Why was the Japanese army so strong?

Answer 1

Contrary to popular belief the Japanese Imperial Army wasn't strong compared to say the Wehrmacht or the British Army . Many of its early successes were because of a lack of preperation and racist ideals from their opponents such as the British in Singapore who believed that the Japanese were not even good aviators because "they weren't well balanced because of being carried on the backs of their mothers as children" and their underestimation of an ability for the Japanese to advance far and quickly. This didnt mean the Japanese were strong when it came to weapons or utilizing armor effectively (the Arisaka rifle was still in use since 1905 and continued through the remainder of the war because it was considered unnecessary because of the education of the mind and complete devotion to the state was more important) . Since the early 1930s Japan had failed to improve much on a scale matched in the West technologically. They had begun to use tanks instead of cavalry but they failed to design such things as bazookas or other rocket launchers, still using things like anti-tank guns which werent as effective. The Japanese were stronger when it came to morale and that sort of thing but they werent able to fully defend their Empire because, ironically, the very ideas they were taught. So to put it short the Japanese were strong when it came their allegiances and morale, but were not when it came to fighting a war, failing to advance enough and prepare enough. But this doesnt mean the War was inevitable . They did have a large navy with which they could use effectively but not a large merchant fleet which was vital to securing resources and transporting to and from the various occupied territories. The Japanese for the most part were weak but not hopeless.

The Japanese also had too few in numbers to fight as effective war in the same manner as the Germans . The Germans had over 18 million soldiers at their disposal while the Japanese had only 2-5 million . (the 5 million being its greatest extent in 1945) .

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The above answer is not only overly simplistic, it is also fundamentally incorrect. The Japanese military during the WWII era was immensely strong. Any cursory research into the conduct of that war, or the testimony of any Chinese, American, British Commonwealth, Australian, or Soviet soldier who fought the Japanese will reaffirm this fact.

During the 1930s, the Japanese designed their army to be a highly mobile, disciplined fighting force, meant to fight a battle of maneuver against the Soviet Union on the plains of Siberia and Manchuria. According to Michael Green's Tanks, the Japanese had by 1939 amassed the fourth largest tank force in the world. In their war plans against the USSR, they planned to group these tanks into armored fists to smash holes in the border defenses of the Red Army, which mechanized infantry mounted on trucks would pour through and exploit the breakthrough. The attack was to be supported by the Japanese air force, which had both better machines and pilots than the Soviets.

In 1939, the IJA clashed with the Red Army at Khalkhin gol. Although the Japanese forces, limited in terms of military options by higher headquarters in Tokyo, were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the elite Siberian divisions under the command of Grigory Shtern and Georgy Zhukov, they managed to inflict staggering losses on the Soviets before being driven back over the border. (see "Why was the battle of khalkhin-gol a decisive battle?" on this site.) During this battle, Japanese ground forces inflicted close to 10,000 more casualties on the Soviets than they themselves received, and destroyed hundreds of Russian vehicles. In the air, the Japanese air force showed itself clearly superior on a one-for-one basis, establishing a favorable kill ratio. The results of this battle impressed the Soviets to the point where, early in the USSR's war with Germany, Major General A.K. Kazakovtsev, Operational Chief of the Far Eastern Front, privately confided to Petro Grigorenko, future General in the Soviet Army: "If the Japanese enter the war on Hitler's side... our cause is hopeless."

Elsewhere in the world, the Japanese rapidly carved out a reputation as a fearsome fighting force. In their "Centrifugal Offensive" of 1941-1942, they conquered fully 1/7 of the Earth's surface with minimal losses to themselves, often fighting outnumbered. Battles fought in China between Japanese and Chinese forces (such as Wuhan) were rivaled in scale only by those fought on the Eastern Front. In the Burma theater, General William Slim, widely renowned for his military prowess, and considered to be one of the best British officers of the war, characterized the Japanese soldier as the best fighting man on any side. Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal has the testimony of John B George, who fought the Japanese both there and also in Burma. George says of his enemy: "most of us who have fought in the Pacific are ready to admit here and now, away from all the convincing firsthand evidence we have seen... that for sheer, bloody, hardened steel guts, the stocky and hard-muscled little Jap doughboy has it over any of us."

When Japan's fascist allies in Nazi Germany were on the retreat, the Japanese army was still winning battles in the field. Operation Ichi-go, Japan's offensive into Southern China, was a blitzkrieg operation involving 510,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, 6,000 artillery pieces, 15,500 trucks, 100,000 horses, and 700 planes. The offensive was a total success. According to General Joseph Stilwell, the Chinese suffered the loss of four complete armies destroyed, with 300,000 soldiers killed, over 100,000 wounded, and 80,000 prisoners. They also lost 6,723 artillery pieces, 190 aircraft, and thousands of motor vehicles. The Japanese also overran the American B-29 bases which were being used to bomb their cities from Chinese territory (but it didn't help, as the US simply moved them farther back). The Japanese achieved this outcome at the cost of over 100,000 casualties. This represented the last great Axis victory of WWII.

In addition to its army, Japan's navy and air force were also very powerful. Early in the war, owing to its large complement of fleet carriers, it could be said that the IJN was the most powerful navy in the world. The Japanese surface fleet inflicted heavy defeats on the Allies early in the war, as well as against the US navy around Guadalcanal. Their carrier force defeated the Americans at Coral Sea and Santa Cruz, and secured a draw at the Eastern Solomons. The IJN continued to be a factor right up to its destruction at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest sea battle in history, which involved tens of thousands of casualties on both sides.

(According to Hara's Japanese Destroyer Captain Appendix C)

During the air struggle for the Pacific, the United States (not to speak of the other Allied countries) lost 21,555 planes, while the Japanese lost 43,125 (including those aircraft lost against other countries, such as China, India, Australia, etc.)

As far as numerical strength goes, Hara cites Japanese military manpower in 1945 as 7,373,223,(compared to the peak strength of the Wehrmacht, which John Keegan in The Times Atlas of the Second World War lists as 10,800,000), far from the 2-5 million listed in the first answer.

Lastly, when planning for an invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall), the US, not knowing the full extent of Japan's preparation, still expected to incur up to 4,000,000 casualties to achieve final victory there, not including the herculean efforts it would require to annihilate the Japanese armies remaining on continental Asia.

These facts and figures do not seem consistent with a military power that is "weak and hopeless" according to the first answer. To characterize Fascist Japan as that is both disrespectful and insulting to the memory of the millions of Allied soldiers and civilians who gave the ultimate sacrifice to expunge its putrid Evil from the face of the Earth.