The Pacific War was a theatre of World War II including East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, separate from World War II in Europe.
Western accounts generally consider the war to have started with the Pearl Harbor attack of December 1941. Chinese accounts date it from Japan's invasion of central China in July 1937, or even their expansion into Manchuria in 1931. The war ended with Japanese surrender in August, 1945; an important factor was that the first, and so far the only, atomic bombs used in warfare had just been detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Understand
- See also: Japanese colonial empire
Japan began to expand in the late 19th century, annexing Okinawa in 1879, then defeating China in the 1894-95 First Sino-Japanese War, annexing Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, and forcing China to give up its influence over its vassal state Korea. In the same period, the US became more active in the Pacific, taking over the Philippines in 1898 after a war with Spain, and annexing Hawaii and Guam. Various European powers also expanded their holdings or influence in the region.
Japan won a war against the Russian Empire in 1905, the first time in centuries that a non-European power defeated a European one. Once the Russians were out of their way, they annexed Korea outright in 1910. Japan was part of the Allies during World War I, and would thus gain more territory from the defeated Central Powers following the end of that war in 1918, including the former German concessions in Shandong, China. Such attempts by Japan would later result in the May Fourth Movement, which is further described in our article on early 20th century Chinese history.
There was a faction fight among the Japanese high command in the late 30s; they all agreed that expanding the empire was a fine idea, but how? Should they "Strike North", expand into Mongolia and Siberia and fight only the Russians, or "Strike South" which would mean fighting the US, the British Empire, and other colonial powers — the French, Dutch and Portuguese? The Imperial Way Faction (皇道派), which supported an invasion of Soviet Union, even tried a coup (the February 26 Incident) in 1936, but that failed. Striking north was tried, but in 1939 the Soviets gave Japanese forces a thorough thrashing at the Battle of Kalkhin Gol in Mongolia. After that, Japan concentrated on striking south.
China
| “ | 最後關頭一到，我們只有犧牲到底，抗戰到底，祗有“犧牲到底”的決心，才能博得最後的勝利。若是彷徨不定，妄自苟安，便會陷民族於萬劫不復之地。 In the last juncture, we can only sacrifice everything and resist to the end. Only with the determination to sacrifice everything can we fight for ultimate victory. If (the war) is treated with hesitation and uncertainty or selfish momentary ease, this will lead our nation to an catastrophic irreversible situation. | ” |
—Chiang Kai-shek, Speech at Lushan, just after the Marco Polo Bridge incident | ||
Japan acquired considerable influence in Manchuria when they defeated the Russians; in particular they took over administration of the profitable Russian-built railway. Then in 1931 they staged the Mukden Incident; Japanese troops bombed part of the railway, the attack was blamed on Chinese forces, and that gave Japan a pretext to occupy Manchuria, setting up a puppet state called Manchukuo.
Japan invaded central China in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, where nearby Japanese troops attacked after a request to search for an alleged missing Japanese soldier was refused by Chinese forces. Japanese forces soon managed to occupy much of eastern China, including the then-capital Nanjing.
This invasion turned out to be a disaster for both sides. The Chinese were fighting an invader with far better armament and training, making do with whatever weapons their allies could send (many of them World War I surplus), enduring some spectacularly vicious oppression, and taking enormous numbers of casualties — over ten million military and civilian deaths, far more than any other nation except the Soviet Union. Moreover, they were disunited; some factions of the Nationalists (Kuomintang) were sometimes more interested in fighting the Communists than in battling Japan; ex-warlord units were less trusted and received less equipment by Chiang Kai-shek's faction, despite their gallantry at war.
Despite all that, the Chinese Army (run by the Nationalists with American advisors) managed to give the Japanese a remarkably hard time. Japanese planners thought they could take all of China in three months, leave a small force to hold it, and move most of their armies elsewhere. Actually, it took them three months just to take Shanghai and in eight years of fighting, 1937-1945, they never managed to take more than about half of China. The Chinese Army fought on through the entire war, often retreating but always at a cost to the enemy. Chinese guerrillas and saboteurs — Nationalist, Communist and independent — harassed the Japanese everywhere. Roughly half of the total Japanese ground forces were tied down in China throughout the war, including troops they had planned to use elsewhere. All the Allied land victories in the Pacific War were partly due to Chinese tenacity.
American, British and Dutch sanctions were imposed on Japan after the invasion of China; those, in particular restrictions on oil imports, were the main reason Japan gave for going to war with those nations. The Western powers also sent supplies to China via the Burma Road. The Soviet Union and America also sent volunteer air force units to support China, with the American one based in Yunnan being known as the renowned "Flying Tigers".
Japan joins the world war
| “ | Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. | ” |
—US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941 | ||
Meanwhile, World War II in Europe began with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, and became more complex when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941.
The conflict became global in December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, other US bases in the Pacific, the Philippines, and British possessions such as Hong Kong, Burma and Malaya. The United States and the entire British Empire immediately declared war on Japan, and Germany declared war on the US. The Soviet Union did not declare war on Japan until after the end of the war in Europe, though it managed to reclaim the territories that the Russian Empire had lost to Japan in the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War.
Japanese conquests
After that, Japan proceeded to invade and occupy much of Southeast Asia and parts of Oceania; they even managed to bomb the city of Darwin in Australia. By the middle of 1943, virtually all of Southeast Asia had been conquered by Japan, with the colonial powers of the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States all having suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of the Japanese.
The Japanese took effective control of some areas without fighting. The Vichy government in France, essentially a German puppet regime, ordered French administrators in French Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) to co-operate with Japan, and most did. Thailand, the only country in Southeast Asia not colonized by Western powers, remained nominally independent but was forced to dance to the Japanese tune. Japan was able to establish military bases in these countries and to freely move troops and supplies through them.
Japanese propaganda claimed they were driving out Western imperialists, leading an "Asia for Asians" movement, and this got them some support; countries such as India had both pro-Japanese and pro-Allied movements. Subhas Chandra Bose, the leader of the pro-Japanese Indian National Army (INA), is still widely regarded as a national hero in India. In many areas, this was also divided along ethnic lines; in Malaya, at least initially, the Japanese were welcomed by many ethnic Malays and Indians, but opposed by most ethnic Chinese. In China both the Kuomintang and the Communists opposed Japan, but they were sometimes more interested in fighting each other. Everywhere, the local political movements were jockeying for control and trying to use the war to gain independence and/or domestic political influence for the time after the war.
Japanese rule in the occupied territories was brutal, and by the end of the war, the Japanese had lost the support of much of the local population who initially supported them (e.g. Burmese independence hero Aung San). In the occupied areas, Japanese troops engaged in mass rapes, massacres and pillaging, with the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38 being the most notorious. Many women from China, Korea and other occupied areas were forced to serve as "comfort women", sex slaves in Japanese military brothels. The Japanese also performed inhumane experiments on captive locals from the occupied territories, the most famous being Unit 731 in Manchuria (listed below), though other similar units existed throughout the occupied territories. They also treated prisoners of war very badly; perhaps the most famous incidents were the "Bataan death march" and the Bridge on the River Kwai, but there were many others.
As retribution for their role in resisting Japanese rule in China, the ethnic Chinese — both in China and in Southeast Asia — were singled out for the harshest treatment; in all the occupied territories, they were rounded up for "screening" by the Japanese, and the unfortunate ones who were identified (often arbitrarily) as anti-Japanese were brought to remote locations and shot.
The tide turns
The Japanese suffered two important naval defeats at the hands of the Americans in mid-1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea in May and the Battle of Midway in June. These were the first naval battles in history fought mainly by aircraft carriers which never came within sight of each other. The Americans were intercepting Japanese communication, and had broken many Japanese codes, which was an advantage in both battles. At Midway they surprised the Japanese by destroying their aircraft carriers when the planes were away on a bombing raid. The battle not only destroyed most regular aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, but also killed a number of elite Japanese naval aviators, a catastrophe for Japanese forces.
Two land campaigns, both starting in mid-1942 and lasting until early 1943, also went badly for Japan. In what is now Papua New Guinea, a mainly Australian force gave them their first defeat on land at Milne Bay then, in a hard-fought campaign, drove them back along the Kokoda Track. Meanwhile the Americans took the island of Guadalcanal after a prolonged and intense fight, allowing them to defend their supply and communication lines to Australia and New Zealand, and to create a forward base for island-hopping toward Japan.
These Allied victories marked the turning point in the Pacific War.
After that the ANZACs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) continued the New Guinea campaign and invaded the Solomon Islands, while the British re-took Burma with the help of the Chinese, and reopened the Burma Road to supply Chinese forces. The Japanese had spread their forces too thinly in China, and the Chinese were able to counterattack and reclaim some of the occupied territories. The Americans re-took the Philippines and captured a series of islands across the Pacific, including some like Guam and Wake Island that Japan had taken from them in the first months of the war.
At sea, Japan was defeated repeatedly by the Americans, with some Commonwealth help. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of the war; it took place during the invasion of the Philippines, and was a major Allied victory. When they took the Mariana Islands, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" saw over 550 Japanese aircraft destroyed, while America only lost about 120 aircraft.
End of the war
In early 1945 the US won fierce battles in Okinawa and Iwo Jima and occupied those islands, putting them in position to bomb or invade the Japanese home islands. Having by then won the naval part of the war, they also bombarded Japanese cities with their ships. Japan tried desperation tactics such as sending kamikaze (named after a series of two typhoons that sank the invading Mongol fleet in the 13th century) pilots on suicide missions to crash planes full of explosives into American ships, but even that did not make a large difference.
The invasion never took place. The Americans dropped the first (and to date only) atomic bombs to be used in actual combat on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, followed by Nagasaki on 9 August 1945; on the same day the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria. Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on 15 August 1945, bringing World War II to an end.
Aftermath
Following the surrender, Japan was occupied by the Americans and forced to give up all its colonies, and abolished its military. While the Emperor remained on his throne, many political and military leaders were indicted in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and many were sentenced to death. The Americans also imposed a new pacifist constitution on Japan, forbidding it from establishing a military, and turning it into a democratic constitutional monarchy. However, when the Cold War began, the American occupiers established the National Police Reserve, a paramilitary organization that would later develop into the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the de-facto military of the country.
Taiwan and Manchuria were returned to China, though the Chinese Civil War would resume following the Japanese surrender, eventually resulting in victory for the Communists in the mainland, and the Nationalists being forced to retreat to Taiwan, which continues to be governed separately to this day. Korea regained its independence, but would be split into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea, leading up to the Korean War. The Americans would eventually leave mainland Japan in 1952, though the American military continues to maintain several bases in different parts of the country. Okinawa was only returned to Japan in 1972, though the United States continues to maintain a strong military presence there.
The Western colonial powers also got their colonies back, but the war had galvanised many nationalist movements, which were to come of age in the years to come and eventually lead to the independence of the colonies. The first was the Philippines, where American rule ended in 1946; the largest was the end of the British Raj in 1947, which became the modern countries of India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh. The Indochina Wars were a brutal example of lingering national and ideological conflict in Asia. Hong Kong and Macau would eventually be given back to China in the 1990s but part of the agreement between China and the former colonial powers stipulates a "one country two systems" arrangement that makes both act like independent countries in some regards.
A few Japanese soldiers, isolated in various jungles, did not know the war had ended and fought on. The last two surrendered in 1974, one on the Philippine island of Lubang and the other on Indonesia's Morotai Island.
Sites
Many places that were sites of battles, atrocities or other wartime activities can be visited. There are also many museums with exhibits wholly or partly related to this war.
Australia
- 1 Darwin Military Museum. Darwin was an important staging point for Australian and American forces during the war, and would be the only Australian city that was subject to Japanese bombing raids. The museum houses exhibits about the bombing of Darwin.
- 2 Australian War Memorial. Located in Canberra, the memorial also includes a military museum dedicated to the memory of Australian soldiers who fought in various wars including both world wars.
China
See Chinese Revolutions for background.
Beijing
- 3 Jiaozhuanghu Tunnel Warfare Site Museum (焦庄户地道战遗址纪念馆) (Shunyi District, Beijing). A 23-kilometer network of underground tunnels built by residents of Jiaozhuanghu Village in the 1940s during the Japanese occupation of Beijing. The tunnels were used by Chinese resistance fighters to evade capture and launch attacks on Japanese forces. An 830-meter section of the tunnels is open to the public.
- 4 Marco Polo Bridge/Lugou Bridge (卢沟桥) (Fengtai District, Beijing). The location of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which was used as the casus belli by the Japanese for the second Sino-Japanese War.
- 5 Memorial of Famous Generals in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Agression (抗战名将纪念馆) (Haidian District, Beijing). Dedicated to the dozens of prominent Chinese generals who fought the Japanese duriung the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- 6 Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (中国人民抗日战争纪念馆) (Fengtai District, Beijing). The largest museum in China about the Second Sino-Japanese War. The museum is inside the Wanping Fortress, a Ming-era fortress next to the Lugou Bridge (or Marco Polo Bridge), which was the site of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident - a battle between Chinese and Japanese forces in July 1937 that led directly to the outbreak of full-scale war between the two nations. The fortress was fired upon during the battle and shell-holes are still visible today.
- 7 Pingbei Sino-Japanese War Martyrs Memorial Park (平北抗日烈士纪念园) (Yanqing District, Beijing). Dedicated to the many Chinese soldiers who died fighting the Japanese in the Pingbei region (a vast region which includes northern Beijing and northern Hebei Province). Inside the park is the Pingbei Sino-Japanese War Museum (平北抗日战争纪念馆), which displays around 200 photographs and artefacts.
Chongqing
The "temporary capital" of China during World War II, after Nanjing had fallen to the Japanese. Despite numerous attempts by the Japanese to take it, Chinese resistance in the inland areas was much fiercer than the Japanese expected, and though it was heavily bombed, Chongqing managed to avoid Japanese occupation for the duration of the war.
- 8 Chiang Kai-Shek's Mount Huang residence (黄山蒋介石官邸, 蒋介石旧军事总部 Chiang Kai-Shek's old military headquarters) (Chongqing). When Chongqing was the capital of China during World War II, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek) established his military headquarters up in the mountains above Chongqing. As a result the Japanese bombers never found it, and it is now a museum, preserved as it was during the war. There are many buildings in the beautiful compound and you can visit his work room with the motto over his desk "all officials must serve the people" (in free translation), his bedroom, and his meeting room, and sit in his chair where he negotiated with the American advisers, with his American-educated wife usually to his left. The residence is usually referred to as Chiang Kai-Shek's Mount Huang (or Huangshan) residence in order to distinguish it from Chiang's other official residences (he had no less than four official residences in Chongqing alone). Together with the other buildings in the compound, the residence forms part of the Chongqing Sino-Japanese War Sites Museum (重庆抗战遗址博物馆).
- 9 Chongqing Flying Tigers Museum (重庆飞虎队展览馆, 重庆友好飞虎队展览馆, 重庆飞虎队陈列馆) (Chongqing). A privately-run museum about the Flying Tigers - a group of volunteer American fighter pilots who fought the Japanese from 1941 to 1942 as part of the Chinese air force.
- 10 Former Site of Eighth Route Army Chongqing Office (八路军驻重庆办事处旧址) (Chongqing). The Eighth Route army was a group army formed from the Red Army in 1937 after the Communists and the Nationalists agreed to stop fighting each other and form the Second United Front against Japan. It was nominally part of the national army led by Chiang Kai-Shek, but commanded by the Chinese Communist Party. The army had several offices throughout China to faciliate communications with the Nationalist authorites, including this one in Chongqing.
- 11 Former Site of US Embassy in Chongqing (重庆美国大使馆旧址) (Chongqing). The US embassy operated at this site from 1942 to 1946. In 2019, the former embassy site was reopened to the public as a museum. There are exhibitions about the wartime alliance between the US and China.
- 12 Jianchuan Museum Cluster (建川博物馆聚落) (Chongqing). This is the Chongqing branch of the museum group established by the industrialist Fan Jianchuan in Chengdu. It consists of eight separate museums built inside a series of World War II bomb shelters. Some of the museums are primarily about the war, including the Museum of the No. 1 Ordnance Factory, the Sino-Japanese War Relics Museum, and the Weapons Development History Museum.
- 13 Joseph Stilwell Residence (史迪威故居, 史迪威将军旧居, 重庆史迪威博物馆 Stillwell Museum) (Chongqing). Not far from Red Rock Village is the former residence and office of General Joseph W. ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell, who headed American operations in China during the Anti-Japanese War. Stilwell is an impressive person, not only for his leadership ability but also for his understanding of China and Chinese culture (he could write in Chinese with a brush). His former residence is a 1930s modernist house with great views overlooking the Yangtze river. The main level is set up as it was during Stilwell's tenure. The lower level is filled with photos and bilingual descriptions of the Chinese front during the Second World War.
- 14 Liziba Park (李子坝公园, 李子坝抗战遗址公园 Liziba Sino-Japanese War Relics Park) (Chongqing). On the banks of the Jialing River, this is a newly developed park housing many original and relocated historical buildings when Chongqing was China's wartime capital. It includes old bank buildings, government offices and the residences of local warlords. Some military pillboxes are also preserved here.
- 15 Song Qingling's former residence (Soong Ching-ling's former residence 宋庆龄故居, 宋庆龄旧居) (Chongqing). This was Song Qingling's (Song Qing-ling's) residence from the period of the Second World War when Japan occupied much of China and Chongqing was the temporary capital. It also served as the headquarters of the China Defense League, an organisation that Song Qingling founded to help raise funds and procure supplies for the war effort in Communist-controlled areas of the country.
Nanjing
- 16 Nanjing Massacre Memorial (侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆) (Nanjing). Commemorates the late 1937 slaughter of a huge number of civilians in and around Nanjing by the invading Japanese army.
- 17 Nanjing Memorial Hall to Aviation Martyrs Killed in the War of Resistance Against Japan (南京抗日航空烈士纪念馆, Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall) (Nanjing). Dedicated to all those who fought and died during the aerial battles that were fought against the Japanese during the Second World War. The memorial hall is close to a cemetery where around 3500 aviation martyrs are buried, including 870 from China, 2197 from the US, 237 from the Soviet Union and 2 from Korea.
- 18 Nanjing Non-Government Museum of the War of Resistance Against Japan (南京民间抗日战争博物馆) (Nanjing). A privately-run museum dedicated to the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- 19 Former site of Japanese Shinto shrine (日本神社旧址) (Nanjing). Built in 1939 by the Imperial Japanese Army during their occupation of the city. The shrine, officially known as the Nanjing Shrine (南京神社), was one of the largest Shinto shrines the Japanese built on Chinese soil. It was also one of the very few that was not demolished after the war. Today the site is being used as an activity centre for retired Communist Party cadres, so you might not be able to enter the building, but viewing it from the outside should be okay.
- 20 John Rabe's former residence (拉贝旧居，拉贝故居, 拉贝与国际安全区纪念馆 John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall) (Nanjing). John Rabe (1882-1950) was a German businessman and Nazi party member who is widely celebrated in China for his efforts to protect civilians during the Japanese occupation. This house was his residence from 1932 to 1938. It is now a museum dedicated to telling the story of Rabe's life and the Nanjing International Safety Zone that he helped to establish and which is credited with saving thousands of lives.
- 21 Liji Alley Comfort Station Site (利济巷慰安所旧址) (Nanjing). The term 'comfort station' was a euphemism used by the Japanese army in World War II to refer to a brothel where so-called 'comfort women' were held captive and forced to render sexual services to Japanese soldiers. This particular comfort station was one of the largest in Asia. It is now a museum run by the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Entry is by appointment only. Visitors are required to make an appointment at least one day before visiting and cannot visit more than twice a month or more than 10 times a year. Due to the adult content of the exhibitions, children are not permitted inside the building.
Shanghai
- 22 Chinese "Comfort Women" History Museum (中国“慰安妇”历史博物馆) (French Concession, Shanghai). A museum about the women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during the Second World War.
- 23 Jinshanwei War of Resistance Heritage Park (金山卫抗战遗址纪念园) (Jinshan District, Shanghai). Commemorates the landing of Japanese troops in the coastal town of Jinshanwei on November 5th, 1937. The Japanese encountered little resistance, as Chinese army divisions that had formally been stationed in the area had been redeployed elsewhere. Following the Japanese landings at Jinshanwei, the Chinese soldiers in Shanghai were surrounded from both the north and the south, so three days later, on November 8th, Chinese central command made the fateful decision to order all forces to abandon the city and retreat to the west. The park includes a number of monuments, as well as a museum about the Jinshanwei landings. The museum is inside the Jinshanwei Fort, a reconstructed Ming Dynasty fort that was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion.
- 24 Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (上海犹太难民纪念馆) (Hongkou District, Shanghai). The museum is at the site of what used to be the Ohel Moishe Synagogue. The synagogue was built in 1928 by Russian Jews and was one of the principal places of worship for Jewish refugees in Shanghai during the Second World War.
- 25 Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (上海淞沪抗战纪念馆) (Baoshan District, Shanghai). Commemorates the Battle of Shanghai, one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- 26 Sihang Warehouse Battle Memorial (上海四行仓库抗战纪念馆) (Zhabei District, Shanghai). The Sihang Warehouse is a historic warehouse on the north bank of Suzhou Creek. It was built in 1931 by four banks, hence the literal name of the warehouse is the 'Four Banks Warehouse'. In 1937, the warehouse became a flashpoint in the latter stages of the Battle of Shanghai. At that time, it was being used as the headquarters of the 88th Division of the National Revolutionary Army. The division was preparing to retreat to the city's hinterland, but left one battalion behind at the warehouse in order to buy time for the retreat and also to demonstrate to the international community the determination of the Chinese people to resist the Japanese. The battalion successfully defended the warehouse for about 6 days before eventually retreating to the International Concession, where they were promptly disarmed and arrested by British troops acting under pressure from the Japanese. Part of the warehouse is now a museum about the Defence of Sihang Warehouse and the Battle of Shanghai.
Shenyang
- 27 9.18 Memorial Museum (“九•一八”历史博物馆, 9.18 History Museum) (Shenyang). Dedicated to the Mukden Incident, which is usually referred to as the '9.18 Incident' in Chinese. At 22:30 on 18 September 1931, a bomb exploded beside the Japanese-run railway line near Shenyang. The Japanese had actually planted the bomb themselves, but the Chinese were blamed, giving the Japanese an excuse to invade and occupy the whole of the northeast of China. Shenyang was the epicenter of that invasion, so it is most appropriate that the museum for the '9.18 Incident', as it is known, is in Shenyang next to the spot where the explosion occurred. The museum, as one would expect, depicts the incident from a Chinese perspective. It is not for the faint of heart because it unflinchingly displays the atrocities of war. Only the main descriptions are available in English, but it's enough to follow the course of events. The pictures and exhibits speak for themselves, anyway.
- 28 Former Site of Shenyang Military Tribunal for the Trial of Japanese War Criminals (中国审判日本战犯法庭旧址陈列馆) (Shenyang). 36 Japanese war criminals were publicly tried and prosecuted at this site between June 9th and July 20th, 1956. The site is now a museum.
- 29 Shenyang World War II Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum (二战盟军战俘集中营旧址陈列馆) (Shenyang). From 1942 to 1945, around 1500 soldiers from six different countries were interned by the Japanese at this POW camp in Shenyang. The site is now a museum. Information is provided in both Chinese and English.
Wuhan
- 30 Former Residence of Zhou Enlai (周恩来故居) (Wuchang District, Wuhan). CCP statesman Zhou Enlai lived here with his wife for four months in 1938 while helping to coordinate the war against Japan. The residence has been fully restored and is open to the public.
- 31 Former Site of Eighth Route Army Wuhan Office (八路军武汉办事处旧址纪念馆, Memorial Museum of Wuhan Office of Chinese Eighth Route Army) (Jiang'an District, Wuhan). The Eighth Route Army was a Communist-controlled army unit nominally subordinate to the Kuomintang-led Chinese national army during the Second World War. The army's former office in Wuhan is now a museum with exhibits relating to the war.
- 32 Former Site of New Fourth Army Hankou Headquarters (汉口新四军军部旧址纪念馆) (Jiang'an District, Wuhan). The New Fourth Army was the second of the two major Communist-controlled army units that fought during the Second World War. The New Fourth Army's former headquarters is just around the corner from the former site of the Eighth Route Army Wuhan Office, so the two sites are probably best visited together.
- 33 Shimen Peak Memorial Park (石门峰纪念公园) (Hongshan District, Wuhan). The park is divided into several sections, one of which is the Wuhan War of Resistance Memorial Park (武汉抗战纪念园), which commemorates the heroes of the war against Japan and is located next to the Cemetery for Air Force Matrys Who Defended Greater Wuhan (保卫大武汉中国空军英烈墓园). On Shimen Peak Road (石门峰路), just outside the park's main entrance, you will find the Museum of the Hubei Soldiers and Citizens War of Resistance Against Japan (湖北军民抗战博物馆), which has exhibits about the war in Hubei.
- 34 Wuhan Art Museum (武汉美术馆), 2 Baohua Street, Jiang'an District (江岸区保华街2号) (Jiang'an District, Wuhan). The museum is housed inside the former Jincheng Bank. The building was used as a military headquarters by the Japanese during their occupation of the city.
- 35 Yaojiashan Scenic Area (姚家山风景区, Mount Yaojia Scenic Area) (Huangpi District, Wuhan). A tourist resort in a scenic mountain village. The village played an important role in the Second World War, being the site of a base for the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army. The old army office has been preserved as a heritage site and there is a museum nearby.
- 36 Zhongshan Park (中山公园) (Jianghan District, Wuhan). On the left side of the Sun Yat-Sen statue is a building where Japanese forces stationed in Hubei formally surrended to the Chinese government in 1945. The building is now a museum dedicated to the event.
- 37 Zhongshan Warship Museum (武汉市中山舰博物馆) (Jiangxia District, Wuhan). This museum, near the right bank of the Yangtze in the far southwestern suburbs of Wuhan, commemorates a naval battle that happened here, hundreds of miles from the sea, in October 1938. Sunk by the Japanese air force - just three years before the Pearl Harbor attack on the US fleet - the Chinese warship Zhongshan was raised from the bottom of the Yangzte in 1997, restored, and is now displayed in this museum's main hall. Adjacent are exhibits on the history of the ship, as well as the process of its lifting from the river bottom and its restoration. On the top of a hill across the small lake from the museum is a memorial to the 25 sailors, including the ship's captain, who found their watery grave in the Yangtze, far from their hometowns on Fujian's northern coast. The lake is surrounded by sculptures commemorating various aspects of the Battle of Wuhan in 1938, as well as of the city's eventual liberation after the surrender of Japan in 1945. Various other exhibits of military and patriotic nature, such as a sampling of PLA's older weaponry, can be seen here as well.
Xi'an
- 38 Eighth Route Army Xi'an Office Museum (八路军西安办事处纪念馆) (Xi'an). From 1937 to 1946, this site served as the Communist Eighth Route Army's official liason office for coordinating communications with the Nationalist authorities in Xi'an.
- 39 Sanqin Museum of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (三秦抗战纪念馆) (Xi'an). A museum about the Second World War in Shaanxi Province (Sanqin is an old name for Shaanxi).
Xi'an Incident sites
Chinese politics in the 1930s were complex. The Nationalists under Chiang Kai Shek were nominally in charge, but in several areas local warlords held the real power, some ethnic minority areas were de facto independent, and the Communists held other regions (see Long March). The strength of a political group was measured not mainly by how many votes it could get, but rather by how many divisions it could put in the field.
Yang Hucheng was the warlord of Shaanxi, the province whose capital is Xi'an. Chang Hsüeh-liang (Zhang Xueliang) was the "Young Marshal" whose family had ruled Manchuria. The Japanese assassinated his father (the "Old Marshal") in 1928, and took over the region in 1931; he retreated into central China, bringing an army. Both were nominally subordinate to Chiang, and he ordered them to attack the Communists. Instead they arrested him and held him until he agreed to co-operate with the Communists against the Japanese.
- 40 Huaqing Pool (华清池) (Xi'an). A hot spring villa in Xi'an where Chiang was held.
- 41 General Yang Hucheng's Zhiyuan Villa (杨虎城将军止园别墅) (Xi'an). One of two heritage properties administered by the Xi'an Incident Museum (西安事变纪念馆). the other being General Zhang Xueliang's Official Residence (listed below). The property has been restored to appears as it did in 1930s and has exhibitions about General Yang Hucheng and his role in the Xi'an Incident.
- 42 General Zhang Xueliang's Official Residence (张学良将军公馆, General Chang Hsüeh-liang's Official Residence) (Xi'an). The Xi'an Incident Museum's main exhibition halls are at this site.
Other cities
- 43 Burial site of laborers killed in Basuo during the Japanese occupation of Hainan (日军侵琼八所死难劳工遗址) (Dongfang, Hainan). During their occupation of Hainan Island, the Japanese army used forced labor to complete several infrastructure projects, including the Daguang Dam, the Shilu Iron Ore Mine and the railway line connecting the mine to the ports in Basuo and Sanya. At first the Japanese mainly relied on Chinese labor but later they began importing POWs that they had captured in Southeast Asia, including POWs who originally hailed from Australia, Canada, Britain and other allied countries. Conditions for the laborers were extremely brutal. Only 6000 of the more than 30,000 laborers survived. Many of the dead are buried here at this site. In 2013, the old prison buildings from the Basuo POW Camp Site were controversially moved here from their original location about 500 meters away.
- 44 Changsha. The site of four separate battles between the Chinese and Japanese in 1939, 1941, 1942 and 1944. The first of those was the first significant victory scored by the Chinese over the Japanese during World War II. The Japanese were only able to capture Changsha on their fourth attempt in 1944. One of the battlefields has been preserved at the Yingzhushan War of Resistance Site Park (影珠山抗战遗址公园) about 70km northeast of downtown Changsha. One can also visit war memorials, graves and former military buildings at the Yuelu Mountain National Scenic Area (岳麓山国家重点风景名胜区) in the western part of the city.
- 45 Eighth Route Army Luoyang Office Museum (八路军驻洛办事处纪念馆) (Luoyang, Henan). The museum is inside a traditional Chinese mansion built in 1831 that was originally the home of a wealthy merchant. Between 1938 and 1942, the mansion served as the Luoyang office of the Eighth Route Army, a Communist controlled group army that was created from the Red Army when the Communists and the Nationalists formed the Second United Front against Japan.
- 46 Kunming Flying Tigers Museum (昆明飞虎队纪念馆) (Kunming). This commemorates a group of volunteer American fighter pilots who fought in China. Kunming was their main base. Some of their other bases included Huaihua, Guilin, Liuzhou and Chongqing. These cities also have their own museums dedicated to the Flying Tigers.
- 47 Liuzhou Military Museum (柳州市军事博物园) (Liuzhou, Guangxi). Reportedly the largest military museum in southwestern China. The museum is noteworthy for being on the grounds of the old Liuzhou Airport. During the Second World War, the airport was an important base for the Chinese airforce as well as allied group such as the Flying Tigers the Soviet Volunteer Group. Many of the wartime buildings still survive and there are exhibitions about the war.
- 48 National Cemetery to the Fallen of World War II (国殇墓园) (Tengchong, Yunnan). War cemetery with the graves of thousands of Chinese Nationalist soldiers, as well as 19 American soldiers, who died in a 1944 battle in which the Chinese were victorious and managed to reclaim Tengchong from the occupying Japanese.
- 49 Puppet Imperial Palace of Manchukuo (伪满皇宫; Wěimǎnhuánggōng) (Changchun). Home of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China and puppet emperor of Manchukuo, and centre of the Manchukuo administration at the time. The grounds are nicely restored, since the site was repurposed as a factory during the Cultural Revolution. Scenes from the acclaimed 1987 film The Last Emperor were filmed here.
- 50 Unit 731 Museum (华日军第七三一部队罪证陈列馆) (Harbin). A museum in Harbin located in a former bio-chemical weapons testing facility built by the Japanese and used to perform experiments on Chinese citizens and POWs. After the war, the Americans agreed to cover up their actions and grant immunity from prosecution to the scientists involved in exchange for being granted exclusive access to the data, as they feared that the data would end up in the hands of the Soviet Union, and many of those scientists ended up having successful careers in academia.
Mongolia
- 51 Khalkhin Gol. Site of a battle in 1939 in which the Soviets demolished a large Japanese force. This turned Japanese thinking away from expansion into Mongolia and Siberia; instead they adopted a "strike south" strategy which led directly to Pearl Harbor and their attacks in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia
- 52 Burma Road. This road ran from Western China into Burma (now Myanmar) and connected to Assam in Eastern India as well. It was built by the Chinese in the late 1930s, upgraded by the Americans later, and used throughout the war.
- 53 Sandakan Memorial Park. This memorial in the Malaysian city of Sandakan was built at the site of a former Japanese POW prison camp with funding from the Australian government to commemorate the Allied POWs who lost their lives during the Sandakan Death Marches. Only 6 people out of several thousand survived the march, and only because those 6 managed to escape. Incidentally, all 6 survivors were Australian.
Singapore
- 54 The Battlebox, 2 Cox Terrace, Singapore 179622. A former British military bunker and command centre which served as the headquarters for the British forces in Malaya during the Malayan Campaign. It was here that Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival met with his senior officers and made the decision to surrender to the Japanese. It has been converted to a museum dedicated to the Malayan Campaign, and a re-enactment of how it functioned during the war.
- 55 Changi Museum. A former POW camp-turned-museum has information about the Japanese occupation of Singapore and what life was like in the POW camp. It focuses on the general history and conditions as well as containing personal accounts and artifacts donated by former prisoners. It has a replica of the Changi Chapel that was built by Australian POWs in captivity; the original was dismantled and moved to Canberra after the war, where it now stands in the Royal Military College, Duntroon. You can also see replicas of the Changi murals, Christian murals that were painted by British POW Stanley Warren while in capitvity; the original murals are located in a military airbase and off limits to the general public.
- 56 Civilian War Memorial. Monument commemorating the local civilians who lost their lives during the Japanese occupation. The remains of many unidentified victims are buried under the memorial.
- 57 Ford Motor Factory, 351 Upper Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 588192. A former factory of American automobile manufacturer Ford, and the first motor vehicle factory to be opened in Southeast Asia. This is also the site where the British lieutenant-general Arthur E. Percival surrendered unconditionally to Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita on 15 February 1942, thus ending the Malayan Campaign. It was also used by the Japanese to produce military vehicles during the occupation. It has now been converted to a museum dedicated to life in Singapore during the Japanese occupation. The boardroom in which the surrender took place has also been reconstructed for viewing.
- 58 Fort Siloso. One of four British forts on what was then the island of Pulau Blakang Mati, today known as Sentosa. It is the only one of the four to have been restored as a tourist attraction, and contains the remnants of some British artillery guns, as well as interactive displays and a re-enactment of the unconditional surrender of the British forces to the Japanese.
- 59 Labrador Nature Reserve. The site of numerous British artillery gun emplacements during World War II. Today, you can see the remains of those gun emplacements, numerous pillboxes, and a network of underground tunnels that were used to store ammunition and move them to the gun emplacements. free.
- 60 Reflections at Bukit Chandu, 31K Pepys Road, Singapore 118458, ✉[email protected]. An interpretive centre of the Battle of Pasir Panjang, one of the fiercest battles in the Malayan Campaign that pitted the Malay Regiment (today the Royal Malay Regiment, the most decorated regiment in the Malaysian Army) against the Japanese.
- 61 Syonan Jinja. A Shinto shrine built by the occupying Japanese in Singapore (which they re-named Syonan-to) in 1942, located at MacRitchie Reservoir, and destroyed after the Japanese surrender on 15th August 1945. The ruins of the shrine still exist, but are now in the middle of the jungle with no footpaths leading there, making it very hard to find.
- 62 Syonan Chureito. A memorial built by Australian POWs to honour the Japanese war dead during World War II, with a smaller memorial behind that to commemorate the Allied war dead. Both memorials were torn down following the Japanese surrender, and today, only the road and stairs leading up to the memorial, as well as two pedestals at the bottom of the stairs, survive. A television transmission tower now occupies the former memorial site.
United States
- 63 Pearl Harbor. Site of the bombing in Western Honolulu that caused the United States to enter the war.
- 64 The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, ☏ 1 504 528 1944. Museum commemorating the American war effort in both theatres of World War II, with interactive displays that aim to re-create the battlefield experience for visitors.
- 65 MacArthur Memorial, 198 Bank St; Norfolk, Virginia, ☏ 1-757-441-2965, fax: 1-757-441-5389. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM; Su 11AM-5PM. Museum dedicated to the life of Douglas MacArthur, the general who led U.S. forces to victory over the Japanese in the Philippines, and was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. His grave is located within the museum. The last non-president to have been granted a U.S. state funeral. Free.
- 66 , ☏ 1 925 228-8860 ext 6520 (reservations). Tours available Th-Sa at 12:45PM (allow 1½ hours). Not all dates and times may be available. No public access Su-We. This memorial honors 320 individuals (including 200 young African American men) who were killed in a munitions accident during World War II while loading munitions and bombs onto ships bound for the Pacific Rim. Following the explosion many of the enlisted men refused to work, resulting in the Navy's largest mutiny trial and eventually helping to push the US Armed Forces to desegregate. The memorial is located on an active military base and as a result reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance and all visitors must be US citizens or permanent residents. Reservations can be made by calling or via an online reservation form. All visitors are shuttled to the memorial from John Muir National Historic Site in nearby Martinez.
- 67 Aleutian World War II National Historic Area (Visitor Center located on the apron of the Dutch Harbor airport), ☏ 1 907 581-1276. Year round, but May-October offer the best access. This site is the remains of one of four WWII era forts constructed to defend Dutch Harbor against a potential Japanese attack. The visitor center is free, however, a Land Use Permit must be obtained to visit the historic site on Mount Ballyhoo. Free.
A number of sites in the US commemorate the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war.
- 68 Manzanar Internment Camp. The largest internment camp in the United States where approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese nationals living in the United States during the war were forced to live after being ordered to leave their homes. This museum contains information about the camp, the experiences of those who were forced to live here, and life after the war.
- 69 WWII Japanese American Internment Museum. A former internment camp turned into a museum to educate people about the lives of Japanese-Americans at the Rohwer Relocation Center.
- 70 Topaz Museum. The Topaz Relocation Center (internment camp) housed over 11,000 Japanese-Americans. Because people were moved here before it was finished, internees were actually hired to build the wire fences to pen themselves in.
South Sea
- 72 Wake Island. This US-controlled island was taken by Japan shortly after Pearl Harbor and held by them throughout the war. There are ruins of Japanese fortifications, a monument for the American defenders who put up a stiff fight despite being badly outnumbered and outgunned, and a monument for a group of 98 POWs executed by the Japanese. Today the island is a US military base, off limits for most visitors.
- 73 Henderson Airfield (HIR IATA). The Japanese began constructing an airfield in May 1942 in Honiara on Guadalcanal. Knowing that if they completed it, they'd be able to both isolate Australia from its allies and launch potentially devastating attacks, America quickly moved to take control of the airfield. It took six months to secure the airfield, after which the Americans finished construction on it and used it to launch attacks on other islands.
Henderson Airfield was later expanded to become the international airport of the Solomon Islands, so of course it can be visited. Other sites around the airport include Bloody Ridge (where America defended against the Japanese), the Gifu (named after the city by the same name, it was a Japanese post attacked by the US), Mount Austin (used by the Japanese to get a full view of the airfield in their plan to retake it), as well as memorials for both the Americans and Japanese that fought here. - 74 Betio Island. Within a few days of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese took the Gilbert Islands, then a British colony, now part of the independent nation Kiribati. America's first attack on Japanese forces occurred in Butaritari, in the Gilberts, shortly after that.
In late 1943, the Allies came to oust Japan from the islands, which by then had been heavily fortified. Betio Island in Tarawa was the site of the Battle of Tarawa, considered to be one of the bloodiest battles of the war. While war relics can be found on multiple islands throughout Kiribati, Betio Island is where the main battle took place and also where the most remains. Visitors can see tanks, bunkers, shipwrecks, guns, and memorials built by the Japanese, Americans, and Australians and New Zealanders. - 75 Kokoda Track. An important battle line in Papua New Guinea, between Australia and Japan, it is now a trekking destination, especially for Australians.
- 76 Command Ridge (Nauru). During World War II, Nauru was occupied by the Japanese from August 1942 until their surrender at the tail end of the war in the wake of three years of near-continuous Allied air raids. Today, rusting relics from this era are scattered throughout the island — disused Japanese pillboxes line the shore every couple of kilometres, and old cannons can be seen along roadsides barely hidden by forest or even in plain sight between homes.
However, for those who want a firsthand look at Nauru's WWII history, Command Ridge (Nauruan: Janor) is the place to go. As the island's highest point, rising to an elevation of 63 m above sea level, it was a natural lookout point for the occupiers. Today you'll find a bevy of old artillery emplacements (including a pair of six-barrel antiaircraft guns still pointed skyward), the ruins of a prison complex used to hold interned Nauruan natives (who were treated brutally by the Japanese) as well as five members of the Australian military captured during the invasion, and — most impressive of all — the former communications center, now open for any visitors to enter. The interior is not well lit, but bring in a lantern or torch and you'll still be able to make out faded Japanese writing on the walls. - 77 War in the Pacific National Historical Park. On Guam, but part of the US national park system since Guam is an American territory. The park honors all those who fought in the Pacific, not just on Guam and not just Americans. Guam was taken by the Japanese early in the war and retaken by the US in 1944.
- 78 Gizo. Located on Ghizo Island, Gizo evokes the memories of vivid fighting in WWII. It is nowadays a tourist centre and some wrecks can be found underwater, including the Toa Maru.
Philippines
- 79 Corregidor Island. Established as an American fort to defend Manila from naval attacks, it fell to the Japanese in 1942, and was liberated in 1945. This is where General MacArthur left and uttered his most famous line "I shall return", a promise he fulfilled in 1944.
- 80 Capas. A largely rural municipality housing Camp O'Donnell, an American military camp turned into a POW camp where the infamous Bataan Death March in 1942 ended. Two memorial shrines dedicated to the American and Filipino prisoners of war who suffered and died under the hands of the Japanese are erected here, and two abandoned railroad stations where the prisoners were unloaded have been turned into museums and memorials. The exact number of prisoners on the march is unknown; estimates range from 6,000 to 18,000.
- 81 Coron. This town in Palawan Province has excellent wreck diving; the US Navy sank about a dozen Japanese ships in shallow water nearby in 1944.
- 82 MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park. This is where General McArthur landed on his return to the country in 1944; it is in Palo municipality on Leyte Island, near Tacloban.
- 83 Camp Pangatian. A former American military camp turned into a POW camp by the Japanese, it is the site of the raid at Cabanatuan, a major engagement of the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. The camp, now a shrine, is northeast of Cabanatuan city (then a rural area) in Nueva Ecija province.
Japan
- 84 Okinawa Peace Park and Himeyuri Monument. The site of one of the most brutal and bloody battles of the war, Okinawa island has many war remnants and memorials. Outside of Japan, Okinawa is often viewed as the first battle on Japanese soil. However, like the other Pacific Islands, Okinawa was also colonized territory so the local population was not fully trusted by the Japanese and often treated as expendable. With the Americans being obvious enemies and the Japanese not being complete allies, the question on many Okinawans' minds was not "How am I going to survive?" but "How do I want to die?". The museums here show the war from a uniquely Okinawan perspective, including life for citizens, students and military. It also depicts well how they were mistreated by both the Japanese and the Americans during and after the war. The Peace Park and the Himeyuri Monument in Itoman are the best places to learn about the battle, but remnants and reminders of the war can be found throughout the island.
- 85 Iwo Jima. Another group of islands close to Japan, scene of some extremely fierce fighting. An image of victorious US Marines raising the Stars and Stripes there is quite famous. US Military Tours has exclusive rights to the island and only US citizens who are members of the Iwo Jima Association of America, WWII veterans, or WWII prisoners of war are eligible to join the tours.
- 86 Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots. As the war approached the home islands, the desperate Japanese began sending out young men to fly aircraft packed with explosives into American ships. The museum is located in Chiran over the former spot where the tokko pilots (known abroad as kamikaze pilots) were trained and flew from. The museum contains information about the pilots, artifacts and letters from them, and recovered kamikaze planes.
- 87 Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial Museum. Hiroshima was the first place in the world to be attacked with an atomic bomb. The museum shows how devastating the bomb was to the city and the effects it had on the people from the immediate aftermath to the present day.
- 88 [dead link]Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Memorial Hall. Museums that are on the site where the atomic bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945. The Nagasaki bombing led to Japanese surrender and is also noted as the last place to have an atomic bomb dropped on it.
- 89 Yasukuni Shrine (靖國神社 Yasukuni-jinja), 3-1-1 Kudan-kita, ☏ 81 3-3261-8326. A controversial shrine to Japan's war dead, housing the souls of some 2.5 million people killed in Japan's wars — including numerous Taiwanese and Koreans, and controversially, convicted war criminals executed by the Allies. Often visited by Japanese politicians, drawing sharp criticisms from neighbours China and South Korea in the process. If you choose to visit, consider keeping it a secret from your Chinese or Korean friends.
Memorials
There are also many other sites that commemorate parts of the war.
- The 90 US Marine Corps Memorial at Arlington, Virginia, depicts the famous scene of the raising of the (American) flag on Iwo Jima, whose history is told by the movie Flags of our Fathers directed by Clint Eastwood. One of the soldiers involved, Ira Hayes, is commemorated in a fine song by Johnny Cash.
- 91 US National Museum of the Pacific War. In Fredericksburg (Texas), home town of Admiral Chester Nimitz who commanded US forces in part of the Pacific, this is a large museum complex with many exhibits.
- 92 Bank Kerapu. There is a small war memorial and museum in the former Bank Kerapu building in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, which served as a secret police station during the Japanese occupation; it might not merit a special trip but is worth visiting if you are in Kota Bharu.
- There are Commonwealth War Cemeteries in Taukkyan, Thanbyuzayat, Kranji, Taiping, Labuan, Sai Wan, Kanchanaburi, Imphal, Chennai and Yokohama as well as an American War Cemetery in Manila, in which many of the Allied war dead are buried.
Respect
While some sources claim Chinese communist forces contributed little to the Pacific War, Chinese law enacted in 2019 criminalizes the denial of officially-endorsed heroes and martyrs, in addition with defamation lawsuits.
See also
- World War I
- Holocaust remembrance
- World War II in Europe
- World War II in Africa
- Japanese colonial empire
- Industrialization of the United States for non-military US history of the 1930s and 40s
- Long March
- Nuclear tourism