Empire of Japan

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This article is about the former empire. For the modern state, see Japan.
Empire of Japan
?????
Dai Nippon Teikoku
18681947
Flag
Flag
Imperial Seal
Imperial Seal
Motto
???????
"Charter Oath"
("The Oath in Five Articles") in Meiji era
????
"Hakko ichiu"
("The World Under One Roof")
or
("All Eight Corners of the World") in Showa era
Anthem

"Kimigayo"
???

("His Imperial Majesty's Reign")

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The Empire of Japan in 1942

Empire of Japan 18701905

Acquisitions 190530
Trusteeship, concession, occupied territories

Capital Tokyo
Languages Japanese
Religion De jure: none
De facto: State Shinto[nb 1]

Other: Buddhism
Government Daijo-kan[5]
(18681885)
Constitutional monarchy
(18901940, 1945-1947)[1]
One-party military dictatorship (19401945)
Emperor
18681912 Meiji (Mutsuhito)
19121926 Taisho (Yoshihito)
19261947 Showa (Hirohito)
Prime Minister
18851888 Ito Hirobumi (first)
19461947 Shigeru Yoshida (last)
Legislature Imperial Diet
Upper house House of Peers
Lower house House of Representatives
Historical era Meiji, Taisho, Showa
Meiji Restoration January 3, 1868[6]
Constitution adopted November 29, 1890
 First Sino-Japanese War 1894
Russo-Japanese War February 10, 1904
Pacific War 19411945
Surrender of Japan September 2, 1945
Reconstituted May 2, 1947[1]
Area
1938[7] 1,984,000 km2 (766,000 sq mi)
Population
1920 est. 77,700,000a
1940 est. 105,200,000b
Currency Japanese yen,
Korean yen,
Taiwanese yen,
Japanese military yen
Preceded by Succeeded by
Tokugawa shogunate
Ryukyu Kingdom
Republic of Ezo
Qing Dynasty
Russian Empire
Korean Empire
German New Guinea
Dutch East Indies

Occupied Japan
Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands
Republic of China
Military Government in Korea
Soviet Civil Authority
Sakhalin Oblast
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Dutch East Indies
a. 56.0 million lived in Japan proper.[8]
b. 73.1 million lived in Japan proper.[8]
This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you
may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.
History of Japan
Japanese battleship Asahi 2.jpg
The battleship Asahi
Periods
[show]
Topics
[hide]

Currency Earthquakes Economy Education Empire Historiography Military Naval

Post-war

Glossary Timeline

v t e

Empire of Japan
Official Term name
Official Term Empire of Japan
Literal Translation name
Literal Translation Greater Japanese Empire
[show]

v t e
Japanese colonial campaigns

The Empire of Japan (????? Dai Nippon Teikoku, literally "Greater Japanese Empire")
[9] was the historical Japanese nation-state[nb 2] and great power that existed
from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of
modern Japan.[1]

Imperial Japan's rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku
Kyohei (????, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces") led to its
emergence as a world power and the establishment of a colonial empire. Economic and
political turmoil in the 1920s led to the rise of militarism, eventually
culminating in Japan's membership in the Axis alliance and the conquest of a large
part of the Asia-Pacific region.

After several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War
(19371945) and the Pacific War, the Empire also gained notoriety for its war
crimes against the peoples it conquered. After suffering many defeats and following
the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan and invasion of Manchuria, and
the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, the Empire surrendered to
the Allies on August 15, 1945. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the
surrender, and a new constitution was created with American involvement in 1947,
officially dissolving the Empire. Occupation and reconstruction continued well into
the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose full title is the
"State of Japan" or simply rendered "Japan" in English.

The Emperors during this time, which spanned the entire Meiji and Taisho, and the
lesser part of the Showa eras, are now known in Japan by their posthumous names,
which coincide with those era names: Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), Emperor Taisho
(Yoshihito), and Emperor Showa (Hirohito).

Contents

1 Terminology
2 Meiji Restoration
2.1 Boshin War
2.2 Five Charter Oath
3 Meiji era (18681912)
3.1 Constitution
3.2 Imperial Diet
3.3 Economic development
3.4 First Sino-Japanese War
3.5 Boxer Rebellion
3.6 Russo-Japanese War
3.7 Annexation of Korea
4 Taisho era (19121926)
4.1 World War I
4.2 Siberian Intervention
4.3 "Taisho Democracy"
5 Early Showa (19261930)
5.1 Expansion of democracy
5.2 Military and social organizations
5.3 Nationalist factors
5.4 Economic factors
6 Late Showa (19311945) expansionism and war
6.1 Prewar expansionism
6.1.1 Manchuria
6.1.2 Second Sino-Japanese War
6.1.3 Clashes with the Soviet Union
 6.2 Tripartite Pact
6.3 Pacific War
6.3.1 Attack on Pearl Harbor
6.3.2 Japanese offensives (194142)
6.3.3 Path to defeat (194245)
6.3.4 Air raids on Japan
6.3.5 Re-entry of the Soviet Union
6.3.6 Defeat and surrender
7 After World War II
7.1 Occupation of Japan
7.2 Repatriation
7.3 War crimes
8 Influential personnel
8.1 Political
8.2 Military
9 Timeline
9.1 Emperors
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
12.1 Citations
12.2 Sources
13 External links

Terminology

The historical state is frequently referred to as "the Empire of Japan" or "the

Japanese Empire" or "Imperial Japan" in English. In Japanese it is referred to as
Dai Nippon Teikoku (?????),[9] which translates to "Greater Japanese Empire" (Dai
"Great", Nippon "Japanese", Teikoku "Empire"). This is analogous to Grodeutsches
Reich, a term that translates to "Greater German Empire" in English and Dai Doitsu
Teikoku (?????) in Japanese.

This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan and its

surrounding areas. The nomenclature Empire of Japan had existed since the anti-
Tokugawa domains, Satsuma and Choshu, which founded their new government during the
Meiji Restoration, with the intention of forming a modern state to resist Western
domination.

Due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonym
Empire of the Sun.
Meiji Restoration
Main articles: Meiji Restoration and Bakumatsu
Samurai members of the First Japanese Embassy to Europe (1862), around Shibata
Sadataro, head of the mission staff (seated) and Fukuzawa Yukichi (to his right)
sign of the opening of Japan and Meiji Restoration

After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or Sakoku, under the shoguns of the Edo
period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention
of Kanagawa in 1854.

The following years saw increased foreign trade and interaction; commercial
treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large
part due to the humiliating terms of these Unequal Treaties, the Shogunate soon
faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement,
the sonno joi (literally "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians").[12]

In March 1863, the Emperor issued the "order to expel barbarians". Although the
Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks
against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident
during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, by a
party of samurai from Satsuma. The British demanded reparations but were denied.
While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal
batteries near the town of Kagoshima. They responded by bombarding the port of
Kagoshima in 1863. For Richardson's death, the Tokugawa government agreed to pay an
indemnity.[13] Shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against
foreign property led to the Bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in
1864.[14] The Choshu clan also launched the failed coup known as the Kinmon
incident. The Satsuma-Choshu alliance was established in 1866 to combine their
efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu. In early 1867, Emperor Komei died of
smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito (Meiji).

On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to
the Emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders.[15]
The Tokugawa Shogunate had ended.[16][17] However, while Yoshinobu's resignation
had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of
state continued to exist. Moreover, the shogunal government, the Tokugawa family in
particular, remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained
many executive powers,[18] a prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Choshu found
intolerable.[19]

On January 3, 1868, Satsuma-Choshu forces seized the imperial palace in Kyoto, and
the following day had the fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declare his own
restoration to full power. Although the majority of the imperial consultative
assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and
tended to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigo Takamori
threatened the assembly into abolishing the title "shogun" and ordered the
confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands.[20]

On January 17, 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the
proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it".[21] On
January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma
and Choshu forces. This decision was prompted by his learning of a series of arson
attacks in Edo, starting with the burning of the outworks of Edo Castle, the main
Tokugawa residence.
Boshin War
Main article: Boshin War
Campaign map of the Boshin War (186869). The domains of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa
(in red) joined forces to defeat Shogunate forces at Toba-Fushimi, and then
progressively took control of the rest of Japan.

The Boshin War (???? Boshin Senso) was fought between January 1868 and May 1869.
The alliance of samurai from southern and western domains and court officials had
now secured the cooperation of the young Emperor Meiji, who ordered the dissolution
of the two-hundred-year-old Tokugawa Shogunate. Tokugawa Yoshinobu launched a
military campaign to seize the emperor's court at Kyoto. However, the tide rapidly
turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction and
resulted in defections of many daimyos to the Imperial side. The Battle of
TobaFushimi was a decisive victory in which a combined army from Choshu, Tosa, and
Satsuma domains defeated the Tokugawa army.[22] A series of battles were then
fought in pursuit of supporters of the Shogunate; Edo surrendered to the Imperial
forces and afterwards Yoshinobu personally surrendered. Yoshinobu was stripped of
all his power by Emperor Meiji and most of Japan accepted the emperor's rule.

Pro-Tokugawa remnants, however, then retreated to northern Honshu (Ouetsu Reppan

Domei) and later to Ezo (present-day Hokkaido), where they established the
breakaway Republic of Ezo. An expeditionary force was dispatched by the new
government and the Ezo Republic forces were overwhelmed. The siege of Hakodate came
to an end in May 1869 and the remaining forces surrendered.[22]
Five Charter Oath
Main article: Charter Oath

The Charter Oath was made public at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on
April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be
followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting the legal stage for Japan's
modernization.[23]

The Meiji leaders also aimed to boost morale and win financial support for the new
government. Its five provisions consisted of:

Establishment of deliberative assemblies.

Involvement of all classes in carrying out state affairs.
The revocation of sumptuary laws and class restrictions on employment.
Replacement of "evil customs" with the "just laws of nature".
An international search for knowledge to strengthen the foundations of imperial
rule.

Meiji era (18681912)

Main articles: Meiji period and Government of Meiji Japan

Japan dispatched the Iwakura Mission in 1871. The mission traveled the world in
order to renegotiate the unequal treaties with the United States and European
countries that Japan had been forced into during the Tokugawa shogunate, and to
gather information on western social and economic systems, in order to effect the
modernization of Japan. Renegotiation of the unequal treaties was universally
unsuccessful, but close observation of the American and European systems inspired
members on their return to bring about modernization initiatives in Japan. Japan
made a territorial delimitation treaty with Russia in 1875, gaining all the Kuril
islands in exchange for Sakhalin island.[24]

Several prominent writers, under the constant threat of assassination from their
political foes, were influential in winning Japanese support for westernization.
One such writer was Fukuzawa Yukichi, whose works included "Conditions in the
West," "Leaving Asia", and "An Outline of a Theory of Civilization," which detailed
Western society and his own philosophies. In the Meiji Restoration period, military
and economic power was emphasized. Military strength became the means for national
development and stability. Imperial Japan became the only non-Western world power
and a major force in East Asia in about 40 years as a result of industrialization
and economic development.

As writer Albrecht Frst von Urach comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's
Strength," which was written during the Axis powers period:

The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest
miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political
institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the
British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan's rise
has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of the few great powers that
determine the fate of the world.[25]

The sudden westernization, once it was adopted, changed almost all areas of
Japanese society, ranging from armaments, arts, education, etiquette, fashion,
health, justice, politics, language, etc. The Japanese government sent students to
Western countries to observe and learn their practices, and also paid "foreign
advisors" in a variety of fields to come to Japan to educate the populace. For
instance, the judicial system and constitution were largely modeled on those of
Germany. The government also outlawed customs linked to Japan's feudal past, such
as publicly displaying and wearing katana and the top knot, both of which were
characteristic of the samurai class, which was abolished together with the caste
system. This would later bring the Meiji government into conflict with the samurai.

Saigo Takamori, one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history

Emperor Meiji, the 122nd emperor of Japan

Prominent members of the Iwakura mission. Left to right : Kido Takayoshi,

Yamaguchi Masuka, Iwakura Tomomi, Ito Hirobumi, Okubo Toshimichi

Merchant Thomas Blake Glover was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and received
Japan's second highest order from Emperor Meiji in recognition of his contributions
to Japan's industrialization.

Princess Kaneko Higashi-fushimi in western clothing

Constitution
Main article: Meiji Constitution
??"The Emperor's words" parts of constitution

The constitution recognized the need for change and modernization after removal of
the shogunate:

We, the Successor to the prosperous Throne of Our Predecessors, do humbly and
solemnly swear to the Imperial Founder of Our House and to Our other Imperial
Ancestors that, in pursuance of a great policy co-extensive with the Heavens and
with the Earth, We shall maintain and secure from decline the ancient form of
government. ... In consideration of the progressive tendency of the course of human
affairs and in parallel with the advance of civilization, We deem it expedient, in
order to give clearness and distinctness to the instructions bequeathed by the
Imperial Founder of Our House and by Our other Imperial Ancestors, to establish
fundamental laws. ...

Imperial Japan was founded, de jure, after the 1889 signing of Constitution of the
Empire of Japan. The constitution formalized much of the Empire's political
structure and gave many responsibilities and powers to the Emperor.

Article 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the
rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the
present Constitution.

Article 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws, and orders them to be

promulgated and executed.

Article 11. The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and Navy.[26]

Imperial Diet
The First Diet Hall

In 1890, the Imperial Diet was established in response to the Meiji Constitution.
The Diet consisted of the House of Representatives of Japan and the House of Peers.
Both houses opened seats for colonial people as well as Japanese. The Imperial Diet
continued until 1947.[1]
Economic development
Main articles: Economy of the Empire of Japan and Economic history of Japan
Prewar period
Marquis Okuma Shigenobu was a statesman, an early advocate of Western science and
culture, and founder of Waseda University
The process of modernization was closely monitored and heavily subsidized by the
Meiji government, enhancing the power of the great zaibatsu firms such as Mitsui
and Mitsubishi. Hand in hand, the zaibatsu and government guided the nation,
borrowing technology from the West. Japan gradually took control of much of Asia's
market for manufactured goods, beginning with textiles. The economic structure
became very mercantilistic, importing raw materials and exporting finished products
a reflection of Japan's relative scarcity of raw materials.
1 yen convertible silver note issued in 1885

Economic reforms included a unified modern currency based on the yen, banking,
commercial and tax laws, stock exchanges, and a communications network.
Establishment of a modern institutional framework conducive to an advanced
capitalist economy took time but was completed by the 1890s. By this time, the
government had largely relinquished direct control of the modernization process,
primarily for budgetary reasons. Many of the former daimyos, whose pensions had
been paid in a lump sum, benefited greatly through investments they made in
emerging industries.

The government was initially involved in economic modernization, providing a number

of "model factories" to facilitate the transition to the modern period. After the
first twenty years of the Meiji period, the industrial economy expanded rapidly
until about 1920 with inputs of advanced Western technology and large private
investments.

Japan emerged from the Tokugawa-Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized
nation. From the onset, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy
and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. Rapid
growth and structural change characterized Japan's two periods of economic
development after 1868. Initially, the economy grew only moderately and relied
heavily on traditional Japanese agriculture to finance modern industrial
infrastructure. By the time the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, 65% of employment
and 38% of the gross domestic product (GDP) were still based on agriculture, but
modern industry had begun to expand substantially. By the late 1920s, manufacturing
and mining amounted to 34% of GDP, compared with 20% for all of agriculture.[27]
Transportation and communications developed to sustain heavy industrial
development.

From 1894, Japan built an extensive empire that included Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria,
and parts of northern China. The Japanese regarded this sphere of influence as a
political and economic necessity, which prevented foreign states from strangling
Japan by blocking its access to raw materials and crucial sea-lanes. Japan's large
military force was regarded as essential to the empire's defense and prosperity by
obtaining natural resources that the Japanese islands lacked.
First Sino-Japanese War
Main articles: First Sino-Japanese War and Taiwan under Japanese rule
First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop movements
Fleet Admiral Marquis Togo Heihachiro

Prior to its engagement in World War I, the Empire of Japan fought in two
significant wars after its establishment following the Meiji Revolution. The first
was the First Sino-Japanese War, fought in 1894 and 1895. The war revolved around
the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the Joseon Dynasty.
A peasant rebellion led to a request by the Korean government for the Qing Dynasty
to send in troops to stabilize the country. The Empire of Japan responded by
sending their own force to Korea and installing a puppet government in Seoul. China
objected and war ensued, a brief affair with Japanese ground troops routing Chinese
forces on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the near destruction of 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 and many western countries dispatched forces to China to protect
their citizens and Chinese Christians from the Boxer Uprising. 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
Kodama Gentaro
Bombardment during the Siege of Port Arthur

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 war is significant as it was the first modern war in which an Asian country
defeated a European power. 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 the 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
Gojong wearing Court uniform and dress in the Empire of Japan and Japanese honours
after 1910's annexation
Main article: Korea under Japanese rule

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.[28]

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy
to pressure Korea Joseon Dynasty, to sign the JapanKorea 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,[29] were
similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore
Perry.[29] Japanese involvement in Korea increased during the 1890s, a period of
political upheaval.

Korea was occupied and declared a Japanese protectorate following the JapanKorea
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: ?? ???; Ilje gangjeomgi, Hanja: ?????). Other terms include
"Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: ????, Ilje sidae, Hanja: ????) or "Japanese
administration" (Hangul: ??, Wae jeong, Hanja: ??). In Japan, a neutral and more
common description is "The Korea of Japanese rule" (????????? Nippon Tochi-jidai no
Chosen). 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. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually
declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.
Taisho era (19121926)
Main article: Taisho period
World War I
Main articles: Japan during World War I and Racial Equality Proposal
1912 Map of Tsingtao under German rule, prior to the Battle of Tsingtao

Japan entered World War I 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. Japan then 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 against German U-boat attacks. 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.

In 1919, Japan proposed a clause on racial equality to be included in the League of

Nations covenant at the Paris Peace Conference. The clause was rejected by several
Western countries and was not forwarded for larger discussion at the full meeting
of the conference. The rejection was an important factor in the coming years in
turning Japan away from cooperation with West and towards nationalistic policies.
[30] The Anglo-Japanese Alliance ended in 1923.
Siberian Intervention
Main articles: Siberian Intervention and Japan during the Siberian Intervention
Emperor Taisho, the 123rd emperor of Japan

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.

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.[31][32]

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 Great Britain, and facing
increasing domestic opposition due to the economic and human cost, the
administration of Prime Minister Kato Tomosaburo 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.
"Taisho Democracy"

The election of Kato 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.[33]
Early Showa (19261930)
Main article: Showa period
Emperor Showa, the 124th emperor of Japan
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.
[clarification needed][34] In 1935, democracy was introduced in Taiwan and in
response to Taiwanese public opinion, local assemblies were established.[35] In
1942, 38 colonial people were elected to local assemblies of the Japanese homeland.
[34]
Military and social organizations
Main articles: May 15 Incident and February 26 Incident

Important institutional links existed between the party in government (Kodoha) 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 (Black Dragon Society) 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, Keishicho (to 1945),
Shintoist Rites Research Council, Treaty Faction, Fleet Faction, and Volunteer
Fighting Corps.
Nationalist factors
Main articles: Statism in Showa Japan and Imperial Way Faction

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 Kodoha (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group), opposed by the
Toseiha (Control Group) led by General Kazushige Ugaki. He linked the ancient
(bushido code) and contemporary local and European fascist ideals (see Japanese
fascism), to form the ideological basis of the movement (Showa 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 "Kodoha" (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.
Soldiers occupying Nagata-cho and Akasaka area during the February 26 Incident

On February 26, 1936, a coup d'tat was attempted (the February 26 Incident).
Launched by the ultranationalist Kodoha faction with the military, it ultimately
failed due to the intervention of the Emperor. Kodoha members were purged from the
top military positions and the Toseiha faction gained dominance. However, both
factions believed in expansionism, a strong military, and a coming war.
Furthermore, Kodoha 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 fhrer 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 Showa,
who repeatedly counseled him to implement a direct imperial rule, even if that
meant suspending the constitution.[36]

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 Japanese fascism.
Economic factors
Bank run during the Showa financial crisis, March 1927

At 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.

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.
Late Showa (19311945) expansionism and war
Main articles: Hakko ichiu, National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, and World War
II
Japanese troops entering Shenyang, Northeast China during the Mukden Incident, 1931
Prewar expansionism
Manchuria
Main articles: Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Pacification of Manchukuo
Manchu Prince Pujie Aisin-Gioro with his wife Hiro Saga, daughter of Marquis Saneto
Saga (1938)

In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered the Northeast China, or 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: ???), 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: ??), 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.[37] With rich natural resources and labor force in
Manchuria, army-owned corporations turned Manchuria into a solid material support
machine of Japanese Army.[38]
Second Sino-Japanese War
Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War

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 Nanking surrendered to
Japanese troops. In the event known as the Nanking Massacre, Japanese troops
massacred a large number of the defending garrison. It is estimated that as many as
300,000 people, including civilians, may have been killed, although the actual
numbers are uncertain and the government of the People's Republic of China has
never undertaken a full accounting of the massacres. 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 SovietJapanese
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 Japanese 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
Founding Ceremony of the Hakko Ichiu Monument in 1940. It had Prince Chichibu's
calligraphy of Hakko ichiu, carved on its front side.[39]

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.[40][41]

The Second Sino-Japanese War had seen tensions rise between Imperial Japan and the
United States; events such as the Panay incident and the Nanking Massacre turned
American public opinion against Japan. With the occupation of French Indochina in
the years of 194041, 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 South East
Asiaspecifically 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
protectionif any one of the member powers was attacked by a country not already at
war, excluding the Soviet Unionand for technological and economic cooperation
between the signatories.

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 their own
ruling party in Japan, avoiding the influences of German Nazism and Italian
Fascism.
Pacific War
Main article: Pacific War

In the Pacific War, many of the islands became dominions of the Empire.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Main article: Attack on Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

The decision by Japan to attack the United States remains controversial. Study
groups in Japan had predicted ultimate disaster in a war between Japan and the
U.S., and the Japanese economy was already straining to keep up with the demands
from the war with China. However, the U.S. had placed an oil embargo on Japan and
Japan felt that the United States' demands were unacceptable.[42] Facing an oil
embargo by the United States as well as dwindling domestic reserves, the Japanese
government decided to execute a plan developed by the military branch largely led
by Osami Nagano and Isoroku Yamamoto to bomb the United States naval base in
Hawaii, thereby bringing the United States to World War II on the side of the
Allies. On September 4, 1941, the Japanese Cabinet met to consider the war plans
prepared by Imperial General Headquarters, and decided:

Our Empire, for the purpose of self-defense and self-preservation, will

complete preparations for war ... [and is] ... resolved to go to war with the
United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands if necessary. Our Empire will
concurrently take all possible diplomatic measures vis-a-vis the United States and
Great Britain, and thereby endeavor to obtain our objectives ... In the event that
there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October
through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will immediately decide to
commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.

The Imperial Japanese Navy made its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii,
on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy
and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces sustained significant
losses. 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. However, as Admiral Yamamoto feared, the attack produced
little lasting damage to the US Navy with priority targets like the Pacific Fleet's
aircraft carriers out at sea and vital shore facilities, whose destruction could
have crippled the fleet on their own, were ignored. Of more serious consequences,
the U.S. public saw the attack as a treacherous act and rallied against the Empire
of Japan. The United States entered the European Theatre and Pacific Theater in
full force. Four days later, Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, and Benito Mussolini of
Italy declared war on the United States, merging the separate conflicts.
Imperial Japan in 1942, showing the progressive territorial expansions from 1870
Japanese offensives (194142)
Main articles: South-East Asian theatre of World War II and South West Pacific
theatre of World War II
Japanese armored units advance in the Philippines.
Japanese troops march through the streets of Labuan, Borneo in January 14, 1942.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched offensives against
Allied forces in South East Asia, with simultaneous attacks on Hong Kong, British
Malaya and the Philippines.

The South-East Asian Campaign was preceded by years of propaganda and espionage
activities carried out in the region by the Japanese Empire. The Japanese espoused
their vision of a Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, and an Asia for Asians to the
people of South East Asia, who had lived under European rule for generations. As a
result, many inhabitants in some of the colonies (particularly Indonesia) actually
sided with the Japanese invaders for anti-colonial reasons. However, the ethnic
Chinese, who had witnessed the effects of a Japanese occupation in their homeland,
did not side with the Japanese. The brutality of the Japanese in the newly
conquered colonies would soon turn most people against them.

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.

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

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). Many were later used as
forced labour constructing the Burma Railway, the site of the infamous Bridge on
the River Kwai.

Immediately following their invasion of British Malaya, the Japanese military

carried out a purge of the Chinese population in Malaya and Singapore. Over the
course of a month following their victory at Singapore, the Japanese are believed
to have killed tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese perceived to be hostile to the
new regime.

The Japanese then seized the key oil production zones of Borneo, Central Java,
Malang, Cepu, Sumatra, and Dutch New Guinea of the late Dutch East Indies,
defeating the Dutch forces.[43] The Japanese then consolidated their lines of
supply through capturing key islands of the Pacific, including Guadalcanal.
Path to defeat (194245)
The Yamato during sea trials off Bungo Strait (outside Sukumo Bay) on October 20,
1941
Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943, Participants Left to right: Prime
Minister of Burma Ba Maw, Prime Minister of Manchukou Zhang Jinghui, President of
China (Nanjing) Wang Jingwei, Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo, Prince of
Thailand Wan Waithayakon, President of Philippines Jos P. Laurel, President of
Free India Subhas Chandra Bose
USS Bunker Hill hit by two kamikazes in 30 seconds on May 11, 1945, off Kyushu
during the Battle of Okinawa

Japanese military strategists were keenly aware of the unfavorable discrepancy

between the industrial potential of the Japanese Empire and that of 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. 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 Imperial Japan.

This setback was followed in June 1942 by the catastrophic loss of a four carrier
task force at the Battle of Midway. Midway was a decisive defeat for the Imperial
Japanese Navy, and proved to be the turning point of the war. 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.

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.
In the subsequent months, during the Philippines Campaign (194445), the combined
United States forces, together with the native guerrilla units, liberated the
Philippines.

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.
Air raids on Japan
Main article: Air raids on Japan
The atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

After securing airfields in Saipan and Guam in the summer of 1944, the United
States Army Air Forces undertook an intense strategic bombing campaign, using
incendiary bombs, burning Japanese cities in an effort to pulverize Japan's
industry and shatter its morale. The Operation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo on the
night of March 910, 1945, led to the deaths of approximately 100,000 civilians.
Approximately 350,000500,000 civilians died in 66 other Japanese cities as a
result of the incendiary bombing campaign on Japan. Concurrent to 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 atomic bombings were the first and only used against another nation
in warfare. These two bombs killed approximately 120,000 to 140,000 people in a
matter of minutes, and as many again died 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.
Re-entry of the Soviet Union

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 Nazi Germany in Europe.
This Soviet-Japanese War (1945) led to the rapid 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[44] 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, just as the allied victory in Europe was evolving into division of Germany
and Berlin, the division of Europe with the Iron Curtain and the subsequent Cold
War.
Defeat and surrender
Main articles: Surrender of Japan, Potsdam Declaration, and Victory over Japan Day

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

A period known as Occupied Japan followed after the war, largely spearheaded by
United States General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to revise the Japanese
constitution and de-militarize Japan. The American occupation, with economic and
political assistance, continued well into the 1950s. Allied forces ordered Japan to
abolish the Meiji Constitution and enforce the Constitution of Japan, then rename
the Empire of Japan as Japan on May 3, 1947.[1] Japan adopted a parliamentary-based
political system, while the Emperor changed to symbolic status.

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:

The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation
recorded in modern history. With a commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked
capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in
Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal
dignity; and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative
government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic
enterprise, and social justice. Politically, economically, and socially Japan is
now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal
trust. ... I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront
without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon
Japan. The results fully justified my faith. I know of no nation more serene,
orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future
constructive service in the advance of the human race.

For historian John W. Dower, however,

In retrospect, apart from the military officer corps, the purge of alleged
militarists and ultranationalists that was conducted under the Occupation had
relatively small impact on the long-term composition of men of influence in the
public and private sectors. The purge initially brought new blood into the
political parties, but this was offset by the return of huge numbers of formerly
purged conservative politicians to national as well as local politics in the early
1950s. In the bureaucracy, the purge was negligible from the outset. ... In the
economic sector, the purge similarly was only mildly disruptive, affecting less
than sixteen hundred individuals spread among some four hundred companies.
Everywhere one looks, the corridors of power in postwar Japan are crowded with men
whose talents had already been recognized during the war years, and who found the
same talents highly prized in the 'new' Japan.[45]

Repatriation
Japanese civilians and soldiers in Tawau, British North Borneo prior to their
embarkation to Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) after surrender to the Australian forces

There was a significant level of emigration to the overseas territories of the

Japanese Empire during the Japanese colonial period, including Korea,[46] Taiwan,
Manchuria, and Karafuto.[47] Unlike emigrants to the Americas, Japanese going to
the colonies occupied a higher rather than lower social niche upon their arrival.
[48]

In 1938, there were 309,000 Japanese in Taiwan.[49] By the end of World War II,
there were over 850,000 Japanese in Korea[50] and more than 2 million in China,[51]
most of whom were farmers in Manchukuo (the Japanese had a plan to bring in 5
million Japanese settlers into Manchukuo).[52]

In the census of December 1939, the total population of the South Pacific Mandate
was 129,104, of which 77,257 were Japanese. By December 1941, Saipan had a
population of more than 30,000 people, including 25,000 Japanese.[53] There were
over 400,000 people living on Karafuto (southern Sakhalin) when the Soviet
offensive began in early August 1945. Most were of Japanese or Korean extraction.
When Japan lost the Kuril Islands, 17,000 Japanese were expelled, most from the
southern islands.[54]

After World War II, most of these overseas Japanese repatriated to Japan. The
Allied powers repatriated over 6 million Japanese nationals from colonies and
battlefields throughout Asia.[55] Only a few remained overseas, often
involuntarily, as in the case of orphans in China or prisoners of war captured by
the Red Army and forced to work in Siberia.[56]
War crimes
Main articles: War crimes and Japan, Allied war crimes during World War II Asia
and the Pacific War, and International Military Tribunal for the Far East
A Japanese officer about to behead a Chinese POW

Many political and military Japanese leaders were convicted for war crimes before
the Tokyo tribunal and other Allied tribunals in Asia. However, all members of the
imperial family implicated in the war, such as Emperor Showa and his brothers,
cousins and uncles such as Prince Chichibu, Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu and Prince
Asaka Yasuhiko, were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by Douglas MacArthur.

The Japanese military before and during World War II committed numerous atrocities
against civilian and military personnel. Its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, prior to a declaration of war and without warning killed 2,403
neutral military personnel and civilians and wounded 1,247 others.[57][58] Large
scale massacres, rapes, and looting against civilians were committed, most notably
the Sook Ching and the Nanking Massacre, and the use of around 200,000 "comfort
women", who were forced to serve as prostitutes for the Japanese military.[59]

The Imperial Japanese Army also engaged in the execution and harsh treatment of
Allied military personnel and POWs. Biological experiments were conducted by Unit
731 on prisoners of war as well as civilians; this included the use of biological
and chemical weapons authorized by Emperor Showa himself.[60] According to the 2002
International Symposium on the Crimes of Bacteriological Warfare, the number of
people killed in Far East Asia by Japanese germ warfare and human experiments was
estimated to be around 580,000.[61] The members of Unit 731, including Lieutenant
General Shiro Ishii, received immunity from General MacArthur in exchange for germ
warfare data based on human experimentation. The deal was concluded in 1948.[62]
[63]

The Imperial Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons. Because of fear of
retaliation, however, those weapons were never used against Westerners, but against
other Asians judged "inferior" by imperial propaganda.[64] For example, the Emperor
authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the Battle of
Wuhan from August to October 1938.[65]
Influential personnel
Main article: List of Japanese government and military commanders of World War II
Political
Okubo Toshimichi, one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration and
modernized Japan
Prime Minister Prince Ito Hirobumi
Prime Minister Prince Yamagata Aritomo

In the administration of Japan dominated by the military political movement during

World War II, the civil central government was under the management of military men
and their right-wing civilian allies, along with members of the nobility and
Imperial Family. The Emperor was in the center of this power structure as supreme
Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Armed Forces and head of state.
Military

The military of Imperial Japan was divided into two main branches: the Imperial
Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army. To coordinate operations, the
Imperial General Headquarters, headed by the Emperor, was established in 1893.
Prominent generals and leaders:

Imperial Japanese Navy: Navy of Japan

Admiral Count Ito Sukeyuki (18431914)
Admiral Viscount Inoue Yoshika (18451929)
Admiral Marquis Togo Heihachiro (18471934) Battle of Tsushima
Admiral Prince Arisugawa Takahito (18621913)
Admiral Baron Ijuin Goro (18521921)
Admiral Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito (18671922)
Admiral Baron Shimamura Hayao (18581923)
Admiral Baron Kato Tomosaburo (18611923)
Admiral Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu (18761946)
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (18841943) Attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of
Midway
Admiral Osami Nagano (18801947)
Admiral Mineichi Koga (18851944)
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (18871944) Attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of
Midway[66]
Imperial Japanese Army: Army of Japan
Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo: Chief of staff of the Army, Prime Minister
of Japan
Marshal Prince Oyama Iwao: Chief of staff of the Army
General Viscount Kodama Gentaro: Chief of staff of the Army
Marshal Viscount Uehara Yusaku: Chief of staff of the Army
Marshal Prince Kotohito Kan'in: Chief of staff of the Army
Marshal Hajime Sugiyama: Chief of staff of the Army
General Kuniaki Koiso: Prime Minister of Japan
General Hideki Tojo: Prime Minister of Japan
General Yoshijiro Umezu: Chief of staff of the Army

Timeline
1926: Emperor Taisho dies (December 25).
1927: Tanaka Giichi becomes prime minister (April 20).
1928: Emperor Showa is formally installed as emperor (November 10).
1929: Osachi Hamaguchi becomes prime minister (July 2).
1930: Hamaguchi is wounded in an assassination attempt (November 14).
1931: Hamaguchi dies and Wakatsuki Reijiro becomes prime minister (April 14). Japan
occupies Manchuria after the Mukden Incident (September 18). Inukai Tsuyoshi
becomes prime minister (December 13) and increases funding for the military in
China.
1932: After an attack on Japanese monks in Shanghai (January 18), Japanese forces
shell the city (January 29). Manchukuo is established with Henry Pu Yi as emperor
(February 29). Inukai is assassinated during a coup attempt and Saito Makoto
becomes prime minister (May 15). Japan is censured by the League of Nations
(December 7).
1933: Japan leaves the League of Nations (March 27).
1934: Keisuke Okada becomes prime minister (July 8). Japan withdraws from the
Washington Naval Treaty (December 29).
Japanese march into Zhengyangmen of Beijing after capturing the city in July 1937
1936: Coup attempt (February 26 Incident). Koki Hirota becomes prime minister
(March 9). Japan signs its first pact with Germany (November 25) and occupies
Tsingtao (December 3). Mengjiang established in Inner Mongolia.
1937: Senjuro Hayashi becomes prime minister (February 2). Prince Fumimaro Konoe
becomes prime minister (June 4). Battle of Lugou Bridge (July 7). Japan captures
Beijing (July 31). Japanese troops occupy Nanjing (December 13), beginning the
Nanjing Massacre.
1938: Battle of Taierzhuang (March 24). Canton falls to Japanese forces (October
21).
1939: Hiranuma Kiichiro becomes prime minister (January 5). Abe Nobuyuki becomes
prime minister (August 30).
1940: Mitsumasa Yonai becomes prime minister (January 16). Konoe becomes prime
minister for a second term (July 22). Hundred Regiments Offensive
(AugustSeptember). Japan occupies Indochina in the wake of the fall of Paris, and
signs the Tripartite Pact (September 27).
1941: General Hideki Tojo becomes prime minister (October 18). Japanese naval
forces attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (December 7), prompting the United States to
declare war on Japan (December 8). Japan conquers Hong Kong (December 25).

Major-General Okada handing over his sword during ceremony marking surrender of
Japanese forces in Hong Kong, September 1945
1942: Battle of Ambon (January 30 February 3). Battle of Palembang (February
1315). Singapore surrenders to Japan (February 15). Japan bombs Australia
(February 19). Indian Ocean raid (March 31 April 10). Doolittle Raid on Tokyo
(April 18). Battle of the Coral Sea (May 48). U.S. and Filipino forces in the
Battle of the Philippines (1942) surrender (May 8). Japan defeated at the Battle of
Midway (June 6). Allied victory in the Battle of Milne Bay (September 5). Battle of
the Santa Cruz Islands (October 2527).
1943: Allied victory in Battle of Guadalcanal (February 9). Japan defeated at
Battle of Tarawa (November 23).
1944: Tojo resigns and Kuniaki Koiso becomes prime minister (July 22). Battle
of Leyte Gulf (October 2326).
1945: U.S. bombers begin firebombing of major Japanese cities. Japan defeated
at Battle of Iwo Jima (March 26). Admiral Kantaro Suzuki becomes prime minister
(April 7). Japan defeated at Battle of Okinawa (June 21). U.S. drops atomic bombs
on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), The Soviet Union and Mongolia
invade Japanese colonies of Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia), Korea, Sakhalin
and Kuril Islands (August 9September 2). Japan surrenders (September 2): Allied
occupation begins.
1947: Constitution of Japan comes into force.[1]

Emperors
Posthumous name1 Given name2 Childhood name3 Period of reign Era name4
Meiji Tenno
(????) Mutsuhito
(??) Sachi-no-miya
(??) 18681912
(18901912)5 Meiji
Taisho Tenno
(????) Yoshihito
(??) Haru-no-miya
(??) 191226 Taisho
Showa Tenno
(????) Hirohito
(??) Michi-no-miya
(??) 1926896 Showa
1 Each posthumous name was given after the respective era names as Ming and Qing
Dynasties of China.
2 The Japanese imperial family name has no surname or dynastic name.
3 The Meiji Emperor was known only by the appellation Sachi-no-miya from his birth
until November 11, 1860, when he was proclaimed heir apparent to Emperor Komei and
received the personal name Mutsuhito .
4 No multiple era names were given for each reign after Meiji Emperor.
5 Constitutionally.
6 Constitutionally. The reign of the Showa Emperor in fact continued until 1989
since he did not abdicate after World War II. However, he lost his status as a
living god and autocratic power after the 1947 constitution was adopted.
See also

Japan portal Fascism portal

Agriculture in the Empire of Japan

Demographics of Imperial Japan
Foreign commerce and shipping of Empire of Japan
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Industrial production in Showa Japan
GermanyJapan industrial co-operation before World War II
Japanese mining and energy resources (World War II)
Japanese colonialism
Japanese nuclear weapon program

Notes

Although the Empire of Japan officially had no state religion,[2][3] Shinto played
an important part for the Japanese state: As Marius Jansen, states: "The Meiji
government had from the first incorporated, and in a sense created, Shinto, and
utilized its tales of the divine origin of the ruling house as the core of its
ritual addressed to ancestors "of ages past." As the Japanese empire grew the
affirmation of a divine mission for the Japanese race was emphasized more strongly.
Shinto was imposed on colonial lands in Taiwan and Korea, and public funds were
utilized to build and maintain new shrines there. Shinto priests were attached to
army units as chaplains, and the cult of war dead, enshrined at the Yasukuni Jinja
in Tokyo, took on ever greater proportions as their number grew."[4]

"During the second half of the nineteenth century, Japan's nation-builders

forged the Meiji nation-state out of an older, heterogeneous Tokugawa realm,
integrating semi-autonomous domain states into a unified political community."[10]
"Rather than restore an ancient (and probably imaginary) center-periphery order,
the Meiji Restoration hastened the creation of a new and unambiguously centralized
and modern nation-state. Within a few decades of the official beginning of the
nation-building project, Tokyo had become the political and economic capital of a
state that replaced semi-autonomous domains with newly created prefectures
subordinate to central laws and centrally appointed administrators."[11]

References
Citations

"Chronological table 5 1 December 1946 - 23 June 1947". National Diet Library.

Retrieved September 30, 2010.
Josephson, Jason Ananda (2012). The Invention of Religion in Japan. University of
Chicago Press. p. 133. ISBN 0226412342.
Thomas, Jolyon Baraka (2014). Japan's Preoccupation with Religious Freedom (Ph.D.).
Princeton University. p. 76.
Jansen 2002, p. 669.
Hunter 1984, pp. 31-32.
One can date the "restoration" of imperial rule from the edict of January 3, 1868.
Jansen, p.334.
Harrison, Mark (2000). The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in
International Comparison. Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780521785037.
Retrieved 2 October 2016.
Taeuber, Irene B.; Beal, Edwin G. (January 1945). "The Demographic Heritage of the
Japanese Empire". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Sage Publications. 237: 65. JSTOR 1025496. (Subscription required (help)).
Shillony, Ben-Ami (2013). Ben-Ami Shillony - Collected Writings. Routledge. p. 83.
ISBN 1134252307.
Tsutsui 2009, p. 234.
Tsutsui 2009, p. 433.
Hagiwara, p. 34.
Jansen 2002, pp. 314315.
Hagiwara, p. 35.
Satow, p. 282.
Keene 2002, p. 116.
Jansen 2002, pp. 3101.
Keene, pp. 120121, and Satow, p. 283. Moreover, Satow (p. 285) speculates that
Yoshinobu had agreed to an assembly of daimyos in the hope that such a body would
reinstate him.
Satow, p. 286.
During a recess, Saigo, who had his troops outside, "remarked that it would take
only one short sword to settle the discussion" (Keene, p. 122). Original quotation
(Japanese): "??????????????." in Hagiwara, p. 42. The word used for "dagger" was
tanto.
Keene 2002, p. 124.
Jansen 2002, p. 312.
Keene, p. 340, notes that one might "describe the Oath in Five Articles as a
constitution for all ages".
"??8?(1875)4?|????????????????????????????:??????".
The Secret of Japan's Strength www.calvin.edu
"1889 Japanese Constitution".
http://www.ggdc.nl/databases/hna/2009/data/hna_jpn_09.xls
Duus, Peter (1995). The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea,
18951910. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520213616.
A reckless adventure in Taiwan amid Meiji Restoration turmoil, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN,
Retrieved on July 22, 2007.
MacMillan, Margaret (2003). Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World. Random
House. p. 321. ISBN 0-375-76052-0.
"Question 1917?(??6?)??????????????????????????????????????????????????". Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
"Polish orphans". Tsuruga city. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
Hane, Mikiso, Modern Japan: A Historical Survey (Oxford: Westview Press, 1992) 234.
"?150??? ????????????????????????? ?12? ??12?11?16?(???)". House of Representatives
of Japan. November 16, 2000. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
"???????????????". ????. ????????? ????????. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
Herbert Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 2001, p. 284
Kevin McDowell. Japan in Manchuria: Agricultural Emigration in the Japanese Empire,
1932-1945. University of Arizona
"The Unquiet Past Seven decades on from the defeat of Japan, memories of war still
divide East Asia". The Economist. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
David C. Earhart, Certain Victory, 2008, p.63
"Question ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????".
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
"???????". Five Ministers Council. Japan Center for Asian Historical Record.
December 6, 1938. p. 36/42. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
Hotta, Eri (2013). Japan 1941 : Countdown to Infamy. New York: Knpf. ISBN 978-
0307739742.
L, Klemen (19992000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign
19411942". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011.
Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
Belknap Press (Oct. 30 2006) ISBN 978-0674022416
J. W. Dower, Japan in War & Peace, New press, 1993, p. 11
"Japanese Periodicals in Colonial Korea".
Japanese Immigration Statistics, DiscoverNikkei.org
Lankov, Andrei (March 23, 2006). "The Dawn of Modern Korea (360): Settling Down".
The Korea Times. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
Grajdanzev, A. J. (1 January 1942). "Formosa (Taiwan) Under Japanese Rule". Pacific
Affairs. 15 (3): 311324. JSTOR 2752241. doi:10.2307/2752241.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved 2009-11-
03. The Life Instability of Intermarried Japanese Women in Korea
Killing of Chinese in Japan concerned, China Daily
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-
12-20. Prasenjit Duara: The New Imperialism and the Post-Colonial Developmental
State: Manchukuo in comparative perspective
"A Go: Another Battle for Sapian".
"Page not found".
When Empire Comes Home : Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan by Lori
Watt, Harvard University Press
"Russia Acknowledges Sending Japanese Prisoners of War to North Korea".
Mosnews.com. April 1, 2005. Archived from the original on November 13, 2006.
Retrieved February 23, 2007.
Yuma Totani (April 1, 2009). The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in
the Wake of World War II. Harvard University Asia Center. p. 57.
Stephen C. McCaffrey (September 22, 2004). Understanding International Law.
AuthorHouse. pp. 210229.
"Abe questions sex slave 'coercion'". BBC News. March 2, 2007. Retrieved May 2,
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Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, Dokugasusen Kankei Shiryo II (Materials on
poison gas Warfare II), Kaisetsu, Hokan 2, Jugonen sens gokuhi shiryoshu, Funi
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Daniel Barenblatt, A Plague upon Humanity, 2004, pp. xii, 173.
Hal Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 2003, p. 109.
Drayton, Richard (May 10, 2005). "An Ethical Blank Cheque: British and U.S.
mythology about the second world war ignores our own crimes and legitimises Anglo-
American war making". The Guardian.
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Gokuhi Shiryoshu, 1997, p.27-29

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Dutch East Indies Campaign 19411942. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012.

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22352-0.
Jansen, Marius B. (2002). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard
University Press. ISBN 0-674-00334-9. OCLC 44090600
Jansen, Marius B. (1995). The Emergence of Meiji Japan. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 0-5214-8405-7.
Hunter, Janet (1984). Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. University
of California Press. ISBN 0-5200-4557-2.
Keene, Donald (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 18521912. New
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Klemen, L. (19992000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign
19411942". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011.
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Porter, Robert P. (1918). Japan: The Rise of a Modern Power. Oxford. ISBN 0-
665-98994-6.
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Hotta, Eri (2013). Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy. New York. ISBN 978-
0307739742.

External links

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Preceded by
Edo period
1603-1868 History of Japan
Empire of Japan
1868-1947 Succeeded by
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v t e

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World War II

Coordinates: 3541'N 13946'E

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