

Marquess Komura Jutaro, 1911. Komura became Minister for Foreign Affairs
under the first Katsura administration, and signed the Boxer Protocol on
behalf of Japan.

On June 17, 1900, naval *Rikusentai* from the *Kasagi* and *Atago* had
joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize the Dagu forts near
Tianjin.<sup>\[39\]</sup> In light of the precarious situation, the
British were compelled to ask Japan for additional reinforcements, as
the Japanese had the only readily available forces in the
region.<sup>\[39\]</sup> Britain at the time was heavily engaged in the
Boer War, so a large part of the British army was tied down in South
Africa. Further, deploying large numbers of troops from its garrisons in
India would take too much time and weaken internal security
there.<sup>\[39\]</sup> Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister
Aoki Shūzō calculated that the advantages of participating in an allied
coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata agreed,
but others in the cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the
British in return for the risks and costs of the major deployment of
Japanese troops.<sup>\[39\]</sup> On July 6, 1900, the 5th Infantry
Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but no timetable
was set for this. Two days later, with more ground troops urgently
needed to lift the siege of the foreign legations at Peking, the British
ambassador offered the Japanese government one million British pounds in
exchange for Japanese participation.<sup>\[39\]</sup>

Shortly afterward, advance units of the 5th Division departed for China,
bringing Japanese strength to 3,800 personnel out of the 17,000 of
allied forces.<sup>\[39\]</sup> The commander of the 5th Division, Lt.
General Yamaguchi Motoomi, had taken operational control from Fukushima.
Japanese troops were involved in the storming of Tianjin on July
14,<sup>\[39\]</sup> after which the allies consolidated and awaited the
remainder of the 5th Division and other coalition reinforcements. By the
time the siege of legations was lifted on August 14, 1900, the Japanese
force of 13,000 was the largest single contingent and made up about 40%
of the approximately 33,000 strong allied expeditionary
force.<sup>\[39\]</sup> Japanese troops involved in the fighting had
acquitted themselves well, although a British military observer felt
their aggressiveness, densely-packed formations, and over-willingness to
attack cost them excessive and disproportionate
casualties.<sup>\[40\]</sup> For example, during the Tianjin fighting,
the Japanese suffered more than half of the allied casualties (400 out
of 730) but comprised less than one quarter (3,800) of the force of
17,000.<sup>\[40\]</sup> Similarly at Beijing, the Japanese accounted
for almost two-thirds of the losses (280 of 453) even though they
constituted slightly less than half of the assault
force.<sup>\[40\]</sup>

After the uprising, Japan and the Western countries signed the Boxer
Protocol with China, which permitted them to station troops on Chinese
soil to protect their citizens. After the treaty, Russia continued to
occupy all of Manchuria.

### Russo-Japanese War

Main article: Russo-Japanese War

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|  | This section **needs expansion**. <small>You can help by adding to it.</small> <small>*(February 2018)*</small> |

Japanese riflemen assault on the entrenched Imperial Russian Army, 1904

Japanese riflemen in the Russo-Japanese War

Port Arthur viewed from the Top of Gold Hill, after capitulation in
1905. From left wrecks of Russian battleships: *Peresvet*, *Poltava*,
*Retvizan*, *Pobeda* and the cruiser *Pallada*

The Russo-Japanese War was a conflict for control of Korea and parts of
Manchuria between the Russian Empire and Empire of Japan that took place
from 1904 to 1905. The victory greatly raised Japan's stature in the
world of global politics. The war is marked by the Japanese opposition
of Russian interests in Korea, Manchuria, and China, notably, the
Liaodong Peninsula, controlled by the city of Port Arthur.

Originally, in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Port Arthur had been given to
Japan. This part of the treaty was overruled by Western powers, which
gave the port to the Russian Empire, furthering Russian interests in the
region. These interests came into conflict with Japanese interests. The
war began with a surprise attack on the Russian Eastern fleet stationed
at Port Arthur, which was followed by the Battle of Port Arthur. Those
elements that attempted escape were defeated by the Japanese navy under
Admiral Togo Heihachiro at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Following a
late start, the Russian Baltic fleet was denied passage through the
British-controlled Suez Canal. The fleet arrived on the scene a year
later, only to be annihilated in the Battle of Tsushima. While the
ground war did not fare as poorly for the Russians, the Japanese forces
were significantly more aggressive than their Russian counterparts and
gained a political advantage that culminated with the Treaty of
Portsmouth, negotiated in the United States by the American president
Theodore Roosevelt. As a result, Russia lost the part of Sakhalin Island
south of 50 degrees North latitude (which became Karafuto Prefecture),
as well as many mineral rights in Manchuria. In addition, Russia's
defeat cleared the way for Japan to annex Korea outright in 1910.

### Annexation of Korea

Main article: Korea under Japanese rule

Count Tadasu Hayashi was the resident minister to Great Britain. While
serving in London from 1900, he worked to successfully conclude the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance and signed on behalf of the government of Japan
on January 30, 1902.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various Western countries
actively competed for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia, and
Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised
Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea, then in the sphere of
influence of China's Qing dynasty. The Japanese government initially
sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese satellite
in order to further their security and national
interests.<sup>\[41\]</sup>

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat
diplomacy to pressure the Joseon Dynasty into signing the Japan–Korea
Treaty of 1876, which granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese
citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights
granted to Japan under this unequal treaty,<sup>\[42\]</sup> were
similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of
Commodore Perry.<sup>\[42\]</sup> Japanese involvement in Korea
increased during the 1890s, a period of political upheaval.

Korea was occupied and declared a Japanese protectorate following the
Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905. After proclaimed the founding of the Korean
Empire, Korea was officially annexed in Japan through the annexation
treaty in 1910.

In Korea, the period is usually described as the "Time of Japanese
Forced Occupation" (Hangul: 일제 강점기; *Ilje gangjeomgi*, Hanja: 日帝强占期).
Other terms include "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: 일제시대, *Ilje
sidae*, Hanja: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" (Hangul: 왜정, *Wae
jeong*, Hanja: 倭政). In Japan, a more common description is "The Korea of
Japanese rule" (日本統治時代の朝鮮 *Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen*). The Korean
Peninsula was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from
August 29, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended, *de jure*, on
September 2, 1945, upon the surrender of Japan in World War II. The 1905
and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan
and South Korea in 1965.

Main articles: Japan during World War I, Japanese entry into World War
I, and Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I

Emperor Taishō, the 123rd emperor of Japan

Japan entered World War I on the side of the Allies in 1914, seizing the
opportunity of Germany's distraction with the European War to expand its
sphere of influence in China and the Pacific. Japan declared war on
Germany on August 23, 1914. Japanese and allied British Empire forces
soon moved to occupy Tsingtao fortress, the German East Asia Squadron
base, German-leased territories in China's Shandong Province as well as
the Marianas, Caroline, and Marshall Islands in the Pacific, which were
part of German New Guinea. The swift invasion in the German territory of
the Kiautschou Bay concession and the Siege of Tsingtao proved
successful. The German colonial troops surrendered on November 7, 1915,
and Japan gained the German holdings.

With its Western allies, notably the United Kingdom, heavily involved in
the war in Europe, Japan dispatched a Naval fleet to the Mediterranean
Sea to aid Allied shipping. Japan sought further to consolidate its
position in China by presenting the Twenty-One Demands to China in
January 1915. In the face of slow negotiations with the Chinese
government, widespread anti-Japanese sentiment in China, and
international condemnation, Japan withdrew the final group of demands,
and treaties were signed in May 1915. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was
renewed and expanded in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911, before its demise
in 1921. It was officially terminated in 1923.

### Siberian Intervention

Main articles: Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Siberian
Intervention, and Japanese intervention in Siberia

After the fall of the Tsarist regime and the later provisional regime in
1917, the new Bolshevik government signed a separate peace treaty with
Germany. After this the Russians fought amongst themselves in a
multi-sided civil war.

Russian Civil War and Allied Intervention 1918–1920. Commanding Officers
and Chiefs of Staff of the Allied Military Mission to Siberia,
Vladivostok.

In July 1918, President Wilson asked the Japanese government to supply
7,000 troops as part of an international coalition of 25,000 troops
planned to support the American Expeditionary Force Siberia. Prime
Minister Terauchi Masatake agreed to send 12,000 troops but under the
Japanese command rather than as part of an international coalition. The
Japanese had several hidden motives for the venture, which included an
intense hostility and fear of communism; a determination to recoup
historical losses to Russia; and the desire to settle the *"northern
problem"* in Japan's security, either through the creation of a buffer
state or through outright territorial acquisition.

By November 1918, more than 70,000 Japanese troops under Chief of Staff
Yui Mitsue had occupied all ports and major towns in the Russian
Maritime Provinces and eastern Siberia. Japan received 765 Polish
orphans from Siberia.<sup>\[43\]\[44\]</sup>

In June 1920, around 450 Japanese civilians and 350 Japanese soldiers,
along with Russian White Army supporters, were massacred by partisan
forces associated with the Red Army at Nikolayevsk on the Amur River;
the United States and its allied coalition partners consequently
withdrew from Vladivostok after the capture and execution of White Army
leader Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak by the Red Army. However, the Japanese
decided to stay, primarily due to fears of the spread of Communism so
close to Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese
army provided military support to the Japanese-backed Provisional
Priamurye Government based in Vladivostok against the Moscow-backed Far
Eastern Republic.

The continued Japanese presence concerned the United States, which
suspected that Japan had territorial designs on Siberia and the Russian
Far East. Subjected to intense diplomatic pressure by the United States
and United Kingdom, and facing increasing domestic opposition due to the
economic and human cost, the administration of Prime Minister Katō
Tomosaburō withdrew the Japanese forces in October 1922. Japanese
casualties from the expedition were 5,000 dead from combat or illness,
with the expedition costing over 900 million yen.

### "Taishō Democracy"

Count Itagaki Taisuke is credited as being the first Japanese party
leader and an important force for liberalism in Meiji Japan.

The two-party political system that had been developing in Japan since
the turn of the century came of age after World War I, giving rise to
the nickname for the period, "Taishō Democracy". The public grew
disillusioned with the growing national debt and the new election laws,
which retained the old minimum tax qualifications for voters. Calls were
raised for universal suffrage and the dismantling of the old political
party network. Students, university professors, and journalists,
bolstered by labor unions and inspired by a variety of democratic,
socialist, communist, anarchist, and other thoughts, mounted large but
orderly public demonstrations in favor of universal male suffrage in
1919 and 1920.

Count Katō Komei, the 14th Prime Minister of Japan from June 11, 1924
until his death on January 28, 1926

The election of Katō Komei as Prime Minister of Japan continued
democratic reforms that had been advocated by influential individuals on
the left. This culminated in the passage of universal male suffrage in
March 1925. This bill gave all male subjects over the age of 25 the
right to vote, provided they had lived in their electoral districts for
at least one year and were not homeless. The electorate thereby
increased from 3.3 million to 12.5 million.<sup>\[45\]</sup>

In the political milieu of the day, there was a proliferation of new
parties, including socialist and communist parties. Fear of a broader
electorate, left-wing power, and the growing social change led to the
passage of the Peace Preservation Law in 1925, which forbade any change
in the political structure or the abolition of private property.

Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the Kenseikai (憲政会
*Constitutional Government Association*) and the Seiyū Hontō (政友本党 *True
Seiyūkai*) to merge as the Rikken Minseitō (立憲民政党 *Constitutional
Democratic Party*) in 1927. The Rikken Minseitō platform was committed
to the parliamentary system, democratic politics, and world peace.
Thereafter, until 1932, the Seiyūkai and the Rikken Minseitō alternated
in power.

Despite the political realignments and hope for more orderly government,
domestic economic crises plagued whichever party held power. Fiscal
austerity programs and appeals for public support of such conservative
government policies as the Peace Preservation Law—including reminders of
the moral obligation to make sacrifices for the emperor and the
state—were attempted as solutions.

## Early Shōwa (1926–1930)

Main article: Shōwa period

Emperor Shōwa during an Army inspection on January 8, 1938

### Expansion of democracy

In 1932, Park Chun-kum was elected to the House of Representatives in
the Japanese general election as the first person elected from a
colonial background.<sup>\[*clarification needed*\]\[46\]</sup> In 1935,
democracy was introduced in Taiwan and in response to Taiwanese public
opinion, local assemblies were established.<sup>\[47\]</sup> In 1942, 38
colonial people were elected to local assemblies of the Japanese
homeland.<sup>\[46\]</sup>

Overall, during the 1920s, Japan changed its direction toward a
democratic system of government. However, parliamentary government was
not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political
pressures of the 1930s, during which military leaders became
increasingly influential. These shifts in power were made possible by
the ambiguity and imprecision of the Meiji Constitution, particularly as
regarded the position of the Emperor in relation to the constitution.

### Military and social organizations

See also: Japanese militarism

Tokyo Kaikan was requisitioned as the meeting place for members of the
Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA) in the early days.

Important institutional links existed between the party in government
(Kōdōha) and military and political organizations, such as the Imperial
Young Federation and the "Political Department" of the Kempeitai.
Amongst the himitsu kessha (secret societies), the Kokuryu-kai and Kokka
Shakai Shugi Gakumei (National Socialist League) also had close ties to
the government. The Tonarigumi (residents committee) groups, the Nation
Service Society (national government trade union), and Imperial Farmers
Association were all allied as well. Other organizations and groups
related with the government in wartime were: Double Leaf Society,
Kokuhonsha, Taisei Yokusankai, Imperial Youth Corps, Keishichō (to
1945), Shintoist Rites Research Council, Treaty Faction, Fleet Faction,
and Volunteer Fighting Corps.

### Nationalist factors

Main articles: Japanese nationalism, Statism in Shōwa Japan, Imperial
Way Faction, May 15 Incident, and February 26 Incident

Further information: Imperial Rule Assistance Association

Japanese Pan-Asian writer Shūmei Ōkawa

Sadao Araki was an important figurehead and founder of the Army party
and the most important right-wing thinker in his time. His first
ideological works date from his leadership of the Kōdōha (Imperial
Benevolent Rule or Action Group), opposed by the Tōseiha (Control Group)
led by General Kazushige Ugaki. He linked the ancient (*bushido* code)
and contemporary local and European fascist ideals (see Statism in Shōwa
Japan), to form the ideological basis of the movement (Shōwa
nationalism).

From September 1931, the Japanese were becoming more locked into the
course that would lead them into the Second World War, with Araki
leading the way. Totalitarianism, militarism, and expansionism were to
become the rule, with fewer voices able to speak against it. In a
September 23 news conference, Araki first mentioned the philosophy of
"Kōdōha" (The Imperial Way Faction). The concept of Kodo linked the
Emperor, the people, land, and morality as indivisible. This led to the
creation of a "new" Shinto and increased Emperor worship.

Rebel troops assembled at police headquarters during the February 26
Incident.

On February 26, 1936, a coup d'état was attempted (the February 26
Incident). Launched by the ultranationalist Kōdōha faction with the
military, it ultimately failed due to the intervention of the Emperor.
Kōdōha members were purged from the top military positions and the
Tōseiha faction gained dominance. However, both factions believed in
expansionism, a strong military, and a coming war. Furthermore, Kōdōha
members, while removed from the military, still had political influence
within the government.

The state was being transformed to serve the Army and the Emperor.
Symbolic katana swords came back into fashion as the martial embodiment
of these beliefs, and the Nambu pistol became its contemporary
equivalent, with the implicit message that the Army doctrine of close
combat would prevail. The final objective, as envisioned by Army
thinkers such as Sadao Araki and right-wing line followers, was a return
to the old Shogunate system, but in the form of a contemporary Military
Shogunate. In such a government the Emperor would once more be a
figurehead (as in the Edo period). Real power would fall to a leader
very similar to a führer or duce, though with the power less nakedly
held. On the other hand, the traditionalist Navy militarists defended
the Emperor and a constitutional monarchy with a significant religious
aspect.

A third point of view was supported by Prince Chichibu, a brother of
Emperor Shōwa, who repeatedly counseled him to implement a *direct
imperial rule*, even if that meant suspending the
constitution.<sup>\[48\]</sup>

With the launching of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940
by Prime minister Fumimaro Konoe, Japan would turn to a form of
government that resembled totalitarianism. This unique style of
government, very similar to fascism, was known as Statism in Shōwa
Japan.

### Economic factors

Bank run during the Shōwa financial crisis, March 1927

At the same time, the *zaibatsu* trading groups (principally Mitsubishi,
Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Yasuda) looked towards great future expansion.
Their main concern was a shortage of raw materials. Prime Minister
Fumimaro Konoe combined social concerns with the needs of capital, and
planned for expansion.

The main goals of Japan's expansionism were acquisition and protection
of spheres of influence, maintenance of territorial integrity,
acquisition of raw materials, and access to Asian markets. Western
nations, notably Great Britain, France, and the United States, had for
long exhibited great interest in the commercial opportunities in China
and other parts of Asia. These opportunities had attracted Western
investment because of the availability of raw materials for both
domestic production and re-export to Asia. Japan desired these
opportunities in planning the development of the Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The Great Depression, just as in many other countries, hindered Japan's
economic growth. The Japanese Empire's main problem lay in that rapid
industrial expansion had turned the country into a major manufacturing
and industrial power that required raw materials; however, these had to
be obtained from overseas, as there was a critical lack of natural
resources on the home islands.

National Diet Building, 1930

In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan needed to import raw materials such as
iron, rubber, and oil to maintain strong economic growth. Most of these
resources came from the United States. The Japanese felt that acquiring
resource-rich territories would establish economic self-sufficiency and
independence, and they also hoped to jump-start the nation's economy in
the midst of the depression. As a result, Japan set its sights on East
Asia, specifically Manchuria with its many resources; Japan needed these
resources to continue its economic development and maintain national
integrity.

## Later Shōwa (1931–1941) – expansionism and war

Main articles: Hakkō ichiu, National Spiritual Mobilization Movement,
and World War II

### Prewar expansionism

Main articles: Japanese nationalism and Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere

#### Manchuria

Main articles: Mukden Incident, Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and
Pacification of Manchukuo

Japanese troops entering Shenyang, Northeast China during the Mukden
Incident, 1931

In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Northeast China (Manchuria) with
little resistance. Japan claimed that this invasion was a liberation of
the local Manchus from the Chinese, although the majority of the
population were Han Chinese as a result of the large scale settlement of
Chinese in Manchuria in the 19th century. Japan then established a
puppet regime called Manchukuo (Chinese: 滿洲國), and installed the last
Manchu Emperor of China, Puyi, as the official head of state. Jehol, a
Chinese territory bordering Manchukuo, was later also taken in 1933.
This puppet regime had to carry on a protracted pacification campaign
against the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies in Manchuria. In 1936, Japan
created a similar Mongolian puppet state in Inner Mongolia named
Mengjiang (Chinese: 蒙疆), which was also predominantly Chinese as a
result of recent Han immigration to the area. At that time, East Asians
were banned from immigration to North America and Australia, but the
newly established Manchukuo was open to immigration of Asians. Japan had
an emigration plan to encourage colonization; the Japanese population in
Manchuria subsequently grew to 850,000.<sup>\[49\]</sup> With rich
natural resources and labor force in Manchuria, army-owned corporations
turned Manchuria into a solid material support machine of the Japanese
Army.<sup>\[50\]</sup>

#### Second Sino-Japanese War

Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War

The Japanese occupation of Peiping (Beijing) in China, on August 13,
1937. Japanese troops are shown passing from Peiping into the Tartar
City through Zhengyangmen, the main gate leading onward to the palaces
in the Forbidden City.

Japan invaded China proper in 1937, creating what was essentially a
three-way war between Japan, Mao Zedong's communists, and Chiang
Kai-shek's nationalists. On December 13 of that same year, the
Nationalist capital of Nanjing surrendered to Japanese troops. In the
event known as the "Nanjing Massacre", Japanese troops massacred a large
number of the defending garrison. It is estimated that as many as
200.000 to 300.000 including civilians, may have been killed, although
the actual numbers are uncertain and possibly inflated coupled with the
fact that the government of the People's Republic of China has never
undertaken a full accounting of the massacre. In total, an estimated 20
million Chinese, mostly civilians, were killed during World War II. A
puppet state was also set up in China quickly afterwards, headed by Wang
Jingwei. The Second Sino-Japanese War continued into World War II with
the Communists and Nationalists in a temporary and uneasy nominal
alliance against the Japanese.

#### Clashes with the Soviet Union

Main articles: Battle of Lake Khasan, Battles of Khalkhin Gol, and
Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact

In 1938, the Japanese 19th Division entered territory claimed by the
Soviet Union, leading to the Battle of Lake Khasan. This incursion was
founded in the Japanese belief that the Soviet Union misinterpreted the
demarcation of the boundary, as stipulated in the Treaty of Peking,
between Imperial Russia and Manchu China (and subsequent supplementary
agreements on demarcation), and furthermore, that the demarcation
markers were tampered with.

On May 11, 1939, in the Nomonhan Incident *(Battle of Khalkhin Gol)*, a
Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70 to 90 men entered the disputed area in
search of grazing for their horses, and encountered Manchukuoan cavalry,
who drove them out. Two days later the Mongolian force returned and the
Manchukoans were unable to evict them.

The IJA 23rd Division and other units of the Kwantung Army then became
involved. Joseph Stalin ordered Stavka, the Red Army's high command, to
develop a plan for a counterstrike against the Japanese. In late August,
Georgy Zhukov employed encircling tactics that made skillful use of
superior artillery, armor, and air forces; this offensive nearly
annihilated the 23rd Division and decimated the IJA 7th Division. On
September 15 an armistice was arranged. Nearly two years later, on April
13, 1941, the parties signed a Neutrality Pact, in which the Soviet
Union pledged to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of
Manchukuo, while Japan agreed similarly for the Mongolian People's
Republic.

### Tripartite Pact

Main articles: Tripartite Pact and Axis powers

Signing ceremony for the Axis Powers Tripartite Pact

In 1938, Japan prohibited the expulsion of the Jews in Japan, Manchuria,
and China in accordance with the spirit of racial equality on which
Japan had insisted for many years.<sup>\[51\]\[52\]</sup>

The Second Sino-Japanese War had seen tensions rise between Imperial
Japan and the United States; events such as the Panay incident and the
Nanjing Massacre turned American public opinion against Japan. With the
occupation of French Indochina in the years of 1940–41, and with the
continuing war in China, the United States placed embargoes on Japan of
strategic materials such as scrap metal and oil, which were vitally
needed for the war effort. The Japanese were faced with the option of
either withdrawing from China and losing face or seizing and securing
new sources of raw materials in the resource-rich, European-controlled
colonies of Southeast Asia—specifically British Malaya and the Dutch
East Indies (modern-day Indonesia).

On September 27, 1940, Imperial Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Their objectives were to "establish and
maintain a new order of things" in their respective world regions and
spheres of influence, with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in Europe, and
Imperial Japan in Asia. The signatories of this alliance become known as
the Axis Powers. The pact also called for mutual protection—if any one
of the member powers was attacked by a country not already at war,
excluding the Soviet Union—and for technological and economic
cooperation between the signatories.

Founding ceremony of the **Hakkō ichiu** (*All the world under one
roof*) monument in 1940

For the sake of their own people and nation, Prime Minister Konoe formed
the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) on October
12, 1940, as a ruling party in Japan.

## Pacific War (1941–1945)

Main articles: Japan during World War II and Pacific War

A map of the Japanese advance from 1937 to 1942

Facing an oil embargo by the United States as well as dwindling domestic
reserves, the Japanese government decided to execute a plan developed by
Isoroku Yamamoto to attack the United States Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.
While the United States was neutral and continued negotiating with Japan
for possible peace in Asia, the Imperial Japanese Navy at the same time
made its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu on December 7,
1941. As a result, the U.S. battleship fleet was decimated and almost
2,500 people died in the attack that day. The primary objective of the
attack was to incapacitate the United States long enough for Japan to
establish its long-planned Southeast Asian empire and defensible buffer
zones. The American public saw the attack as barbaric and treacherous
and rallied against the Japanese. Four days later, Adolf Hitler of
Germany, and Benito Mussolini of Italy declared war on the United
States, merging the separate conflicts. The United States entered the
European Theatre and Pacific Theater in full force, thereby bringing the
United States to World War II on the side of the Allies.

### Japanese conquests

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched offensives
against Allied forces in East and Southeast Asia, with simultaneous
attacks in British Hong Kong, British Malaya and the Philippines. Hong
Kong surrendered to the Japanese on December 25. In Malaya the Japanese
overwhelmed an Allied army composed of British, Indian, Australian and
Malay forces. The Japanese were quickly able to advance down the Malayan
Peninsula, forcing the Allied forces to retreat towards Singapore. The
Allies lacked aircover and tanks; the Japanese had total air
superiority. The sinking of HMS *Prince of Wales* and HMS *Repulse* on
December 10, 1941, led to the east coast of Malaya being exposed to
Japanese landings and the elimination of British naval power in the
area. By the end of January 1942, the last Allied forces crossed the
strait of Johore and into Singapore.

Battle of Singapore, February 1942. Victorious Japanese troops march
through the city center. (Photo from Imperial War Museum)

In the Philippines, the Japanese pushed the combined Filipino-American
force towards the Bataan Peninsula and later the island of Corregidor.
By January 1942, General Douglas MacArthur and President Manuel L.
Quezon were forced to flee in the face of Japanese advance. This marked
among one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans, leaving over
70,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war in the custody of the
Japanese. On February 15, 1942, Singapore, due to the overwhelming
superiority of Japanese forces and encirclement tactics, fell to the
Japanese, causing the largest surrender of British-led military
personnel in history. An estimated 80,000 Indian, Australian and British
troops were taken as prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken in the
Japanese invasion of Malaya (modern day Malaysia). The Japanese then
seized the key oil production zones of Borneo, Central Java, Malang,
Cebu, Sumatra, and Dutch New Guinea of the late Dutch East Indies,
defeating the Dutch forces.<sup>\[53\]</sup> However, Allied sabotage
had made it difficult for the Japanese to restore oil production to its
pre-war peak.<sup>\[54\]</sup> The Japanese then consolidated their
lines of supply through capturing key islands of the Pacific, including
Guadalcanal.

### Tide turns

Battle of Midway. Model representing the attack by dive bombers from
USS *Yorktown* and USS *Enterprise* on the Japanese aircraft carriers
*Sōryū*, *Akagi* and *Kaga* in the morning of June 4, 1942.

Japanese military strategists were keenly aware of the unfavorable
discrepancy between the industrial potential of Japan and the United
States. Because of this they reasoned that Japanese success hinged on
their ability to extend the strategic advantage gained at Pearl Harbor
with additional rapid strategic victories. The Japanese Command reasoned
that only decisive destruction of the United States' Pacific Fleet and
conquest of its remote outposts would ensure that the Japanese Empire
would not be overwhelmed by America's industrial might.

Group of Type 2 Ka-Mi tanks on board of 2nd class transporter of the
Imperial Japanese Navy

In April 1942, Japan was bombed for the first time in the Doolittle
Raid. During the same month, after the Japanese victory in the Battle of
Bataan, the Bataan Death March was conducted, where 5,650 to 18,000
Filipinos died under the rule of the imperial army.<sup>\[55\]</sup> In
May 1942, failure to decisively defeat the Allies at the Battle of the
Coral Sea, in spite of Japanese numerical superiority, equated to a
strategic defeat for the Japanese. This setback was followed in June
1942 by the catastrophic loss of four fleet carriers at the Battle of
Midway, the first decisive defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It
proved to be the turning point of the war as the Navy lost its offensive
strategic capability and never managed to reconstruct the "'critical
mass' of both large numbers of carriers and well-trained air
groups".<sup>\[56\]</sup> Australian land forces defeated Japanese
Marines in New Guinea at the Battle of Milne Bay in September 1942,
which was the first land defeat suffered by the Japanese in the Pacific.
Further victories by the Allies at Guadalcanal in September 1942 and New
Guinea in 1943 put the Empire of Japan on the defensive for the
remainder of the war, with Guadalcanal in particular sapping their
already-limited oil supplies.<sup>\[54\]</sup> During 1943 and 1944,
Allied forces, backed by the industrial might and vast raw material
resources of the United States, advanced steadily towards Japan. The
Sixth United States Army, led by General MacArthur, landed on Leyte on
October 20, 1944. The Palawan massacre was committed by the imperial
army against Filipinos in December 1944.<sup>\[57\]</sup> In the
subsequent months, during the Philippines Campaign (1944–45), the
combined United States forces, together with the native guerrilla units,
liberated the Philippines.

### Surrender

Main articles: Surrender of Japan, Potsdam Declaration, and Victory over
Japan Day

The rebuilt battlecruiser *Haruna* sank at her moorings in the naval
base of Kure on July 24 during a series of bombings.

By 1944, the Allies had seized or bypassed and neutralized many of
Japan's strategic bases through amphibious landings and bombardment.
This, coupled with the losses inflicted by Allied submarines on Japanese
shipping routes, began to strangle Japan's economy and undermine its
ability to supply its army. By early 1945, the U.S. Marines had wrested
control of the Ogasawara Islands in several hard-fought battles such as
the Battle of Iwo Jima, marking the beginning of the fall of the islands
of Japan. After securing airfields in Saipan and Guam in the summer of
1944, the United States Army Air Forces conducted an intense strategic
bombing campaign by having B-29 Superfortress bombers in nighttime low
altitude incendiary raids, burning Japanese cities in an effort to
pulverize Japan's war industry and shatter its morale. The Operation
Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo on the night of March 9–10, 1945, led to the
deaths of approximately 120,000 civilians. Approximately 350,000–500,000
civilians died in 67 Japanese cities as a result of the incendiary
bombing campaign on Japan. Concurrent with these attacks, Japan's vital
coastal shipping operations were severely hampered with extensive aerial
mining by the U.S.'s Operation Starvation. Regardless, these efforts did
not succeed in persuading the Japanese military to surrender. In
mid-August 1945, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombings were the first
and only combat use of nuclear weaponry. These two bombs killed
approximately 120,000 people in a matter of minutes, and as many as a
result of nuclear radiation in the following weeks, months and years.
The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in
Nagasaki by the end of 1945.

At the Yalta agreement, the US, the UK, and the USSR had agreed that the
USSR would enter the war on Japan within three months of the defeat of
Germany in Europe. This Soviet–Japanese War led to the fall of Japan's
Manchurian occupation, Soviet occupation of South Sakhalin island, and a
real, imminent threat of Soviet invasion of the home islands of Japan.
This was a significant factor for some internal parties in the Japanese
decision to surrender to the US<sup>\[58\]</sup> and gain some
protection, rather than face simultaneous Soviet invasion as well as
defeat by the US. Likewise, the superior numbers of the armies of the
Soviet Union in Europe was a factor in the US decision to demonstrate
the use of atomic weapons to the USSR,<sup>\[*citation needed*\]</sup>
just as the Allied victory in Europe was evolving into the division of
Germany and Berlin, the division of Europe with the Iron Curtain and the
subsequent Cold War.

The Japanese archipelago and neighboring Korea in 1945 (National
Geographic)

Having ignored (mokusatsu) the Potsdam Declaration, the Empire of Japan
surrendered and ended World War II after the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the declaration of war by the Soviet Union and
subsequent invasion of Manchuria. In a national radio address on August
15, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender to the Japanese people by
*Gyokuon-hōsō*.

## End of the Empire of Japan

### Occupation of Japan

Main article: Occupation of Japan

A drawing depicting a speech in the Imperial Japanese Diet on November
1, 1945, the end of the Second World War. In the foreground there are
several Allied soldiers watching the proceedings from the back of the
balcony.

A period known as occupied Japan followed after the war, largely
spearheaded by US General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to revise the
Japanese constitution and de-militarize Japan. The Allied occupation,
with economic and political assistance, continued until 1952. Allied
forces ordered Japan to abolish the Meiji Constitution and enforce the
Constitution of Japan. Japan's 1947 constitution was mostly written by
the United States and under the guidelines of General Douglas MacArthur.
MacArthur included Article 9 which changed Japan into a pacifist
country.<sup>\[59\]</sup>

Upon adoption of the 1947 constitution, Japan became the State of Japan,
the Empire of Japan was dismantled, and all overseas territories were
lost. Japan was reduced to the territories that were traditionally
within the Japanese cultural sphere pre-1895: the four main islands
(Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku), the Ryukyu Islands, and the
Nanpō Islands. The Kuril Islands also historically belonged to
Japan<sup>\[60\]</sup> and were first inhabited by the Ainu people
before coming under the control of the Matsumae clan during the Edo
Period.<sup>\[61\]</sup> However, the Kuril Islands weren't included due
to a dispute with the Soviet Union.<sup>\[6\]</sup>

Japan adopted a parliamentary-based political system, while the Emperor
changed to a symbolic status. The U.S. occupation forces were fully
responsible for protecting Japan from external threats. Japan only had a
minor police force for domestic security. Japan was under the sole
control of the United States. This was the only time in Japanese history
that it was occupied by a foreign power.<sup>\[62\]</sup>

American General of the Army Douglas MacArthur later commended the new
Japanese government that he helped establish and the new Japanese period
when he was about to send the American forces to the Korean War:

For historian John W. Dower: