Questions tagged [japan]
An island country in the western Pacific, located east of the Asian mainland.
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On 1941 Dec 7, could Japan have targeted the Panama Canal instead of Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack?
This question comes from a slightly related one.
At the time of WW2, most US industry was on the East Coast, including all of the shipbuilding for Carriers and Battleships. If the Panama Canal went ...
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Why didn't Imperial Japan attack the Soviet Union during World War 2?
Japan and the Soviet Union shared a common border in Manchuria and the German invasion of the Soviet Union weakened the Soviets greatly. In view of the advantages to Japan in seeing the Soviet Union ...
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Why, in the US, is Japanese brutality ignored compared with the Nazi brutality in WW2?
Instead of accepting too much of what I have read in my textbooks, I have read up a bit about WW2 on my own and have always pondered, why in the USA is the brutality and actions of the Japanese during ...
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Did Imperial Japan choose to ally with Nazi Germany because of ideological similarity?
There are certain similarities that can be drawn between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Both were dictatorships, both believed in racism (though against different people), and both were wanting to ...
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Why does Japan use the same type of AC power outlet as the US?
Does it have something to do with the US taking part in aiding reconstruction of the country after WWII? I've tried googling around for an answer, but every site I find simply states the outlet style, ...
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Why did Hitler declare war on the USA?
Since there had not been any offensives launched by either side against the other, why declare war just because Japan had attacked the USA?
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Did the leaflets from the US to Hiroshima/Nagasaki civilians on bombing cities reduce the civilian casualties of the two nuclear bombs in August 1945?
I read on Wikipedia
Various leaflets were dropped on Japan, three versions showing the names of 11 or 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other side contained text stating ...
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Why did English adopt Kamikaze (神風) as a loanword instead of Tokko (特攻) during/after WWII?
Kamikaze (you know, the 'crash plane into boat' thing) is, for Japanese learners like myself, initially a very confusing word. In Japanese it's 神風, 神 meaning god, gods, divinity, etc. And 風 means wind,...
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Why was the Japanese Army's fatalities inflicted:suffered ratio so low in the Pacific theatre?
Leaving aside the naval battles of the Pacific, why did the Japanese army do so poorly against allied forces (specifically United states and Australian forces) when on the defensive. While logistics ...
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Why didn't the US choose to demolish Tokyo with an atom bomb?
Tokyo was Japan's capital. Why didn't the US choose Tokyo to demolish with Atom Bomb?
Bonus Question: What factors decided to bring Hiroshima and Nagasaki on table?
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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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Was it militarily possible to "island hop" the Philippines if not for MacArthur?
The battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines led to the destruction of half of what remained of the Japanese navy. It also "sucked in" all the troops that Japanese could spare from elsewhere, leading ...
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Why didn't Japan take Pearl Harbor when they had the chance?
Japan successfully wiped out America's defenses at Pearl Harbor, and they knew they were going to before they set out, so why didn't they take some paratroopers with them to seize the harbor from the ...
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When/how did Harry Truman give the order to bomb Hiroshima?
Am I correct in assuming that Truman and only Truman had the authority to order the bombing of Hiroshima? After all, it was the very first A-bomb and procedures may not have been formalized yet. It ...
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Did a kamikaze ever impact the hull of a ship, as opposed to the deck?
All kamikaze videos I've seen show the plane dive bombing into the deck of a ship. The photos I've seen also appear to always show a burning deck or tower.
What I want to know is, did any kamikaze ...
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Why didn't Japanese infantrymen and samurai use shields?
Shields were considered useful in Europe until the development of full plate armor. Despite the fact that they never had anything comparable to plate armor, shield use was apparently abandoned by the ...
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Did the United States have a third atomic bomb to drop on Japan?
On 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to the United States, signing the instrument of surrender on 2 September, officially ending the war.
The question ...
user2237
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What do the modern Japanese people think about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Japan has been an ally of the USA for a long time now.
On the other hand, every year they observe Hiroshima Day.
Moreover, Japanese people visit Yasukuni Shrine.
Then what is the catch?
user806
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Why did Meiji government consider switching from Japanese to English?
During the Meiji restoration, the Meiji govenment sought to switch Japan's national language from Japanese to English.
Who and why advocated that?
Ultimately, why was it unsuccessful?
Source: ...
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Given their reputation for fighting to the last man in the Pacific, why did 700,000 Japanese troops surrender in Manchuria?
I just read this. It says:
On August 8, 1945 ... the Soviet Union launched the invasion of Manchuria, a massive military operation mobilizing 1.5 million soldiers against one million Kwantung Army ...
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Were there any Germans in Japan after the surrender of Germany in May, 1945 and if so, what happened to them?
I assume there were potentially hundreds of German advisers, etc. in Japan at the time of the German surrender. Is there evidence that they tried to reach Allied troops to surrender to them? Did some ...
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Why did the Japanese expect the United States navy would attack the Home Islands?
Kantai Kessen, the Japanese naval strategy for a Pacific war, amounted to (simplified) "The American fleet will cross the Pacific to attack Japan. At that time, we will engage and defeat them."
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Was Japan known to be a potential threat to the USA in the 10 year period prior to 1941
In the years leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, did non-military Americans see Japan as a potential threat to the USA?
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Why were there so few American deaths in the Bataan Death March?
There was estimated to be 500-650 American deaths during the Bataan death march while there was estimated to be 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths, according to Wikipedia. I can't wrap my head around why ...
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Why do the Japanese sing Ode to Joy during the Japanese New Year?
During the New Years days, the Japanese have a curious custom where they perform Beethoven's 9th symphony. This has produced some stunning sights on youtube
But there's nothing particularly festive ...
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When and why was the samurai class abolished?
I am aware the Emperor Meiji abolished the Samurai class during the reformation. Why did he do so? How was it enforced?
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Why was the US so pro-China and so anti-Japan before WW2?
There is little doubt that the US embargoes on Japan pushed an already aggressive Japan towards Pearl Harbor. Japanese Navy doctrine had already been contemplating a conflict with the US and this ...
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Why did the US drop nuclear bombs on a weakened Japan? [closed]
Why did the United States drop two nuclear bombs on the Japanese mainland? It appeared that Japan was ready to surrender.
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How many lives were estimated to have been saved by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?
**President Truman in a August 9, 1945 radio address to the American people, outlined the reasons why we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (and later Nagasaki)
I realize the tragic significance of ...
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Are there incidents of ronin travelling outside Japan as soldiers of fortune?
There are time periods where large numbers of ronin flocked to Edo, and roamed the Japanese countryside looking for some source of income; generally during and right after the Senegoku period and ...
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Which WW2 belligerents provided military brothels?
Did any of the other belligerents of WW2 besides Japan and Germany provide their troops with authorized military brothels?
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Was it possible for a young Japanese woman to end up enslaved in Great Britain in the mid-1600s?
I'm inspired to ask this by the horror visual novel The Letter, which chiefly regards a haunted building called the Ermengarde mansion, in the fictional English town of Anslem, near the equally-...
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What were the EMP effects, if any, of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is generated from any atomic bomb, as far as I know. An EMP could destroy the electronics of many devices, including lighting, electric motors, radios, phones, etc.
So why ...
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What made the Russian Navy suspect Japanese torpedo boats were in North Sea in 1904?
I'm finding several references that during the Russia - Japanese war of 1904/1905 that the Russians had intelligence that suggested the Japanese either had torpedo boats present in the North Sea or ...
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Japan is known for being isolationist, so what cultivated its history of interventionism in the 20th century?
For much of its history, Japan was a very isolationistic country, and in fact, even in modern Japan, there is still a strong isolationist attitude among the Japanese people in some ways.
During the ...
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Why was the Red Army successful against the Japanese in 1939 but perform poorly against Finland 1939-40 and early part of WW2?
The Soviet Union's Red Army had great difficulty overcoming the vastly outnumbered Finns in the 1939-40 Winter War, and suffered disastrous defeats in the early stages of the German invasion in World ...
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Was Hiroshima targeted because its mountains would "rebound the explosion back into the city for more damage"?
In English class, while analyzing the anti-war themes of a book, my teacher brought up something that I had never heard before and honestly significantly doubt the accuracy of. She said that:
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Could the Russians Have Done Better at the Battle of Tsushima Straits Than They Actually Did?
In 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, a Russian fleet sailing all the way from the Baltic was annihilated by the Japanese fleet in the Tsushima Straits. The Russian fleet was larger, with thirteen ...
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Why did the Japanese withdraw from Siberia in 1922?
According to Wikipedia the Japanese were the de facto leaders of the foreign anti-Bolshevik intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. The other foreign powers pulled out by 1920, ...
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Was there a Japanese equivalent of the Gestapo during WW2
Colonial Japanese rule on occupied territories has been described as harsh as has been their treatment of prisoners of war. In some cases, this was not a fleeting occupation but one lasting years or ...
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Why does Japan celebrate the Gregorian New Year but China still celebrates Chinese New Year?
Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan used the Chinese calendar and celebrated Chinese New Year just as China did.
Nowadays, both Japan and China have adopted the Western calendar. However, Japan ...
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Why didn't Japan expand into Ezo?
Throughout the first millenium of Japanese history (and before that even) the Japanese rather steadily expanded up Honshu.
Once they had taken the whole of Honshu however they seemed largely to stop. ...
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Rape perpetrated by American soldiers during WWII?
A while back I had a disturbing encounter with someone related to a Jewish survivor from the Auschwitz death camp. This survivor apparently claims that not only Red Army soldiers, but also G.I.'s ...
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By mid-1945, was Japan capable of maintaining the war even in the absence of further direct American attacks? [closed]
The USA went to a great effort to defeat Japan, but do historians regard it as necessary?
For example if the USA had just kept the naval action going to the extent of cutting of all shipping to ...
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Where did Japan get their oil during WWII?
To my understanding the United States was the largest exporter of oil to the Japanese prior to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese islands aren't known for their oil fields. It's also believed that the attacks ...
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Were taiko drums used to determine village sizes?
Were taiko drums used to determine village size? If so, when was this practice in use?
In 'Full Circle', Michael Palin says that the taiko drums were used to determine village sizes in pre-industrial ...
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Did Truman really believe that Hiroshima was a military base?
Harry Truman claimed, in his July 25, 1945 diary entry, that:
I have told [Stimson] to use [the first nuclear bomb] so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women ...
user2848
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What are the hay effigies in this Japanese movie?
I am moving this question from Movies.SE in hope of getting the answer here
The movie The Blind Swordsman Zaitochi (2003) takes places somewhere in a small town in Japan, probably around the 19th ...
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Why were women excluded from the succession line in the Meiji constitution?
Article 2 of the Meiji consitution (full text here) says:
The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by Imperial male
descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law.
A ...
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Did a Japanese medieval castle withstand US battleship fire during the Pacific War?
I have overheard the story from an US soldier that during the Pacific War the Japanese mounted a defense in an old medieval castle. The Americans asked for support from a battleship. The battleship ...
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