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Battles of Kizugawaguchi

KAIZOKU OF THE MURAKAMI NAVY WITH FULL EQUIPMENT FOR SEA FIGHTING, 1576 This plate shows the kaizoku pirates of the Murakami navy at the height of their powers when they were in action against Oda Nobunaga at the first battle of Kizugawaguchi in 1576. They are more substantially dressed and armed than the wako who […]

Japan

Japan’s Panama Canal Buster II

In December 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy organized the 1st Submarine Flotilla and 631st Kokutai (Air Corps), with Captain Tatsunoke Ariizumi commanding both units. The force consisted ofI-400, I-401 and two AM-class subs, I-13and I-14, which were smaller and carried two Seirans each, for a total of 10 Seiran bombers. An experienced naval officer from […]

Japan, Warship

CA Maya

Maya was one of four Takao-class heavy cruisers, active in World War II with the Imperial Japanese Navy. These were the largest and more modern cruisers in the Japanese fleet, and were intended to form the backbone of a multipurpose long-range strike force. These ships were fast, powerful and heavily armed, with enough firepower to […]

Air Warfare, Japan

Japanese Army Air Force – China 1942

During early 1942, the enemy gradually strengthened its air forces in south China, especially around Hengyang and K’weilin. Also, aerial pictures taken by the 1st Air Brigade in late March showed that the runways on Chuhsien, Lishui and Yushan airfields had been increased from 700 meters to 1,500 meters; that ammunition and fuel were gradually […]

Armies, Japan

Army of Japan

Rise of militarism The military had a strong influence on Japanese society from the Meiji Restoration. Almost all leaders in Japanese society during the Meiji period (whether in the military, politics or business) were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai, and shared a set of values and outlooks. The early Meiji government viewed Japan as threatened […]

Armies, Japan

IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY Part II

The Japanese Army had more motorized infantry capabilities than the Guomindang ever had in China. It reinforced mobility in that theater by highly effective use of local railways. It also used large numbers of horses and bicycles, including towing mortars behind tandem bikes. The Japanese evidenced a pronounced reliance on superior artillery and bombers to […]

Armies, Japan

IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY Part I

The Japanese Army that waged World War II emerged in the 1870s and 1880s during the rapid modernizing period of the Meiji Restoration. Into World War II it retained some pre”C20th-century ideas and a unique military culture that had roots in bushidō and in other samurai and premodern traditions and views of honor and death […]

Biography, Japan

Iwabuchi Sanji (1893–1945)

Iwabuchi Sanji Japanese navy admiral who vigorously defended Manila in the waning months of the war. Born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, on 2 March 1893, Iwabuchi Sanji graduated from the Naval Academy in 1915. Trained as a pilot, he then become a gunnery specialist and entered the Gunnery School in 1923. Between 1930 and 1933, […]

Battle, British, Japan

Battle of Sittang Bridge

The 16th Brigade of Major General John Smyth’s 17th Indian Division (with few experienced officers, a high number of recruits, and new weapons on which they had not yet trained) absorbed the Japanese attack, lost most of its transport, and fell back. None of the division’s three Indian brigades had trained at brigade level, nor […]

Japan, Warship

BB Satsuma

Satsuma was a semi-dreadnought type battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built in Japan by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. The name Satsuma comes from Satsuma Province, now a part of Kagoshima prefecture. Some naval historians regard the battleship Aki as her sister ship, although Aki differed considerably with her turbine-powered engine and sleek […]