South Manchuria Railway was created in 1906.

Henry W. Kinney has written:

'The code of the Karstens'

'Modern Manchuria'

'The island of Hawaii'

'Modern Manchuria and the South Manchuria Railway Company'

In 1904 via Manchuria. In 1916 via the Amur Railway (today's route).

Manchuria was a logical target for Japanese expansion because Japan was running the South Manchurian railway at the time of the incident. It was also within close range, and would make it easier for the Japanese to get their resources onto the mainland. Another good reason is that China at the time was in a state of civil war, so after bombing the South Manchurian railway, they could easily make it look like communist China's fault and go in looking like they were helping the Chinese.

North Korea and China