Japan campaign

The Japan Campaign was a series of battles and engagements in and around the Japanese Home Islands, between Allied forces and Imperial Japanese forces during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The Japan Campaign lasted from around June 1944 to about September 1945.

Periodic air raids on Japan were the first attacks undertaken by the Allied forces. In late 1944, these raids were followed by a major strategic bombing campaign against Tokyo and other military and civilian targets throughout Japan.

In early 1945, there were two major island battles:

• The Battle of Iwo Jima (16 February to 26 March) - Of approximately 21,000 Japanese defenders, only 216 survived battle.
• The Battle of Okinawa (1 April to 21 June) - Of approximately 100,000 Japanese defenders, only 24,455 survived battle.

There were also two naval battles:

• Operation Ten-Go (7 April) - Most of the Japanese vessels committed were lost.
• The Battle of Tokyo Bay (22 July to 23 July) - Most of the Japanese vessels committed were heavily damaged or lost.

The Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa foretold what was to be expected when the Japanese Home Islands were attacked. Both the island of Iwo Jima and the island of Okinawa were lost by the Japanese only after extremely fierce resistance was overcome. In both cases the Japanese refused to surrender and there were few Japanese survivors. But, while Japanese losses were extremely high, the Allied forces paid dearly to take both islands.

Naval operations included a suicidal Japanese counteroffensive on 7 April 1945 (Operation Ten-Go) to relieve Okinawa and an Allied campaign to place air and submarine-delivered mines into Japanese shipping lanes. This illustrated by the naval surface interdiction of Tokyo Bay in July.

World War II ended with the surrender of Japan after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was unwilling to surrender. Firebombing of Japanese cities resulted in thousands of deaths but did not move the Japanese government towards surrender. The Japanese government was clearly prepared to fight an Allied invasion of the home islands as fiercely as they had defended Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The Japan Campaign was intended to provide staging areas and preparation for a possible Allied armed invasion of Japan ("Operation Downfall") and to support Allied air and naval campaigns against the Japanese mainlaind. Japan still had a homeland army of about two-million soldiers and Japan also had sufficient resources to critically cripple an Allied invasion. Consequently, had an invasion been necessary, it most likely would have resulted in a much higher death toll for both sides in the Pacific Campaign and for the war in general.

If Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a positive side, it is that many lives were saved on both sides by the surrender of Japan before an armed invasion of the Japanese mainland was carried out. In addition, like Nazi Germany, some members of the Japanese government were involved in crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. These crimes were detailed during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.

See also

• Banzai charge - Suicidal charges
• Kamikaze - Suicidal aircraft attacks
• Ohka - Manned bombs
• Seppuku - Personal suicide
• Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group
• Operation Starvation
• Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign