Japan

• Japan : Inter Service Rivalry


  1. Japanese army and navy had long-standing conflict since the Meiji period

  2. Different goals and ideas on how to conduct war → Competition over resources

  
  

  Examples :

  → Navy wanted army's support to invade Australia, army refused to cooperate

  → Army refused to provide reinforcements to the Pacific islands throughout 1943
• Japan : Overstretched Empire


  1. Required huge manpower and resources

  2. Needed to defend against Allies and maintain control over occupied areas

  3. Had trouble keeping up with the war effort

  4. Japanese Empire was very spread out, difficult to communicate and transport materials by sea

  5. Could not transport raw materials and workers to needed areas quickly enough
• Japan : Poor Planning & Resource Management


  1. Japan failed to grasp importance of air power

  2. Did not pursue US aircraft carriers during Pearl Harbour

  3. Did not focus on naval pilot training

  4. Targeted only US naval vessels and not the merchant ships carrying vital supplies

  5. Failed to protect its own merchant ships, many soldiers and civilians starved to death
• Japan : Lack of Local Support


  1. Cruel treatment of the people lead to many resistance groups

  2. Looting, starvation, enslavement, rape, forced labour were common

  
  

  Resistance movements :

  → Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong

  → North Korean Communists

  → Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh

  → MPAJA in Malaya/Singapore

  
  

  3. Many of these groups carried out guerilla warfare that gradually wore down the Japanese