Empire of Japan

===World War II (1941–1945)===
{{Main|Japan during World War II|Pacific War}}
[[File:Second world war asia 1937-1942 map en6.png|thumb|Map of Japanese conquests from 1937 to 1942]]

On November 5, 1941, Yamamoto in his "Top Secret Operation Order no. 1" issued to the Combined Fleet, the Empire of Japan must drive out Britain and America from Greater East Asia and to hasten the settlement of the China, whereas should the eventuality that Britain and America would really be driven out from the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, an independent, self-supporting economic entity will be firmly established – mirroring the principle of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in another personification.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morison|first=Samuel Eliot|title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 3: The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 – April 1942|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=2010|pages=80–81}}</ref>

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 country|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 South East 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 War|Pacific Theater]] in full force, thereby bringing the United States to World War II on the side of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].

Even as they launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were well aware that the United States had the capability to mount a counter-offensive against them. However, they believed that they could maintain their defensive perimeter and push back any attempt by the British and Americans that could incur enough losses to make the Allied forces consider making peace on the basis of Japan's retainment of the territories she had gained.{{sfn|Morison|2010|p=81}}

====Japanese conquests====
[[File:JapaneseMarchSgpCity.jpg|thumb|Victorious Japanese troops marching through the city center of [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|Singapore]] following the [[Fall of Singapore|city's capture]] in February 1942]]

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched offensives against Allied forces in East and Southeast Asia, with simultaneous attacks in [[History of colonial Hong Kong|British Hong Kong]], British Malaya and the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines|Philippines]]. [[Battle of Hong Kong|Hong Kong surrendered]] to the Japanese on December 25. In [[Battle of Malaya|Malaya]] the Japanese overwhelmed an Allied army composed of British, Indian, [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian]] and [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]] forces. The Japanese were quickly able to advance down the [[Malayan Peninsula]], forcing the Allied forces to retreat towards [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|Singapore]]. The Allies lacked aircover and tanks; the Japanese had complete air superiority. The [[Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse|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.

On January 11, 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled the United States naval Station at Pago Pago in Samoa, suggesting that the Japanese were advancing to the direction of Australia and nearby Oceanic regions.{{sfn|Morison|2010|page=259}}

In [[Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)|the Philippines]], the Japanese pushed the combined American-Filipino force towards [[Battle of Bataan|the Bataan Peninsula]] and later the [[Battle of Corregidor|island of Corregidor]]. By January 1942, [[General Douglas MacArthur]] and President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] were [[Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines|forced to flee]] in the face of Japanese advance. This marked 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, [[Straits Settlements|Singapore]], due to the overwhelming superiority of Japanese forces and encirclement tactics, [[Battle of Singapore|fell to the Japanese]], causing the largest [[Surrender (military)|surrender]] of British-led military personnel in history. An estimated 80,000 Australian, British and Indian 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 campaign|Dutch East Indies]], defeating the [[Dutch forces]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Klemen L. |title=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref> However, Allied sabotage had made it difficult for the Japanese to restore oil production to its pre-war peak.<ref name="combinedfleet.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/guadoil1.htm |title=Oil and Japanese Strategy in the Solomons: A Postulate |website=www.combinedfleet.com}}</ref> The Japanese then consolidated their lines of supply through capturing key islands of the [[Pacific]], including [[Guadalcanal]].

====Tide turns====
[[File:Battle of Midway.jpg|thumb|A model representing the attack by dive bombers from {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} and {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} on the Japanese aircraft carriers {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Sōryū||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} in the morning of June 4, 1942, during the [[Battle of Midway]]]]

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 [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|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 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254296/lifestyle/artandculture/ww2-historical-markers-remind-pinoys-of-bataan-s-role-on-day-of-valor/ |title=WW2 historical markers remind Pinoys of Bataan's role on Day of Valor |website=GMA News Online|date=April 9, 2012 }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://combinedfleet.com/battles/Battle_of_Midway |title=Battle of Midway – Nihon Kaigun |website=combinedfleet.com}}</ref>

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 campaign|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.<ref name="combinedfleet.com"/> 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 Island|Leyte]] on October 20, 1944. The [[Palawan massacre]] was committed by the imperial army against Filipinos in December 1944.<ref>Wilbanks, Bob (2004). Last Man Out. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 45, 53, 56, 68–69, 80–81, 84–85, 92, 98–99, 100, 102, 106–107. {{ISBN|9780786418220}}.</ref> In the subsequent months, during the [[Philippines campaign (1944–45)]], the Allies, including the combined United States forces together with the native guerrilla units, recaptured the Philippines.

====Surrender====
{{Main|Surrender of Japan|Potsdam Declaration|Victory over Japan Day}}
[[File:Japanese battleship Haruna sunk.jpg|thumb|The rebuilt battlecruiser {{ship|Japanese battleship|Haruna||2}} sank at her moorings in the naval base of [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]] on July 24 during a [[Attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea (July 1945)|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 in the Pacific War|Allied submarines]] on Japanese shipping routes, began to strangle Japan's economy and undermine its ability to supply its army. By early 1945, the US 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 during World War II|strategic bombing campaign]] by having [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] bombers in nighttime low altitude incendiary raids, burning Japanese cities in an effort to pulverize Japan's war industry and [[demoralization (warfare)|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 [[Firebombing|incendiary bombing]] campaign on Japan. Concurrent with these attacks, Japan's vital coastal shipping operations were severely hampered with extensive aerial mining by the US'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 weapon]]s 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 seconds, 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<ref>Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan Tsuyoshi Hasegawa Belknap Press (October 30, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0674022416}}</ref> and gain some protection, rather than face simultaneous Soviet invasion as well as defeat by the US and its allies. Likewise, the [[Operation Unthinkable|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,{{Citation needed|reason=Is this opinion? Is this documented? Is this historians collecting welfare?|date=October 2018}} 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]].

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