Why were the Japanese such a huge threat in WWII ?

Question

Ok, I know its a generalisation, but how come a country as small as Japan, could pose such a huge threat across the South Pacific and Asia ? Physically wer'nt they considered physically weaker than Western Soldiers, and small in stature ? I mean compared to thousands of our 6 ft tall 2nd Australian Imperial Force Soldiers, they would have been considered mkuch weaker. Did the world just underestimate the Japanese aggression or their ruthless and disgusting nature to violate the Geneva convention at every opportunity. How come the 'little yellow man' was able to so easily crush the Brittish Stronghold of Singapore ?

Answer 1

A simple answer here... they were a threat because they were winning.............

Answer 2

Because they were VERY well trained and extremely devoted to the war (Kamikaze). They would do anything to win; ruthless and cold. It doesn't matter how tall you are: a bullet to the head is a bullet to the head.

Answer 3

Wake up the Brittish didn't want Singapore the same way we didn't want the United States. however there was only one country who used the bomb in that war.

Answer 4

hello

the japanese were only a threat for the first six months of the war, there after victory was guaranteed for the allies

the reason for the original threat was the sheer size of the army they had to start the war

In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army had 51 divisions and various special-purpose artillery, cavalry, anti-aircraft and armored units with a total of 1,700,000 men , and a massive navy far larger than the allies

BUT they quickly over extended themselves, and without raw materials such as oil , could never sustain their offensives

excellent soldiers , never underestimate someone willing to give their life so easily ... !

in the end a lack of oil, and poor technology defeated them

Answer 5

Oh Dear your one of them  'little yellow man' !!!! . just stop for a minute and consider these points

NEVER underestimate your enemy . the british did at singapore in the thinking that the 'little yellow man'  couldn't advance on singapore by land and more than likely thought like your description.

Don't ever knock the 2nd AIF they did there best even when under the orders of some really incompetent English command

The 'little yellow man' was Masters of jungle warfare at that time they trained for it and were accustomed to "living off the land" English & australian troops had little or no knowlage of both they still had light brown uninforms for good sake  in the jungle.

Our politicial masters didn't even think there would be a war with Japan so our equipment trainning etc was orintated towards europe.

There misstreatment was a result of there Code of honnor they never surrendered and treated soilders who did badly.

Lastly don't ever consider that if your enemy is so called weaker that he can't fight they do a sometimes really well.  

Answer 6

At the time we were isolationist with a small military, and Japan although not a large country had a large well equipped military that they were freely using to get what they wanted and up until December 7th no one one wanted to do anything about it.

Answer 7

The size of the country is not really a factor. Dont forget that the British who also come from a little island owned over a quarter of the worlds surface at one point in their history.

Your home nation of Australia is a massive country with a small population whereas Japan is the opposite, which is part of why they needed to expand their empire for the raw materiels needed to support that population and economy.

A number of factors are at play in underestimating the Japanese.

Firstly there was a racist but historically contexted belief that they were physically inferior (because they were mostly shorter and more prone to needing glasses). This was clearly bunkum but in the context of the time and the way that not many people had ever known a Japanese person unlike today understandable.

Maybe your average Aussie, or Brit, or Yank could bench press more than his japanese counterpart, but what none of them had was the Japanese soldiers discipline and mental determination, which was cultural.

Secondly the Japanese army was much larger than any it faced and crucially it was combat ready and experienced after a bloody 8 year war in China.

Thirdly it used the fact that it was under strength from a technology perspective to its advantage in that they had to be more resourceful (like riding bicycles through Malaya for instance).

Fourthly they planned for war against countries which were looking the other way. The British and her allies (including the Aussies) were flat out fighting the Germans and Italians in europe and Africa and had neither the resources or the focus to be prepared for the Japanese attack which they knew would come.

Singapore (the whole of the Malay peninusla actually) was defended by two ships and six aircraft against three entire elite Japanese army groups based just across the water in French Vichy Indo China (Vietnam). Without air cover the two battleships (the best the British had) were both lost in one air attack.  

Singapore could have been held for months militarily but it would have been at a horrendous price in civilian dead, as many from disease and starvation as warfare because all of Singapores water sources were controlled by the Japanese in Malaya and there were no ships to break a blockade.

So essentially we did underestimate them both from a capability and organisational perspective.

A few people have reacted against your assertion that they were cruel, but history, and the facts show that both as a military organised force, and as individuals they were extremely cruel and sometimes barbaric.

This was partly due to the code by which they lived but to use an example in their war against the Chinese look up the "Rape of Nanking" which was an attrocity of huge proportions.

Add to that Changi. the Burma railroad, the actions and activities of the Japanese forces in every occupied country and its a nation which rightly held its head in shame for many years after the war.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have been horrors but the Japanese military did far worse to far more prisoners (military and civilian) and then also they did it face to face, which takes a lot more cruelty than from 30,000 feet .

Raxer - Germany wasnt already done whilst the Japanese were in the ascendency. They were still winning until Stalingrad and El Alamein in 1942.

Answer 8

I don't believe you should be calling them "the little yellow man"

Answer 9

Although the average Japanese soldier was fairly short in stature, they were extremely resilient and well-drilled soldiers. During World War 2, they even set a world record for marching 100 miles in 72 hours along the Malayan Peninsula. Physical height is of little combat advantage to a soldier.

By the time they defeated the Americans and the British Commonwealth at places like the Philippines, Malaya and Singapore, they were more experienced and better led. When they invaded Malaya, they sneakily swept through the jungles on bicycles. When they were outnumbered, they massed their troops together and used their air superiority, close quarters advantage and superior firepower to win. And of course, the British heavy guns at Singapore were POINTING THE WRONG WAY.

As the war dragged on, the Japanese forces became starved of resources, lost air superiority, lost much of their seapower against the Americans and started to go up against more experienced and better organized allied troops. They had less "force multipliers" on their side, as they say.

In other battles, things just didn't go their way. In their fight against predominantly ill-equipped and untrained Australian militia at the Kokoda track, the Japanese fought a desperate enemy that was constantly fighting a rear guard, in a hostile terrain that didn't favor them at all.

Answer 10

The Japanese were aiding Germany with resources, such as steel and such. The USA then stopped sending energy resources to them.  This was the lifeline to their way of life. Japan became desperate since their economy was depending on energy. Their only solution was to invade USA to perserve their way of life, thus 7 Dec 1942, the day we live in infamy!

Now, the Japanese possessed the toughest, most dedicated naval power in the world!  Even LtCol Earl Ellis knew this; he prophesized that the Japanese were going to initiate a preemptive attack against the USA before WWII even started, 20 years before in fact. The League of Nations had prompted Germany from their territorial annexes of the Central Pacific Islands. Japan took this as an opportunity to set up advanced naval bases under the noses of the League of Nations; this was during the first decade of the 20th Century.

If you read the book of Dirk A. Ballendorf and Merrill Barnett about the amphibious warfare prophet Earl H. Ellis, you will be amazed what the Japanese were so capable of.  We underestimated these tough sucker!  They even contained the most trained warriors, the Special Naval Landing Force, more trained and elite than the Marines in amphibious warfare.

If anybody disagrees, you better get a history lesson. I'm a Japanese-American that learned my history. Anyone wanna call this here Marine a yellow shorty j*p in front of my face?  I am an American born and raised but my mother is Japanese!  Some of you better refrain those racial slurs elsewhere!  But nothing can defeat my American spirit, I served the Marine Corps for 10 years so I know that it took spirit to defeat the world's most powerful naval force in history!  Oorah and Semper Fi!

Answer 11

Because they were determined, ruthless and brave. While the west believes in self preservation the Japanese believed in sacrifice.

While you would run they would advance.

Plus they had one of the strongest fleets in the pacific after they crippled the US at pearl. Also their planes were the fastest and most agile at the early stages of the war so they dominated the skies.

Their ground troops like I said were fanatical warriors.

Basically you expected the "little yellow man" to be intimidated by you and they kicked you in the nuts.