The episode opens on the Empire of Japan rising on the international Stage. In 1931, the political structures that allowed the military to operate outside of the control of civilian government result in the invasion of Manchuria. A new view of Japan's divine destiny under the Emperor emerges. Political ideology grows to support Japanese expansion. 1937 sees the full-scale invasion of China. The episode closes on the surprise attack of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.
In a few weeks a vast empire has been created. The episode begins with Victory in Malaya and the fall of Singapore. Then the Philippines and Burma fall, and Thailand is bullied into an alliance. On the Home Front, people are rejoicing and presents are distributed to every household. But the successes create a logistical nightmare. The effect of the belligerent lack of cooperation between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Navy is explored. Only six months after Pearl Harbor, the war begins to turn.
The episode turns attention to the experience in the occupied territories; the various puppet governments, resistance and attempts at guerrilla-warfare. The treatment of POWs is examined. The political influence of the industrial and financial elite is ongoing. There is a growing awareness of the truth in the Japanese population - domestic propaganda begins to contradict lived experience. Japanese industry fails to keep pace with the demands of the military. Allied victories begin to draw in the net.
U.S bombing pounds the Japanese home islands. Slave labour and sex slavery are evident. In August 1945, atomic bombs fall on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Calls for surrender are resisted and as agreed at Potsdam, the Red Army invades Manchuria. For the first time the Japanese hear the voice of their Emperor in a broadcast telling them to “bear the unbearable”. Finally, General MacArthur accepts Japan’s surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers. Japan begins the slow journey to miraculous recovery.
