Imperial Japan’s Colonial Expansion and the Asia-Pacific War: Decisions, Occupation, Atrocities and Accountability

A connected chronology

• 1894/1895 · Japan’s Meiji government launches war against China and compels the cession of Taiwan — Japan’s Meiji government launched the First Sino-Japanese War against China in 1894. Japanese forces defeated Qing forces on land and at sea and attacked the Penghu Islands while peace talks were under way. In 1895 Japan compelled the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan, Penghu and the Liaodong Peninsula and paying a large indemnity.
• 1910 · The Japanese government annexes Korea — The Imperial Japanese government used a treaty and Cabinet orders to annex Korea formally and establish colonial rule through the Government-General.
• 1931/1932 · The Kwantung Army occupies Northeast China — The Kwantung Army engineered and exploited the Mukden Incident to expand military operations and occupy Northeast China; Japan then installed Manchukuo.
• 1936/1945 · Units 731 and Ei 1644 and the Japanese Army biological-warfare system — Unit 731 called detainees maruta (“logs”) and counted them as “one log, two logs.” It injected or applied plague, cholera and other pathogens, conducted blood-replacement, frostbite and decompression experiments, and vivisected infected victims while they were still alive. A 2002 Tokyo District Court judgment also found that Units 731 and Ei 1644 used biological weapons across China from 1940 to 1942.
• 1937-07/1938 · Escalation of the full-scale invasion of China and the Nanjing Massacre — The Imperial Japanese government and military leadership expanded the invasion of China; invading Japanese forces captured Shanghai, Nanjing and other areas and committed mass killing, rape, looting and destruction in Nanjing.
• 1938/1945 · Japan conscripts labour and soldiers and seizes resources in colonies and occupied territories — Japanese state, colonial, military and occupation authorities used laws, companies, police and local intermediaries to conscript labour and soldiers and seize food, raw materials and other resources.
• 1940/1941 · The Japanese government and military prepare simultaneous attacks across Southeast Asia and the Pacific — The Imperial Japanese government and military leadership moved into French Indochina, sought resources and strategic bases, and prepared simultaneous attacks on territories controlled by the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.
• 1941-12 · The Japanese military launches coordinated regional offensives — Japanese naval aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor while Imperial Japanese forces simultaneously attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam and other targets.
• 1942/1945 · Japanese forces occupy large parts of Southeast Asia — Japanese forces captured Singapore, the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies and Burma and established military occupation systems.
• 1942/1945 · Japanese forces raid Australia and impose occupation across the Pacific — Japanese naval aircraft bombed Darwin and other targets in northern Australia; Japanese forces occupied multiple Pacific islands and held Allied POWs.
• 1942/1945 · Allied counteroffensives, continued Japanese resistance and mass casualties — Allied forces counterattacked Japanese-occupied territories by sea, land and air; US forces advanced across the islands and bombed the Japanese home islands while Japanese forces continued fighting on multiple fronts.
• 1945-08 · The United States drops atomic bombs, the Soviet Union enters the war, and Japan decides to surrender — The US military dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August; the Soviet government declared war on Japan on 8 August and Soviet forces attacked Japanese-held Northeast China and other territories; Japan's supreme leadership then decided to accept surrender terms.