Famous Japanese Battles of the 20th Century

The Japanese Empire played its part in four wars during the 20th century. In a number of these, there were some famous battles. It was in the Pacific that the largest battles emerged during the 1940s. These were a few of the more famous Japanese battles of the century.

Battle of Tsushima

In 1905, Russia and the Japanese Empire were at war. During this war, the Imperial Japanese Navy blockaded Port Arthur. To break the blockade, the Russians sent a fleet of warships through the Tsushima Strait. The Japanese expected the Russians to pass through there and dispatched their own naval fleet to intercept.

What followed was a decisive Japanese victory at the Battle of Tsushima. Most of the Russian fleet was wiped out, and all of their battleships were either lost at sea or captured by the Japanese when they surrendered. After the defeat, the Russians made peace with the Japanese and effectively surrendered Port Arthur and other territories in Asia.

Battle of Shanghai

Among the more famous battles in the Sino-Japanese war was that of the Battle of Shanghai in 1937. Skirmishes at Marco Polo Bridge were followed by this battle, which would include almost one million soldiers. In this battle, the Japanese army advanced into Shanghai and outflanked China's troops. With heavy losses, the Chinese eventually retreated from Shanghai, and thus the city was occupied by the Japanese army.

Pearl Harbor

By 1941, the Sino-Japanese War, which the aforementioned battle opened, continued. Japan had occupied much of the coastline, but communist guerrillas were undefeated. The western Japanese economic embargo undoubtedly encouraged China not to surrender, as Japanese oil reserves were gradually dwindling.

But Japan was not about to withdraw from China either. Instead, they planned to bombard Pearl Harbor with a bold airstrike that was expected to wipe out the U.S. Pacific Fleet. On December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese planes flew over the harbor and surrounding airfields. They bombed U.S. aircraft on the ground and battleships in port. The battleships were set ablaze and required some repairs to return them to the Pacific. Hundreds of U.S. aircraft were also lost during the airstrike. A potential third wave was planned to wipe out fuel depots and shipyards at the harbor, but that was canceled.

The Pacific War began there. China now had both the United States and the British Empire as allies in the Pacific. Their victory prospects had, in fact, been greatly boosted by Japan's Pearl Harbor airstrike, although in 1942 that was not immediately obvious.

Battle of Midway

The famous Battle of Midway, in 1942, was one of the naval battles in the Pacific. This emerged off the coast of Midway Island after Station HYPO had informed Admiral Nimitz that the Japanese were about to invade Midway. They had broken the Japanese JN25 naval code, and so the orders were given for a fleet of three U.S. carriers to sail for Midway.

When their planes discovered the Japanese fleet, the battle began in earnest. The Japanese were the first to strike around Midway Island, and here their planes were intercepted by U.S. aircraft. Most of those were lost in the early air skirmishes.

But later, a few SBD dive-bombers broke from the clouds and dived towards three Japanese aircraft carriers. With a precise run, they set them ablaze, leaving just one remaining Japanese carrier intact. That continued the battle with two sorties which targeted the Yorktown, and their bombs ensured the carrier's crew abandoned ship. But it was not enough, and further waves of U.S. aircraft bombarded the remaining aircraft, which was also lost at sea.

That battle, which has been featured in film, remains among the more famous Allied victories. They had wiped out a larger Japanese fleet with the loss of just one of their own aircraft carriers. It was the first notable Allied victory at sea, and would not be the last.

Battle of Iwo Jima

Another battle that has been featured in a few films, such as Letters from Iwo Jima, is that of the Battle of Iwo Jima. That was a land battle at the Japanese home island of Iwo Jima in 1945. By then the empire was defeated, but the Allies still had to occupy Japanese home island positions to pave the way for a potential Battle of Japan. The airfields that were located at Iwo Jima were the primary targets for this Allied mission.

Overall, the Japanese forces at Iwo Jima were outmatched. The Japanese garrison at Iwo Jima, which amounted to little more than 20,000, had no naval or air support for the battle. The Allies also had a much larger number of troops for this battle. An extensive preliminary bombardment preceded the landings, although it had relatively little impact on the Japanese fortifications that had been established. An extensive tunnel network provided the troops stationed there with suitable cover from the shells that crashed down.

Once they landed, the Marines were pinned down on Iwo Jima's beaches. When a beachhead was established, the battle shifted away from the beaches and further inland as the Marines advanced toward the airfields and up Mount Suribachi. Once they reached the summit of Mount Suribachi the photographer Rosenthal photographed a group of Marines raising the flag atop the mountain. That emerged as one of the most famous wartime photographs as it was republished many times on U.S. postal stamps etc.

For the rest of the battle, the Marines wiped out the remaining Japanese divisions. When the battle was over, they had had large losses of their own, but the island was secured. Then the Allies established their own airfields at Iwo Jima for further bombing runs.

Those Japanese battles were among the most famous of the century. By 1945, much of the empire had crumbled, and they duly surrendered. Then the Japanese Empire was dissolved in the postwar period.