This force was intended to defend the Japanese mainland in case of invasion, but due to Japan's surrender in August that year, it was never properly mobilized.

Japan recognised that they would not be able to win a protracted war with the Allied Powers, and suggested that such operations should take no longer than 150 days.

They were expecting that Germany would be able to force a British surrender, and subsequently, America would end the war on terms agreeable to Japanese interests.

[16] A combination of Japanese naval supremacy and the Allied doctrine of 'Europe first' meant they saw relatively little opposition during this stage of the war – 85% of American resources,[17] and 68% of Army personnel went towards the European Theater.

[20] Throughout late 1942 and early 1943, the Japanese offensive in New Guinea lost momentum with losses to Australian and US forces at Milne Bay, along the Kokoda Track and around Buna–Gona.

The battle was the first major Allied victory on land in the Pacific Theater,[23] and Guadalcanal would later be used as the point from which the United States Marines would attack the Palau Islands, Bougainville, and Guam.

[25] Vice Admiral Raizō Tanaka remarked "There is no question that Japan's doom was sealed with the closing of the struggle for Guadalcanal.

[31] Despite the impending catastrophe facing Japan on all fronts, the Kwantung Army commander, General Yamada, and his top leadership, continued to live "in a fool's paradise.

"[32] Even after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August, there was no sense of crisis, and special war games (expected to last for five days and attended by a number of high-ranking officers) were conducted near the borders, with Yamada flying to Dairen to dedicate a shrine.

[33] The Japanese offered vicious resistance when they were allowed to stand and fight, such as at Mutanchiang and Karafuto, but almost without exception they were overwhelmed and pushed back from the front.

After some clarifications and a second rescript reaffirming Japan's surrender, General Yamada and his staff abandoned the plan to withdraw to Tonghua even though his command was still mostly intact.

[38][b] In the end, as Foreign Minister Shigemitsu signed the unconditional surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the men of the vaunted Kantogun, having once dreamed of riding into Siberia as conquerors, instead found themselves trudging there as prisoners of war.

They fired from 30-round magazines, loaded from the top, and though these weapons externally resemble the British Bren gun, and are sometimes believed to be copies, they are functionally and internally separate.

[43] Both weapons were derived from the World War I-era Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine gun, and were considerably outdated by the 1930s, but was never properly phased out due to wartime scarcity.

[46] The Type 100 was modelled after the German MP-18, and only a few thousand were built,[47] compared to 1.75 million Thompsons, the SMG in use in the United States.

[52] American light tanks such as the M5 Stuart and medium M3 Lee, while considered inadequate in Europe, were deployed in the Pacific, as they were sufficient in dealing with the Japanese.

[53] Especially in later stages of the Pacific War such as Battle of Okinawa and Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Japanese forces decided to use suicide bomber squads strapped with grenades and explosives as their main improvised anti-tank weapon.

Water purifiers, anti-mosquito equipment and inspect repellent were given to soldiers to adapt to tropical and jungle areas.

[64] Tactical doctrine relied on unrelenting attack and surprise, to such an extent that the word 'retreat' was de facto banned.

Towards the end of the war, banzai charges became less frequent due to their ineffectiveness, as the Marines had sufficient firepower and training to deal with them.

[67] During the Battle of Iwo Jima, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi prohibited banzai charges, as he believed they were a waste of manpower.

[72] These suicides were motivated by a combination of bushido, which was enforced through propaganda, as well as reports that American soldiers would mutilate dead Japanese, sometimes taking their teeth and skulls as war trophies.

[74] After Japan's surrender, many Imperial Japanese Army officers and enlisted men were tried for committing numerous atrocities and war crimes in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.