Japan's WWII Expansion Targets: China, Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands

Imperial Ambitions (1931–1942)

• China: Full-scale invasion from 1937; sought resources and puppet regime.
• Manchuria: Already dominated via Manchukuo (1932); coveted coal, iron, soy.
• Korea: Annexed 1910; integrated as industrial/agricultural base.
• Southeast Asia: Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Philippines—oil, rubber, tin.
• Strategic Pacific Islands: Guam, Wake, Solomons, Gilbert, Marshall—air/naval bases for defense perimeter.

The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was the propaganda banner for this resource-driven conquest.