List of territories acquired by the Empire of Japan

This is a list of regions occupied or annexed by the Empire of Japan until 1945, the year of the end of World War II in Asia, after the surrender of Japan. Control over all territories except most of the Japanese mainland (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and some 6,000 small surrounding islands) was renounced by Japan in the unconditional surrender after World War II and the Treaty of San Francisco. A number of territories occupied by the United States after 1945 were returned to Japan, but there are still a number of disputed territories between Japan and Russia (the Kuril Islands dispute), South Korea and North Korea (the Liancourt Rocks dispute), the People's Republic of China and Taiwan (the Senkaku Islands dispute).

Summary

Before World War I, Japan had gained several substantial colonial possessions in East Asia such as Taiwan (1895) and Korea (1910). Japan joined the allies in World War I, and after the war acquired the South Seas Mandate, the former German colony in Micronesia, as a League of Nations Mandate. Pursuing a colonial policy comparable to those of European powers, Japan settled significant populations of ethnic Japanese in its colonies while simultaneously suppressing Indigenous ethnic populations by enforcing the learning and use of the Japanese language in schools. Other methods such as public interaction, and attempts to eradicate the use of Korean, Hokkien, and Hakka among the Indigenous peoples, were seen to be used. Japan also set up the Imperial Universities in Korea (Keijō Imperial University) and Taiwan (Taihoku Imperial University) to compel education.

In 1931, Japan seized Manchuria from the Republic of China, setting up a puppet state under Puyi, the last Manchu emperor of China. In 1933 Japan seized the Chinese province of Rehe, and incorporated it into its Manchurian possessions. The Second Sino-Japanese War started in 1937, and Japan occupied much of eastern China, including the Republic's capital at Nanjing. An estimated 20 million Chinese died during the 1931–1945 war with Japan.

In December 1941, the empire of Japan joined World War II by invading the European and U.S. colonies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, including French Indochina, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia, Portuguese Timor, and others. Following its surrender to the Allies in 1945, Japan was deprived of all its colonies with a number of them being returned to the original colonizing Western powers. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan in August 1945, and shortly after occupied and annexed the southern Kuril Islands, which Japan still claims.

Meiji era Colonies Ryūkyū Kingdom – 1872 Taiwan and the Penghu Islands – 1895–1945 Karafuto – 1905–1943 (incorporated between 1943–1945) Kantō – 1905–1945 Chōsen – 1910–1945

Occupied territories Japanese occupation of Gyeongbokgung – 1894 Occupation of Peking – 1900

WWI and the Siberian Intervention Colonies South Seas Mandate 1919–1945

Occupied territories Japanese Occupation of Tsingtao/Qingdao All ports and major towns in the Primorsky Krai and Siberia regions of Russia east of the city of Chita, from 1918 until gradually withdrawing in 1922. North Sakhalin was occupied by Japan 1920–1925. Japanese occupation of German colonial possessions Japanese occupation of Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Palau Islands, Caroline Islands Occupation of Istanbul 1918–1923. Allied occupation of German New Guinea Japanese occupation of Vladivostok

Invasion of Manchuria, Second-Sino Japanese War and World War II Occupied territories and puppet regimes Manchukuo East Hebei Autonomous Government North Shanxi Autonomous Government South Chahar Autonomous Government Mengjiang United Autonomous Government Shanghai Great Way Government Provisional Government of China Reformed Government of China Reorganized National Government of China Kingdom of Thailand State of Burma Provisional Government of Free India

French Indochina Empire of Vietnam Kingdom of Kampuchea Kingdom of Luang Prabang Occupied Dutch East Indies Occupied West Sumatra Occupied Malaya

Occupied Hong Kong Occupied Singapore Occupied Guam Occupied Nauru Occupied Gilbert Islands Occupied Solomon Islands Occupied New Guinea Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Greater East Asia Conference

Post-war successor states Manchuria (Manchukuo), Northern China (1945/1946) (1945/1946) (1945/1948) (1945/1948) (1945/1948) (1945/1949) (1963) (1965) (1945/1949) Netherlands New Guinea (1962)

Table of occupied territories Japan Territory Date Notes South Sakhalin 1905–1943 Elevated to naichi status in 1943. Mainland China 1931–1945 Manchukuo 50 million (1940), Rehe, Kwantung Leased Territory, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, plus parts of : Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia Japan proper 1868–1945 Present day Japan, South Sakhalin (after 1943), and Kuril Islands Korea 1910–1945 Taiwan 1895–1945 Hong Kong December 25, 1941 – August 30, 1945 Hong Kong (UK):: East Asia (subtotal) – Vietnam September 1940 – August 1945 As French Indochina (FR) Cambodia July 1941 - August 1945 As French Indochina, Japanese occupation of Cambodia Laos As French Indochina, Japanese occupation of Laos Thailand December 8, 1941 – August 15, 1945 Independent state but allied with Japan Malaysia December 8, 1941 – September 12, 1945 (Malaya), December 16, 1941 – September 11, 1945 (Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, North Borneo) As Malaya (UK), British Borneo (UK), Brunei (UK) Philippines May 8, 1942 – September 2, 1945 Philippines (US) Dutch East Indies 1942 – 1945 Dutch East Indies (NL), West Coast Sumatra (NL) Singapore February 15, 1942 – September 12, 1945 Singapore (UK) Burma (Myanmar) May 28, 1942–September 13, 1945 Burma (Myanmar) (UK) East Timor February 19, 1942 – September 11, 1945 Portuguese Timor (PT):: Southeast Asia (subtotal) – ManipurMeetei Kangjam, Y. (2019). Forgotten Voices of the Japan Laan: The Battle of Imphal and the Second World War in Manipur. India: INTACH.Chongtham, Samarendra (2008). The Land of The Rising Sun: Numitna Thorakpham Japan Urubada. ISBN 978-81-8370-147-1. October 21, 1943 – August 18, 1945 Azad Hind (also independent but Japanese-allied):: South Asia (subtotal) - New Guinea 1941 - 1945 As Papua and New Guinea (AU) Guam December 10, 1941 – August 10, 1944 from Guam (US) South Seas Mandate 1919–1945 from German Empire Nauru August 26, 1942 – September 13, 1945 Occupied from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand Wake Island, US December 23, 1941 – September 4, 1945 US Kiribati December 1941 – 1945 from Gilbert Islands (UK):: Pacific Islands (subtotal) – Disclaimer: Not all areas were considered part of Imperial Japan but rather part of puppet states & sphere of influence, allies, included separately for demographic purposes. Sources: POPULSTAT Asiahttp://www.populstat.info/Asia/asia.html Populstat ASIA Oceaniahttp://www.populstat.info/Oceania/oceania.html Populstat OCEANIA

Other occupied islands during World War II Andaman Islands (India) – March 1942 - October 7, 1945 Christmas Island (Australia) – March 1942 – October 1945 Attu and Kiska (Alaska, United States) – June 3, 1942 – August 15, 1943

Areas attacked but not conquered Kohima (India) Dornod (Khalkhin Gol, Mongolia) Midway Atoll (United States)

Raided without immediate intent of occupation Air raids Pearl Harbor (Hawaii, United States) Colombo and Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) Calcutta (India) Chittagong (Bangladesh) Air raids on Australia, including: Broome (Western Australia, Australia) Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia) Townsville (Queensland, Australia) Dutch Harbor (Alaska, United States) Lookout Air Raids (Oregon, United States) Naval bombardment by submarine British Columbia (Canada) Ellwood (Santa Barbara, California, United States) Fort Stevens (Oregon, United States) Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) Gregory (Western Australia, Australia) Midget sub attack Sydney (New South Wales, Australia) Diego Suarez (Madagascar)

Puppet regimes

The Empire of Japan had been creating puppet states in China since 1932 after the Mukden incident.Fidgeting Over Foreign Policy: Henry L. Stimson and the Shenyang Incident, 1931;Diplomatic History. Sep2013, Vol. 37 Issue 4, p727-748, via EBSCO Academic search complete,0145-2096 DOI:10.1093/dh/dht029, Accession Number: 89866278

Northeast Supreme Administrative Council – February 16, 1932 to March 1, 1932 On February 16, 1932, the Imperial Army hosted the "Founding Conference" or the "Big Four Conference" with governor of Liaoning, Zang Shiyi, commander of the Kirin Provincial Army, Xi Qia, Heilongjiang governor, Zhang Jinghui, and general Ma Zhanshan to establish the Northeast Administrative Committee. On its second meeting, the committee appointed the previous four and Tang Yulin, Ling Sheng, and Qimote Semupilei as chairmen. On the 18th, the Council issued a statement announcing that "the Northeast provinces are completely independent", all territories of which were in the hands of the council.

State of Manchuria – March 1, 1932 to August 18, 1945 (, ) Manchuria had long been a location of unrest, and the Mukden Incident was a perfect excuse for Japanese occupation. In the Mukden incident, the Kwantung Army set off a bomb along the South Manchuria Railway and used the explosion as an excuse to occupy Manchuria, blaming Chinese forces. Manchukuo was created in March 1932. Although the Japanese controlled the area, they could not annex Manchuria into Japan because they had signed the Nine-Power Treaty. Japan and Manchukuo signed several treaties allowing Japan to mobilize Manchuria's people and resources as it liked. It was disestablished after the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

East Hebei Autonomous Government – November 25, 1935 to February 1, 1938 ) The East Hebei Autonomous Council, also sometimes called the East Ji Autonomous Council or the East Hopei Autonomous Anti-Communist Council, was headed by Yin Ju-keng in 1935 to help protect economic interests in north China. East Hebei protected Japan's economic interests by prohibiting the export of silver and the circulation of the notes of the Central Bank of China. They also set up their own Central Bank and began to issue notes which were supported by several banks and were widely circulated in Tianjin, against the orders of the Chinese central government. Under Japan's control of East Hebei, the region broke into reported "lawlessness", with the puppet state purportedly selling drugs to raise money. On February 1, 1938, East Hebei was merged with the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.

Mengjiang United Autonomous Government – September 1, 1939 to August 19, 1945 (, ) On 22 December 1935, part of Inner Mongolia split from China, and became an independent state. The Mongol Military Government was formed on 12 May 1936. The military government operated under Chinese sovereignty, but Japanese control. In 1937, its name was changed to the Mongol United Autonomous Government. In 1939, the United Mongolian Autonomous Government, the Northern Shanxi Autonomous Government, and the South Chahar Autonomous Government merged to become Mengjiang. Mengjiang was later merged with other puppet states to create the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.

Great Way Government – December 5, 1937 to May 3, 1938 (, Japanese: ) The Great Way Municipal Government (GWMG) was created to help administer the occupied suburbs of Shanghai in December 1937. The GWMG was very small, headquartered in an office building in Pudong. Because of its association with the Japanese government, the GWMG found it hard to attract any politicians of reputation. It had difficulty creating an administration for Shanghai, and after just under five months merged with a new occupation regime in Nanjing.