Japan:

Japan was the first nation to initiate war in World War II when it attacked Manchuria in 1931. Japan at this time was run largely by the military with the support Emperor Hirohito. In 1937 Japan used an accidental meeting of Japanese and Chinese forces as a pretext for war. By the end of that year, Japan had effectively blockaded Chinese ports and controlled most of northern China. As Japanese forces neared central China, they were checked by Chinese guerrillas. This brought the Sino-Japenese portion of World War II to a stalemate in 1938. At the outbreak of European war in 1939, Japanese forces took an opportunity to expand into even more areas. In 1940 they invaded French Indochina with the support of Vichy France, and attempted to assert influence in the Dutch East Indies. They signed a neutrality pact with the USSR in 1941, despite opposition from Germany. However, Japan ignored this opposition, as Germany had previous signed a similar pact with the USSR. In October of that year, General Hideki Tojo became the prime minister of Japan, and the Japanese military and executive branches were then melded into one unit. On December 7, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, provoking all Allied nations save the USSR to declare war on Japan. Japanese aggression continued in the South Pacific and was often supported by locals against the European imperialists in many areas. Following the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, the tide of the war began to shift in favor of the U.S. Soon U.S. forces had pushed the Japanese back significantly, and by 1944 it was clear Japan was going to lose the war. Despite the losing war effort, the Japanese refused to surrender, even after most of their metropolitan areas were destroyed by firebombing. However, on August 6, the United States dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, and two days later, the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria, North Korea, and other territories. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, and Japan conceded unconditional surrender on August 14. Following the war, the Japanese empire was dissolved, and Hirohito was forced to denounce his divinity, but allowed to remain as a figurehead ruler. American occupation was not resisted, and under Douglas MacArthur, the Japanese became a westernized nation with a democratic government that was consistent with the doctrine of the United States at the time.

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