Questions tagged [imperial-japan]
For questions about the Empire of Japan, during the period between the Meiji Restoration and the end of the Second World War, 1868 to 1945.
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Was the full diary of Jiro Horikoshi ever published?
Jiro Horikoshi, the constructor of A6M "Zero", was one of the most prominent Japan's aeronautical engineers immediately before and during WWII, his life being dramatized in a (relatively) ...
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How did Japanese commanders react to the truth about the Battle off Samar?
The Japanese commanders at the Battle Off Samar thought they had engaged and sunk several fleet carriers, cruisers, and destroyers.
Did they find out they only faced light escort ships? Did they find ...
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Which event happened first: Meiji Restoration or Boshin War?
I don't know if first, power was returned to the Emperor and a series of reforms were made to modernize Japan, both things referred to as the Meiji Restoration, and that led to the Boshin War, or if ...
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Was the contemporaneity of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan coincidental or somehow structural?
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan embarked on aggressive war plans on opposite sides of the globe at nearly the same time.
Was this a coincidence, or were there structural factors in the world system ...
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Is there any evidence that the US strategy at Midway was deliberate?
The Battle of Midway was a crushing US victory over the Empire of Japan that, at face value, appears to be due to good SIGINT and a huge amount of luck by the Americans.
In particular, the piecemeal ...
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What was the relationship between the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and the Imperial General Headquarters?
I am trying to write an analysis of the bureaucracy in Japan that led to their decision to enter the War in 1941. I see both the Imperial Rule Assistance Association(IRAA) and Imperial General ...
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Why was IJN apparently inactive mid-war?
If you look at the history of the WW2 Pacific theatre, you would notice an apparent lack of Imperial Japanese Navy activity between Guadalcanal and Philippine Sea. And even these two battles were ...
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Does city-specific economic data for the pre-WW2 decades exist for Japan and Germany? How do I find out?
I'd like to the an analysis using historical economic data of Japan and Germany.
For that I'm trying to figure out, if data exists from before 1945 of economic production in different japanese and ...
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During the defense of the home islands, what was Japan's plan for its forces off-island?
It's July 1945. Okinawa is lost. Japan is preparing for an Allied invasion of the Home Islands. While they're arming civilians with spears and clubs, Japan still had millions of soldiers in Manchuria, ...
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Were kamikaze pilots an effective strategy for Japan?
history.howstuffworks.com claims kamikaze pilots were not overly effective. Wikipedia states that there was no noticeable increase in number of ships lost even as kamikaze pilots became more common, ...
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Where can I find the calls made between Kita Ikki and the rebels in the Japanese February 26 incident?
While reading about the February 26 Incident I learnt that Kita Ikki knew of it and provided some support to the coup by phone. A documentary about Asian 20th century history contains a small portion ...
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What is the context of the use of injustice/unrightousness (不義/fugi) in WW2 era Japanese propaganda?
The Imperial Japanese military song Nihon Rikugun (日本陸軍) begins with the line "天に代わりて不義を討つ" ("defeat injustice in place of righteousness").
What exactly did they consider 不義/fugi ...
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Why were there so many Japanese Prime Ministers before and during WW2?
I had been reading about Tojo's history and was surprised that he was not Prime minister at the start of the war (Looking at other European Authoritarians and how they saw things through from start to ...
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What was Japan's grand strategy in WW2?
I am trying to understand the Japanese Grand Strategy in WW2 when it comes to handling the US. My current understand, based primarily on extensive Wikipedia reading is as follows:
Motivation: The ...
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What prompted Yamaguchi to split his airgroup when attacking the Americans at Midway?
This is a followup to a previous question here
Why did the Hiryu perform two small attacks rather than a single larger one at the battle of Midway?
As noted in Shattered Sword (Ch 14), Nagumo ordered ...
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Why are some school systems from September–July versus others that go April–March?
I've heard from colleagues and on-line sources that the Japanese school system starts the school year on 1st of April and I've heard the same used to be true in Germany. In Belgium, where I live, I ...
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What is the source of "the three most useless things in the world are the Great Wall, Pyramids, and the Yamato"?
I watched 'Naval Legends: Yamato' yesterday, and it included a phrase that was attributed to the crew of the ship:
"The world's three most useless things are the Chinese Great Wall, Egyptian ...
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What was the main purpose in Japan trying to capture the Dutch East Indies oil fields intact?
The Dutch East Indies campaign saw Japan try to capture the Dutch East Indies oilfields intact, i.e. before the local troops destroyed them:
After these main objectives in Borneo were completed, the ...
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Which crown features on the Japanese Order of the Precious Crown?
The Order of the Precious Crown features a crown on its badge. I cannot determine which crown this is.
The order was founded in 1888 by Emperor Meiji, who I cannot find depicted wearing or with any ...
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What was Higo domain's relevance with respect to the Meiji Restoration and later (internal) politics?
Normally, when the Meiji Restoration is considered, the "victors" are listed as Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa. This materialised in Satsuma and Choshu leading Imperial Japan's Army while Satsuma and Tosa ...
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