Japanese soldiers like this man were determined to fight on until they ran out of weapons or ammunition. They would not surrender to U.S. forces. This was just one example of the will to win that characterized almost all Japanese soldiers, politicians, and civilians during World War II. Learn more about Japanese resistance by reading each row of this table.
| Fighting After Official Surrender | Japanese forces were officially ordered to leave Guadalcanal on December 31, 1942, but they fought on until February 9. The U.S. learned the hard way that an official surrender did not mean the end of fighting. |
| Bunker Fighting | The Japanese dug out underground bunkers and used them for sniper attacks between battles. Fighting an invisible enemy who seemed to be everywhere at once was psychologically exhausting, as well as deadly, for U.S. soldiers. When the bunkers went quiet, Americans did not know if it meant the Japanese were unable to fight anymore or just trying to trick them into approaching the bunkers. |
| Suicide | When they finally opened up a silent bunker, U.S. soldiers often found dead Japanese soldiers inside who had killed themselves rather than surrender. This gruesome discovery was also difficult for American soldiers to deal with over and over. |
If the Japanese fought hard to keep the islands they had occupied, they would fight 10 times harder to defend their home islands from invasion. When the U.S. bombed Tokyo, the capital of Japan, in the Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942, the surprise attack stunned the Japanese people. The raid did not do much damage, but Japanese leaders were furious that their capital had been attacked.
 U.S. pilot Robert L. Hite in Japanese custody after the Doolittle Raid. |
Some of the U.S. airmen who were shot down on the raid were able to escape to China, and in retribution, Japanese soldiers killed as many as 250,000 Chinese civilians. Three of the airmen who were captured were executed. The rest were imprisoned and starved; one died. The others were freed by American soldiers after the war, in August 1945. American soldiers who fought in the Pacific knew they were facing a fierce enemy, but they kept up their steady progress toward Japan.
Test your understanding of the Japanese war effort by answering these questions.
Japan got all of its natural resources from the countries it conquered. How might this have affected the Japanese resolve to fight to the death?
How did the different forms of Japanese resistance affect U.S. forces?
| Your Responses | Sample Answers |
|---|---|
| Japan's leaders knew that if Japan lost control of its empire, it lost its oil, coal, and other natural resources. Alone, Japan could not survive. | |
| The prolonged fighting used up weapons and ammunition and cost many lives. The bunker fighting and suicides also created psychological stress for American soldiers that might go on for months. |
