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125-740: Chuuk Lagoon was the Empire of Japan 's main naval base in the South Pacific theatre during World War II . It was the site of a major U.S. attack during Operation Hailstone in February 1944, and Operation Inmate , a small assault conducted by British and Canadian forces during June 1945. Chuuk means mountain in the Chuukese language . The lagoon was known mainly as Truk (a mispronunciation of Ruk ), until 1990. Other names included Hogoleu , Torres , Ugulat, and Lugulus . Chuuk Lagoon

250-599: A tributary state of China's Qing Empire , which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon kingdom. On February 27, 1876, after several confrontations between Korean isolationists and the Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 , forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. The act blocked any other power from dominating Korea, resolving to end

375-649: A Theory of Civilization", which detailed Western society and his own philosophies. In the Meiji Restoration period, military and economic power was emphasized. Military strength became the means for national development and stability. Imperial Japan became the only non-Western world power and a major force in East Asia in about 25 years as a result of industrialization and economic development. As writer Albrecht Fürst von Urach comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's Strength", published in 1942, during

500-613: A chapel of the Russian Consulate. St. Nicholas of Japan made his own translation of the New Testament and some other religious books ( Lenten Triodion , Pentecostarion , Feast Services , Book of Psalms , Irmologion ) into Japanese . Nicholas has since been canonized as a saint by the Patriarchate of Moscow in 1970, and is now recognized as St. Nicholas, Equal-to-the-Apostles to Japan. His commemoration day

625-545: A considerable natural anchorage and was ideal for the construction of airfields. Over the next year, the Japanese built up the area into a major air and naval base. The Allies responded with multiple bombing raids on Rabaul as well as action off Bougainville . The Japanese Eighth Area Army , under General Hitoshi Imamura at Rabaul, was responsible for both the New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns . The Japanese 18th Army , under Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi ,

750-639: A continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigō Takamori , leader of the Satsuma clan, threatened the assembly into abolishing the title shōgun and ordered the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands. On January 17, 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it". On January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces. This decision

875-455: A crucial strategic victory by turning the Japanese landing force back, thereby removing the threat to Port Moresby, at least for the time being. After this failure, the Japanese decided on a longer term, two-pronged assault for their next attempt on Port Moresby. Forward positions would first be established at Milne Bay , located in the forked eastern end of the Papuan peninsula, and at Buna ,

1000-474: A crushing defeat and heavy losses for the Empire of Japan. As in most Pacific War campaigns, disease and starvation claimed more Japanese lives than enemy action. Most Japanese troops never even came into contact with Allied forces and were instead simply cut off and subjected to an effective blockade by Allied naval forces. Garrisons were effectively besieged and denied shipments of food and medical supplies, and as

1125-658: A debate over defining the political system of Japan as a dictatorship . The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces initially achieved large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War . However, from 1942 onwards, and particularly after decisive Allied advances at Midway Atoll and Guadalcanal , Japan was forced to adopt a defensive stance against the United States . The American-led island-hopping campaign led to

1250-443: A defence in depth. Also, Yamamoto accepted at face value his fliers' over-optimistic reports of damage: they reported a score of one cruiser, two destroyers and 25 transports, as well as 175 Allied planes, a figure that should certainly have aroused some skepticism. Actual Allied losses amounted to one destroyer, one oiler, one corvette, two cargo ships and approximately 25 aircraft. These meager results were not commensurate with either

1375-612: A little more than halfway between Milne Bay and the Buna–Gona area. Wau is a village in the interior of the Papuan Peninsula , approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of Salamaua. An airfield had been built there during an area gold rush in the 1920s and 1930s. This airfield was of great value to the Australians during the fighting for northeast Papua. Once the Japanese had decided to give up on Guadalcanal ,

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1500-454: A prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable. On January 3, 1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the imperial palace in Kyoto , and the following day had the fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declare his own restoration to full power. Although the majority of the imperial consultative assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tended to support

1625-463: A result some claim that 97% of Japanese deaths in this campaign were from non-combat causes. According to John Laffin , the campaign "was arguably the most arduous fought by any Allied troops during World War II ." The struggle for New Guinea began with the capture by the Japanese of the city of Rabaul at the northeastern tip of New Britain in January 1942. Rabaul overlooks Simpson Harbour ,

1750-677: A seaplane base at Tulagi in the lower Solomons, one to establish a seaplane base in the Louisiade Archipelago off the eastern tip of New Guinea, one of transports to land troops near Port Moresby, one with a light carrier to cover the landing, and one with two fleet carriers to sink the Allied forces sent in response. In the resulting 4–8 May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea , the Allies suffered higher losses in ships but achieved

1875-709: A torpedo boat station, submarine repair shops, a communications center and a radar station were constructed during the war. Protecting these various facilities were coastal defense guns and mortar emplacements. A significant portion of the Japanese fleet was based at Truk, with its administrative center on Tonoas (south of Weno). At anchor in the lagoon were battleships , aircraft carriers , cruisers , destroyers , tankers , cargo ships , tugboats , gunboats , minesweepers , landing craft , and submarines . In particular, Yamato and Musashi were stationed at Truk for months around 1943, unable to participate in battle. The Japanese garrison consisted of 27,856 IJN men, under

2000-449: A variety of fields to come to Japan to educate the populace. For instance, the judicial system and constitution were modeled after Prussia , described by Saburō Ienaga as "an attempt to control popular thought with a blend of Confucianism and German conservatism ." The government also outlawed customs linked to Japan's feudal past, such as publicly displaying and wearing katana and the top knot , both of which were characteristic of

2125-424: A village on the northeast coast of Papua about halfway between Huon Gulf and Milne Bay. Simultaneous operations from these two locations, one amphibious and one overland, would converge on the target city. "[T]he Owen Stanley Range is a jagged, precipitous obstacle covered with tropical rainforest up to the pass at 6500-foot elevation, and with moss like a thick wet sponge up to the highest peaks, 13,000 feet above

2250-688: A week before the US raid, the Japanese had withdrawn their larger warships (heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers) to Palau . Once the American forces captured the Marshall Islands , they used them as a base from which to launch an early morning attack on 17 February 1944 against Truk Lagoon. Operation Hailstone lasted for three days, as American carrier-based planes sank 12 smaller Japanese warships (light cruisers, destroyers, and auxiliaries) and 32 merchant ships, while destroying 275 aircraft, mainly on

2375-547: Is February 16. Andronic Nikolsky , appointed the first Bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the archbishop of Perm during the Russian Revolution , was also canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a Saint and Martyr in the year 2000. Divie Bethune McCartee was the first ordained Presbyterian minister missionary to visit Japan, in 1861–1862. His gospel tract translated into Japanese

2500-526: Is currently better known as the Kaihōrei ( 解放令 Emancipation Edict ). However, the elimination of their economic monopolies over certain occupations actually led to a decline in their general living standards, while social discrimination simply continued. For example, the ban on the consumption of meat from livestock was lifted in 1871, and many former burakumin moved on to work in abattoirs and as butchers . However, slow-changing social attitudes, especially in

2625-515: Is frequently referred to as the "Empire of Japan", the "Japanese Empire", or "Imperial Japan" in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku ( 大日本帝國 ) , which translates to "Empire of Great Japan" ( Dai "Great", Nippon "Japanese", Teikoku "Empire"). Teikoku is itself composed of the nouns Tei "referring to an emperor" and -koku "nation, state", literally "Imperial State" or "Imperial Realm" (compare

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2750-477: Is part of the larger Caroline Islands group. The area consists of eleven major islands (corresponding to the eleven municipalities of Truk lagoon, which are Tol , Udot , Fala-Beguets, Romanum, and Eot of Faichuk group, and Weno , Fefen , Dublon , Uman , Param, and Tsis of Nomoneas group) and 46 smaller ones within the lagoon, plus 41 on the fringing coral reef, and is known today as the Chuuk islands, part of

2875-409: Is served by United Airlines . The government operates a radio station. Interisland communication is often accomplished using citizens' band radio . Telephone services are limited on Chuuk, though a cellular network is established within some islands of the lagoon and in the near future on the outer islands. High speed Internet access via ADSL has been made available on a monthly subscription basis on

3000-473: Is the wreck of the submarine I-169 Shinohara which was lost when diving to avoid the bombing. The submarine had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The coral encrusted wrecks attract a diverse array of marine life, including manta rays, turtles, sharks and corals. In 2007, 266 species of reef fish were recorded by an Earthwatch team, and in 2006 the rare coral Acropora pichoni

3125-637: The Axis powers period: The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan's rise has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of

3250-557: The Battle of Milne Bay became an infantry struggle in the sopping jungle carried on mostly at night under pouring rain. The Aussies were fighting mad, for they had found some of their captured fellows tied to trees and bayoneted to death, surmounted by the placard, 'It took them a long time to die'." – Samuel Eliot Morison, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier , p. 38 While it was beyond MacArthur's capabilities to deny Buna to

3375-470: The Bismarck Sea , they might make it to Lae with an acceptable level of loss, i.e., at worst half the task force would be sunk en route. It is indicative of the extent to which Japanese ambitions had fallen at this point in the war that a 50% loss of ground troops aboard ship was considered acceptable. Three factors conspired to create disaster for the Japanese. First, they had woefully underestimated

3500-728: The Emperor from the Shogun , Japan underwent a period of large-scale industrialization and militarization , often regarded as the fastest modernization of any country to date. All of these aspects contributed to Japan's emergence as a great power following the First Sino-Japanese War , the Boxer Rebellion , the Russo-Japanese War , and World War I . Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s, including

3625-544: The Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. This is a list of islands, villages and population following the 2010 census: It is not known when the islands of Chuuk were first settled, but archaeological evidence indicates that islands of Feefen and Wééné had human settlements in the first and second century BC. Later evidence indicates that widespread human settlements appeared in Chuuk during

3750-572: The German Kaiserreich ). The name "Empire of Japan" appeared for the first time in the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa between the United States and the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate . This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, and its surrounding areas. The nomenclature Empire of Japan had existed since the anti-Tokugawa domains, Satsuma and Chōshū , which founded their new government during

3875-703: The Great Depression , led to the rise of militarism , nationalism , statism and authoritarianism, and this ideological shift eventually culminated in Japan joining the Axis alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy , and also conquering a large part of the Asia-Pacific . During this period, the Japanese army committed many atrocities, including the Nanjing Massacre . However, there has been

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4000-644: The Meiji Restoration , with the intention of forming a modern state to resist Western domination. Later the Empire emerged as a great power in the world. Due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonyms "Empire of the Sun" and "Empire of the Rising Sun". After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or sakoku , under the shōguns of the Edo period came to an end when

4125-682: The Meiji period , affecting religious practices and institutions. Conversion from traditional faith was no longer legally forbidden, officials lifted the 250-year ban on Christianity, and missionaries of established Christian churches reentered Japan. The traditional syncreticism between Shinto and Buddhism ended. Losing the protection of the Japanese government which Buddhism had enjoyed for centuries, Buddhist monks faced radical difficulties in sustaining their institutions, but their activities also became less restrained by governmental policies and restrictions. As social conflicts emerged in this last decade of

4250-680: The Quebec Conference in August 1943, the leaders of the Allied nations agreed to this change in strategy focusing on neutralizing Rabaul rather than capturing it. Despite the disaster of the Bismarck Sea, the Japanese could not give up on recapturing Wau, and they kept significant resources in the territory of Papua, on north shore of the eastern end New Guinea. The Australians were there to restrict Japanese build up there, as any base construction or build up there would threaten

4375-804: The Shrine Consolidation Policy and the Meiji government built the new modern 15 shrines of the Kenmu restoration as a political move to link the Meiji restoration to the Kenmu restoration for their new State Shinto cult. Japanese had to look at old paintings in order to find out what the Horyuji temple used to look like when they rebuilt it. The rebuilding was originally planned for the Shōwa era. The Japanese used mostly concrete in 1934 to rebuild

4500-659: The Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on 21 July and overran western New Guinea (part of the Netherlands East Indies ) beginning on 29 March. During the second phase, lasting from late 1942 until the Japanese surrender, the Allies —consisting primarily of Australian forces—cleared the Japanese first from Papua, then New Guinea, and finally from the Dutch colony. The campaign resulted in

4625-529: The Togetsukyo Bridge , unlike the original destroyed wooden version of the bridge from 836. The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and outside of the government since the beginnings of the Meiji government . The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling democracy or republicanism with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The Freedom and People's Rights Movement demanded

4750-509: The bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the failed coup known as the Kinmon incident . The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu . In early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito (Meiji) . On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to

4875-532: The 14th century AD. The first recorded sighting by Europeans was made by Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on board the ship Florida during August or September 1528. They were later visited by Spaniard Alonso de Arellano on 15 January 1565 on board of galleon patache San Lucas . As part of the Caroline Islands , Truk was claimed by the Spanish Empire , which made an effort to control

5000-568: The British commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5. On 17 June 1900, naval Rikusentai from the Kasagi and Atago had joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize the Dagu forts near Tianjin. In light of the precarious situation, the British were compelled to ask Japan for additional reinforcements, as the Japanese had the only readily available forces in the region. Britain at

5125-742: The Chinese forces on the Liaodong Peninsula , and nearly destroyed the Chinese navy in the Battle of the Yalu River . The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed between Japan and China, which ceded the Liaodong Peninsula and the island of Taiwan to Japan. After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula in the Triple Intervention . Soon afterward, Russia occupied

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5250-510: The Composite Anti-Aircraft Defences played a crucial role in protecting Port Moresby, which suffered 78 air raids by 17 August 1942. A gradual improvement the numbers and skill of anti-aircraft gunners forced the Japanese bombers up to higher altitude, where they were less accurate, and then, in August, to raiding by night. Although RAAF PBY Catalinas and Lockheed Hudsons were based at Port Moresby, because of

5375-658: The Daimyo and Shoguns. It was only due to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan that cheap concrete replicas of those castles were built for tourists. The vast majority of castles in Japan today are new replicas made out of concrete. In 1959 a concrete keep was built for Nagoya castle. During the Meiji restoration's Shinbutsu bunri , tens of thousands of Japanese Buddhist religious idols and temples were smashed and destroyed. Many statues still lie in ruins. Replica temples were rebuilt with concrete. Japan then closed and shut done tens of thousands of traditional old Shinto shrines in

5500-478: The Edo period, some new religious movements appeared, which were directly influenced by shamanism and Shinto . Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity. Under Hideyoshi and the succeeding Tokugawa shogunate, Catholic Christianity

5625-557: The Emperor and his Imperial House, and also against some major Shinto shrines which were believed to be tied strongly to the Emperor. The government strengthened its control over religious institutions that were considered to undermine State Shinto or nationalism. The majority of Japanese castles were smashed and destroyed in the late 19th century in the Meiji restoration by the Japanese people and government in order to modernize and westernize Japan and break from their past feudal era of

5750-631: The Heavens and with the Earth, We shall maintain and secure from decline the ancient form of government. ... In consideration of the progressive tendency of the course of human affairs and in parallel with the advance of civilization, We deem it expedient, in order to give clearness and distinctness to the instructions bequeathed by the Imperial Founder of Our House and by Our other Imperial Ancestors, to establish fundamental laws. ... Imperial Japan

5875-533: The Island of Weno from May 2010. Tourism, especially scuba diving among the many wrecks of Truk Lagoon, is the island's main industry. Copra (dried coconut meat) is the only cash crop , and output is relatively insignificant. Most of the inhabitants of outlying islands engage in subsistence activity only. In 1969, William A. Brown and French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and his team explored Truk Lagoon. Following Cousteau's 1971 television documentary about

6000-580: The Japanese air attacks, long-range bombers like B-17s , B-25s , and B-26s could not be safely based there and were instead staged through from bases in Australia. This resulted in considerable fatigue for the air crews. Due to USAAF doctrine and a lack of long-range escorts, long-range bomber raids on targets like Rabaul went in unescorted and suffered heavy losses, prompting severe criticism of Lieutenant General George Brett by war correspondents for misusing his forces. But fighters did provide cover for

6125-411: The Japanese completed their evacuation of Guadalcanal . General Imamura and his naval counterpart at Rabaul, Admiral Jinichi Kusaka , commander Southeast Area Fleet , resolved to reinforce their ground forces at Lae for one final all-out attempt against Wau. If the transports succeeded in staying behind a weather front and were protected the whole way by fighters from the various airfields surrounding

6250-413: The Japanese government one million British pounds in exchange for Japanese participation. New Guinea campaign [REDACTED]   Australia 42,000 total 202,100 total dead Second Sino-Japanese War The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded

6375-476: The Japanese had reached the village of Ioribaiwa, just 30 kilometres (20 mi) from the Allied airdrome at Port Moresby. The Australians held firm and began their counterdrive on 26 September. According to historian Samuel Eliot Morison , "...the Japanese retreat down the Kokoda Track had turned into a rout. Thousands perished from starvation and disease; the commanding general, Horii , was drowned." Thus

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6500-553: The Japanese position. Beleaguered, the survivors of the Japanese garrison were evacuated by submarine on the night of 26 October. The Allies proceeded to turn the island into an air base. "In the swamp country which surrounded the area were large crocodiles ... Incidence of malaria was almost one hundred per cent. At Sanananda the swamp and jungle were typhus-ridden ... crawling roots reached out into stagnant pools infested with mosquitoes and numerous crawling insects ... every foxhole filled with water. Thompson sub machine-guns jammed with

6625-403: The Japanese). The Japanese occupied the village with an initial force of 1,500 on 21 July 1942 and by 22 August had 11,430 men under arms at Buna. The Japanese objective was to seize Port Moresby by an overland advance from the north coast, following the Kokoda Track over the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range, as part of a strategy to isolate Australia from the United States. By 17 September

6750-428: The Japanese, the same could not be said of Milne Bay, which was easily accessible by Allied naval forces. In early June, US Army engineers, Australian infantry and an anti-aircraft battery were landed at Gili Gili , and work was begun on an airfield. By 22 August, about 8,500 Australians and 1,300 Americans were on site. The Japanese arrived and the 25 August – 7 September Battle of Milne Bay was underway. Morison sums up

6875-472: The Korean government. When Korea demanded that Japan withdraw its troops from Korea, the Japanese refused. In early June 1894, the 8,000 Japanese troops captured the Korean king Gojong, occupied the Royal Palace in Seoul and, by June 25, installed a puppet government in Seoul. The new pro-Japanese Korean government granted Japan the right to expel Qing forces while Japan dispatched more troops to Korea. China objected and war ensued. Japanese ground troops routed

7000-447: The Lae-Salamaua area. Opposing these forces were the Australian 2/5th , 2/6th and 2/7th Battalions along with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Fleay's Kanga Force . The Australians decisively turned back the Japanese assault in the ensuing 29–31 January 1943 Battle of Wau . "Within a few days, the enemy was retreating from the Wau Valley, where he had suffered a serious defeat, harassed all the way back to Mubo ..." About one week later,

7125-436: The Liaodong Peninsula, built the Port Arthur fortress, and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port. Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay , built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia Squadron in this port. In 1900, Japan joined an international military coalition set up in response to the Boxer Rebellion in the Qing Empire of China. Japan provided the largest contingent of troops: 20,840, as well as 18 warships. Of

7250-421: The Meiji Restoration, the practices of the samurai classes, deemed feudal and unsuitable for modern times following the end of sakoku in 1853, resulted in a number of edicts intended to 'modernise' the appearance of upper class Japanese men. With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued by Emperor Meiji during the early Meiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short, effectively abandoning

7375-444: The P-39s and P-40s—giving the Japanese an altitude advantage in air combat. The cost to the Allied fighters was high. Before June, between 20 and 25 P-39s had been lost in air combat, while three more had been destroyed on the ground, and eight had been destroyed in landings by accident. The following month at least 20 fighters were lost in combat, while eight were destroyed in July. The Australian and American anti-aircraft gunners of

7500-448: The Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the course of this operation, the Japanese Navy seized the German possessions in the Marianas , Carolines, Marshall Islands and Palau groups by October 1914. Chuuk then became a possession of the Empire of Japan under the South Seas Mandate following Germany 's defeat. Naval Base Truk in the Truk Lagoon was the Empire of Japan 's main base in the South Pacific theatre of World War II. There

7625-434: The Tokugawa army. A series of battles were then fought in pursuit of supporters of the Shogunate; Edo surrendered to the Imperial forces and afterward, Yoshinobu personally surrendered. Yoshinobu was stripped of all his power by Emperor Meiji and most of Japan accepted the emperor's rule. Pro-Tokugawa remnants retreated to northern Honshū ( Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei ) and later to Ezo (present-day Hokkaidō ), where they established

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7750-409: The Western Allies and the Soviet Union , with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria . The Pacific War officially came to an end on 2 September 1945, leading to the beginning of the Allied occupation of Japan , during which United States military leader Douglas MacArthur administered the country. In 1947, through Allied efforts, a new Japan's constitution

7875-439: The breakaway Republic of Ezo . An expeditionary force was dispatched by the new government and the Ezo Republic forces were overwhelmed. The siege of Hakodate came to an end in May 1869 and the remaining forces surrendered. The Charter Oath was made public at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting

8000-406: The cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the British in return for the risks and costs of the major deployment of Japanese troops. On July 6, 1900, the 5th Infantry Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but no timetable was set for this. Two days later, with more ground troops urgently needed to lift the siege of the foreign legations at Peking, the British ambassador offered

8125-401: The capture of Port Moresby loomed even larger in their strategic thinking. Taking the airfield at Wau was a crucial step in this process, and to this end, the 51st Division was transferred from Indochina and placed under Imamura's Eighth Area Army at Rabaul; one regiment arrived at Lae in early January 1943. In addition, about 5,400 survivors of the Japanese defeat at Buna-Gona were moved into

8250-494: The centuries-old Chinese suzerainty . On June 4, 1894, Korea requested aid from the Qing Empire in suppressing the Donghak Rebellion . The Qing government sent 2,800 troops to Korea. The Japanese countered by sending an 8,000-troop expeditionary force (the Oshima Composite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on June 9 en route to Seoul , and 3,000 landed at Incheon on June 12. The Qing government turned down Japan's suggestion for Japan and China to cooperate to reform

8375-438: The chonmage ( chonmage ) hairstyle. During the early 20th century, the government was suspicious towards a number of unauthorized religious movements and periodically made attempts to suppress them. Government suppression was especially severe from the 1930s until the early 1940s, when the growth of Japanese nationalism and State Shinto were closely linked. Under the Meiji regime lèse majesté prohibited insults against

8500-408: The command of Vice Admiral Masami Kobayashi, then Vice Admiral Chuichi Hara , and 16,737 Imperial Japanese Army men, under the command of Major General Kanenobu Ishuin. At one point, dropping a nuclear weapon on Truk was discussed by the United States government. In 1944, Truk's capacity as a naval base was destroyed through naval air attack in Operation Hailstone . Forewarned by intelligence

8625-446: The command of Captain Shimamura Hayao . The Japanese were able to contribute 52 men to the Seymour Expedition . On 12 June 1900, the advance of the Seymour Expedition was halted some 50 kilometres (30 mi) from the capital, by mixed Boxer and Chinese regular army forces. The vastly outnumbered allies withdrew to the vicinity of Tianjin , having suffered more than 300 casualties. The army general staff in Tokyo had become aware of

8750-458: The command of Major General George Alan Vasey , along with the revitalized US 32nd Division, restarted the Allied offensive. Gona fell to the Australians on 9 December 1942, Buna to the US 32nd on 2 January 1943, and Sanananda , located between the two larger villages, fell to the Australians on 22 January. Operation Lilliput (18 December 1942 – June 1943) was an ongoing resupply operation ferrying troops and supplies from Milne Bay to Oro Bay ,

8875-401: The country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa which came when Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan in 1854. Thus, the period known as Bakumatsu began. The following years saw increased foreign trade and interaction; commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the humiliating terms of these unequal treaties ,

9000-573: The countryside, meant that abattoirs and workers were met with hostility from local residents. Continued ostracism as well as the decline in living standards led to former burakumin communities turning into slum areas. In the Blood tax riots , the Japanese Meiji government brutally put down revolts by Japanese samurai angry over the legal revocation of the traditional untouchable status of burakumin. The social tension continued to grow during

9125-602: The decentralized American system with no central bank. In 1871, the New Currency Act of Meiji 4 (1871) abolished the local currencies and established the yen as the new decimal currency. It had parity with the Mexican silver dollar. The First Sino-Japanese War , fought in 1894 and 1895, revolved around the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the Joseon dynasty . Korea had traditionally been

9250-456: The defenders, could not succeed. The D'Entrecasteaux Islands lie directly off the northeast coast of the lower portion of the Papuan peninsula. The westernmost island of this group, Goodenough , had been occupied in August 1942 by 353 stranded troops from bombed Japanese landing craft. The destroyer Yayoi , sent to recover these men, was bombed and sunk on 11 September. A force of 800 Australian troops landed on 22 October on either side of

9375-751: The emperor that he would pay back the Allies for the disaster at the Bismarck Sea with a series of massive airstrikes . For this, he ordered the air arm of Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa 's Third Fleet carriers to reinforce the Eleventh Air Fleet at Rabaul. To demonstrate the seriousness of the effort to the Supreme War Council, multiple shifts of high-ranking personnel were also effected: both Yamamoto and Ozawa moved their headquarters to Rabaul; and Eighth Fleet commander Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa as well as General Imamura's chief of staff were sent to Tokyo with advice and explanations for

9500-437: The emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders, leading to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, while Yoshinobu's resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. Moreover, the shogunal government, the Tokugawa family in particular, remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained many executive powers,

9625-419: The eventual loss of many of Japan's Oceanian island possessions in the following three years. Eventually, the American military captured Iwo Jima and Okinawa Island , leaving the Japanese mainland unprotected and without a significant naval defense force. By August 1945, plans had been made for an Allied invasion of mainland Japan , but were shelved after Japan surrendered in the face of a major breakthrough by

9750-463: The few great powers that determine the fate of the world. In the 1860s, Japan began to experience great social turmoil and rapid modernization. The feudal caste system in Japan formally ended in 1869 with the Meiji restoration . In 1871, the newly formed Meiji government issued a decree called Senmin Haishirei ( 賤民廃止令 Edict Abolishing Ignoble Classes ) giving burakumin equal legal status. It

9875-581: The gritty mud and were unreliable in the humid atmosphere ... " – John Vader, New Guinea: The Tide Is Stemmed , pp. 102–103 The Japanese drive to conquer all of New Guinea had been decisively stopped. MacArthur was determined to liberate the island as a stepping-stone to the reconquest of the Philippines. MacArthur's rollback began on 16 November. The inexperience of the US 32nd Infantry Division , just out of training camp and unschooled in jungle warfare ,

10000-423: The ground. The consequences of the attack made "Truk lagoon the biggest graveyard of ships in the world". The attacks for the most part ended Truk as a major threat to Allied operations in the central Pacific. The Japanese garrison on Eniwetok was denied any realistic hope of reinforcement and support during the invasion that began on 18 February, greatly assisting U.S. forces in their conquest of that island. Truk

10125-488: The immediate establishment of an elected national assembly , and the promulgation of a constitution. The constitution recognized the need for change and modernization after the removal of the shogunate : We, the Successor to the prosperous Throne of Our Predecessors, do humbly and solemnly swear to the Imperial Founder of Our House and to Our other Imperial Ancestors that, in pursuance of a great policy co-extensive with

10250-436: The islands in the late 19th century. Chuuk Lagoon was inhabited by several tribes that engaged in intermittent warfare, as well as a small population of foreign traders and missionaries. Spanish control over the islands was nominal. The Spaniards stopped to raise a flag over Chuuk in 1886 and returned in 1895 as part of an attempt to assert control and negotiate peace between warring Chuukese tribes. No permanent Spanish settlement

10375-572: The lagoon and its ghostly remains, the atoll became a scuba diving lure, drawing wreck diving enthusiasts from around the world to see its numerous, virtually intact sunken ships. The shipwrecks and remains are sometimes referred to as the "Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon". Scattered mainly around the Dublon (Tonowas), Eten , Fefan and Uman islands within the Truk group, several shipwrecks lie in crystal clear waters less than fifteen metres (50 ft) below

10500-429: The largest raid of all, 188 aircraft struck Milne Bay on 14 April. I-Go demonstrated that the Japanese command was not learning the lessons of air power that the Allies were. The Allied reduction of Rabaul was only made possible by relentless air strikes that took place day after day, but Yamamoto thought the damage inflicted by a few attacks of large formations would derail Allied plans long enough for Japan to prepare

10625-589: The legal stage for Japan's modernization. The Meiji leaders also aimed to boost morale and win financial support for the new government . Japan dispatched the Iwakura Mission in 1871. The mission traveled the world in order to renegotiate the unequal treaties with the United States and European countries that Japan had been forced into during the Tokugawa shogunate, and to gather information on western social and economic systems, in order to effect

10750-565: The modernization of Japan. Renegotiation of the unequal treaties was universally unsuccessful, but close observation of the American and European systems inspired members on their return to bring about modernization initiatives in Japan. Japan made a territorial delimitation treaty with Russia in 1875, gaining all the Kuril islands in exchange for Sakhalin island . The Japanese government sent observers to Western countries to observe and learn their practices, and also paid " foreign advisors " in

10875-610: The murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson , by a party of samurai from Satsuma . The British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima . They responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. The Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity for Richardson's death. Shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to

11000-404: The newly devised practice of skip bombing . About 6,900 troops aboard eight transports, escorted by eight destroyers, departed Rabaul at midnight 28 February under the command of Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura . Through the afternoon of 1 March, the overcast weather held at which point everything began to go wrong for the Japanese. The weather changed direction and Kimura's slow-moving task force

11125-725: The northeast coast of Papua, are the Huon Gulf and the Huon Peninsula . The Japanese entered Lae and Salamaua , two towns on Huon Gulf, on 8 March 1942, unopposed. MacArthur would have liked to deny this area to the Japanese, but he had neither sufficient air nor naval forces to undertake a counterlanding. The Japanese at Rabaul and other bases on New Britain would have easily overwhelmed any such effort (by mid-September, MacArthur's entire naval force under Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender consisted of 5 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 20 submarines, and 7 small craft). The only Allied response

11250-496: The resources expended or the expectations that had been promoted. In order to reduce and capture the vast Japanese naval and air facilities at Rabaul, two major moves were planned for the end of June: Eventually, the Joint Chiefs of Staff realized that a landing and siege of "Fortress Rabaul" would be far too costly and that the Allies' ultimate strategic purposes could be achieved by simply neutralizing and bypassing it. At

11375-543: The respective General Staffs (Vice Admiral Tomoshige Samejima replaced Mikawa as Eighth Fleet commander). Operation I-Go was to be carried out in two phases, one against the lower Solomons and one against Papua. The first strike, on 7 April, was against Allied shipping in the waters between Guadalcanal and Tulagi . At 177 planes, this was the largest Japanese air attack since Pearl Harbor . Yamamoto then turned his attention to New Guinea: 94 planes struck Oro Bay on 11 April; 174 planes hit Port Moresby on 12 April; and in

11500-543: The rest of the Axis powers , the formalized Japanese Instrument of Surrender was issued on 2 September 1945 in compliance with the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies , and the empire's territory subsequently shrunk to cover only the Japanese archipelago resembling modern Japan. Under the slogans of fukoku kyōhei and shokusan kōgyō , which followed the Boshin War and the restoration of power to

11625-544: The results this way: ...the enemy had shot his bolt; he never showed up again in these waters. The Battle for Milne Bay was a small one as World War II engagements went, but very important. Except for the initial assault on Wake Island, this was the first time that a Japanese amphibious operation had been thrown for a loss ... Furthermore, the Milne Bay affair demonstrated once again that an amphibious assault without air protection, and with an assault force inferior to that of

11750-408: The roads and transportation systems are poor or in disrepair; an extensive infrastructural redevelopment plan began, consisting of a five-phase project to completely reconstruct the existing sewer, water and storm drainage systems as well as pour concrete roadways in the majority of the villages of Weno. Chuuk International Airport ( IATA airport code TKK) is on the administrative island of Moen. It

11875-479: The samurai class, which was abolished together with the caste system. This would later bring the Meiji government into conflict with the samurai . Several writers, under the constant threat of assassination from their political foes, were influential in winning Japanese support for westernization . One such writer was Fukuzawa Yukichi , whose works included "Conditions in the West", " Leaving Asia ", and "An Outline of

12000-402: The sea. The Kokoda Trail [was] suitable for splay-toed Papuan aborigines but a torture to modern soldiers carrying heavy equipment..." – Samuel Eliot Morison, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier , p. 34 Buna was easily taken as the Allies had no military presence there (MacArthur wisely chose not to attempt an occupation by paratroopers since any such force would have been easily wiped out by

12125-684: The ships may have had relatively small amounts of fuel in their bunkers. Environmental protection organizations are surveying the wrecks while also consulting with Japanese researchers to try to determine how much oil is likely to be in the hulls, particularly in three sunken oil tankers. The ships are classified as a Japanese war grave , requiring Japanese government involvement in the eventual clean-up. Cave dive sites: Empire of Japan Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) The Empire of Japan , also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan ,

12250-450: The shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement, the sonnō jōi (literally "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians"). In March 1863, the Emperor issued the " order to expel barbarians ." Although the shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to

12375-578: The strength of the Allied air forces. Second, the Allies had become convinced that the Japanese were preparing a major seaborne reinforcement and so had stepped up their air searches. Most important of all, the bombers of MacArthur's air forces, under the command of Lieutenant General George C. Kenney , had been modified to enable new offensive tactics. The noses of several Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombers had been refitted with eight 50-caliber machine guns for strafing slow-moving ships. In addition, their bomb bays were filled with 500-pound bombs to be used in

12500-445: The surface. In waters devoid of normal ocean currents, divers can easily swim across decks littered with gas masks and depth charges , and below decks can be found evidence of human remains. In the massive ships' holds are the remnants of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, plus thousands of other weapons, spare parts, and other artifacts. Of special interest

12625-623: The time was heavily engaged in the Boer War , so a large part of the British army was tied down in South Africa. Further, deploying large numbers of troops from its garrisons in India would take too much time and weaken internal security there. Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister Aoki Shūzō calculated that the advantages of participating in an allied coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata agreed, but others in

12750-652: The total, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the 5th Infantry Division under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder were 540 naval rikusentai (marines) from the Imperial Japanese Navy . At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion the Japanese only had 215 troops in northern China stationed at Tientsin; nearly all of them were naval rikusentai from the Kasagi and the Atago , under

12875-596: The transports and for bombers when their targets were within range. Aircraft based at Port Moresby and Milne Bay fought to prevent the Japanese from basing aircraft at Buna, and attempted to prevent the Japanese reinforcement of the Buna area. As the Japanese ground forces pressed toward Port Moresby, the Allied Air Forces struck supply points along the Kokoda Track. Japanese makeshift bridges were attacked by P-40s with 500 lb (230 kg) bombs. "Thenceforth,

13000-531: The two-hundred-year-old Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Yoshinobu launched a military campaign to seize the emperor's court in Kyoto. However, the tide rapidly turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction and resulted in defections of many daimyōs to the Imperial side. The Battle of Toba–Fushimi was a decisive victory in which a combined army from Chōshū, Tosa, and Satsuma domains defeated

13125-601: The worsening conditions in China and had drafted ambitious contingency plans, but in the wake of the Triple Intervention five years before, the government refused to deploy large numbers of troops unless requested by the western powers. However three days later, a provisional force of 1,300 troops commanded by Major General Fukushima Yasumasa was to be deployed to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because he spoke fluent English which enabled him to communicate with

13250-468: Was a bombing raid of Lae and Salamaua by aircraft flying over the Owen Stanley Range from the carriers USS  Lexington and USS  Yorktown , leading the Japanese to reinforce these sites. Operation Mo was the designation given by the Japanese to their initial plan to take possession of Port Moresby. Their operation plan decreed a five-pronged attack: one task force to establish

13375-665: Was a myth that Truk was heavily fortified, and it was given nicknames like "the Gibraltar of the Pacific," or Japan's equivalent of the Americans' Pearl Harbor . In fact: [T]he reality was somewhat different. (...) The lack of fortifications was less due to Japan's regard for international law than to Japan's economic limitations. It could not afford both a large navy and extensive naval fortifications. It opted to build up its naval forces, neglecting fixed defenses. Nevertheless, Truk

13500-456: Was among the first Protestant literature in Japan. In 1865, McCartee moved back to Ningbo , China, but others have followed in his footsteps. There was a burst of growth of Christianity in the late 19th century when Japan re-opened its doors to the West. Protestant church growth slowed dramatically in the early 20th century under the influence of the military government during the Shōwa period . Under

13625-424: Was characterized by rapid industrialization , the development of a capitalist economy , and the transformation of many feudal workers to wage labour . The use of strike action also increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, the foundations of the modern Japanese trade-union movement were formed. Samurai were allowed to work in any occupation they wanted. Admission to universities

13750-422: Was determined based on examination results. The government also recruited more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan ( O-yatoi gaikokujin ). Despite this, social mobility was still low due to samurai and their descendants being overrepresented in the new elite class. After sending observers to the United States, the Empire of Japan initially copied

13875-494: Was determined to hold it. MacArthur was further determined to conquer all of New Guinea in his progress toward the eventual recapture of the Philippines. General Headquarters South West Pacific Area Operational Instruction No.7 of 25 May 1942, issued by MacArthur, placed all Australian and US Army, Air Force and Navy Forces in the Port Moresby Area under the control of New Guinea Force . Due north of Port Moresby, on

14000-705: Was enacted, officially ending the Japanese Empire and forming modern Japan . During this time, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces were dissolved. It was later replaced by the current Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1954. Reconstruction under the Allied occupation continued until 1952, consolidating the modern Japanese constitutional monarchy . In total, the Empire of Japan had three emperors: Meiji , Taishō , and Shōwa . The Imperial era came to an end partway through Shōwa's reign , and he remained emperor until 1989. The historical state

14125-794: Was established, and tribal violence continued until the German colonial era. The Caroline Islands were sold to the German Empire in 1899, after Spain withdrew from the Pacific in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War . During the First World War , the Japanese Navy was tasked with pursuing and destroying the German East Asia Squadron and protection of the shipping lanes for Allied commerce in

14250-701: Was founded, de jure , after the 1889 signing of Constitution of the Empire of Japan. The constitution formalized much of the Empire's political structure and gave many responsibilities and powers to the Emperor. In 1890, the Imperial Diet was established in response to the Meiji Constitution. The Diet consisted of the House of Representatives of Japan and the House of Peers . Both houses opened seats for colonial people as well as Japanese. The Imperial Diet continued until 1947. Economic development

14375-615: Was identified. On 12 April 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Foreign Correspondent screened a report on Chuuk Lagoon likening the effect of the impending massive release of tens of thousands of tonnes of oil from the rusting Japanese warships into the coral reef to that of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. However, given the poor state of the Japanese war effort in 1944, many of

14500-509: Was isolated by Allied forces, as they continued their advance towards Japan by invading other Pacific islands, such as Guam , Saipan , Palau , and Iwo Jima . Truk was attacked again from 12 to 16 June 1945 by part of the British Pacific Fleet during Operation Inmate . Cut off, the Japanese forces on Truk and other central Pacific islands ran low on food and faced starvation before Japan surrendered in August 1945. Most of

14625-555: Was nearly disastrous. Instances were noted of officers completely out of their depth, of men eating meals when they should have been on the firing line, even of cowardice. MacArthur relieved the division commander and on 30 November instructed Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger , commander of the US I Corps , to go to the front personally with the charge "to remove all officers who won't fight ... if necessary, put sergeants in charge of battalions ... I want you to take Buna, or not come back alive." The Australian 7th Division under

14750-517: Was prompted by his learning of a series of arson attacks in Edo, starting with the burning of the outworks of Edo Castle , the main Tokugawa residence. The Boshin War ( 戊辰戦争 , Boshin Sensō ) was fought between January 1868 and May 1869. The alliance of samurai from southern and western domains and court officials had now secured the cooperation of the young Emperor Meiji, who ordered the dissolution of

14875-415: Was repressed and adherents were persecuted. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians ( 隠れキリシタン , kakure kirishitan ) , while others lost their lives. After Japan was opened to foreign powers in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, though proselytism

15000-448: Was responsible for Japanese operations on mainland New Guinea. The colonial capital of Port Moresby on the south coast of Papua was the strategic key for the Japanese in this area of operations. Capturing it would both neutralize the Allies' principal forward base and serve as a springboard for a possible invasion of Australia . For the same reasons, General Douglas MacArthur , Supreme Commander Allied Forces South West Pacific Area ,

15125-512: Was spotted by an Allied scout plane. By the time the Allied bombers and PT boats finished their work on 3 March, Kimura had lost all eight transports and four of his eight destroyers. The remaining destroyers with about 2,700 surviving troops limped back to Rabaul. According to Morison, the Japanese "...never again risked a transport larger than a small coaster or barge in waters shadowed by American planes. His contemplated offensive against Wau died a-borning." Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto promised

15250-501: Was still banned. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan. Freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, giving all Christian communities the right to legal existence and preaching. Eastern Orthodoxy was brought to Japan in the 19th century by St. Nicholas (baptized as Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin), who was sent in 1861 by the Russian Orthodox Church to Hakodate , Hokkaidō as priest to

15375-702: Was the Japanese nation-state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 until the Constitution of Japan took effect on 3 May 1947. From 1910 to 1945 , it included the Japanese archipelago , the Kurils , Karafuto , Korea , and Taiwan . Concessions such as the Kwantung Leased Territory were de jure not parts of the empire but dependent territories. In the closing stages of World War II , with Japan defeated alongside

15500-673: Was the main base for Japanese operations against Allied forces in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands , serving as the forward anchorage for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and Truk Lagoon was considered the most formidable of all Japanese strongholds in the Pacific. On the various islands, the Japanese Civil Engineering Department and Naval Construction Department had built roads, trenches, bunkers and caves. Five airstrips, seaplane bases,

15625-709: Was the overland threat to Port Moresby permanently removed. Since Port Moresby was the only port supporting operations in Papua, its defence was critical to the campaign. The air defences consisted of P-39 and P-40 fighters. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) radar could not provide sufficient warning of Japanese attacks, so reliance was placed on coastwatchers and spotters in the hills until an American radar unit arrived in September with better equipment. Japanese bombers were often escorted by fighters which came in at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)—too high to be intercepted by

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