63: Why did Japan attack itself?

63: Why did Japan attack itself?

From Dad and Me Love History by Paul Letters - WW2 novelist, broadcaster, history teacher; James Letters -

August 10, 2025 · 15 min

About this episode

This episode explores Japan's self-attack in 1931 and its implications for World War II.

Did WWII really start in 1931 in Asia? Yes, it pretty much did - ten years before Pearl Harbor. Today, we investigate how and why the Japanese Empire attacked itself – and how that led to war with China and beyond! We are joined by expert historian, Quin Cho (Archival Researcher for https://www.pacificatrocities.org/) . Quin has literally written the book on this: The Kwantung Army and the Japanese Occupation of Manchuria, available from September 2025. This is the second of three episodes in Dad & Me's series on modern Japan. Check out the photos from our research trip on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/ After the end theme music, you'll find these questions: When did World War II begin for the USA? When did World War II begin in Europe? In Asia-Pacific, war began between Japan and which country? How did Japan fake an attack on the Japanese-owned railway in Manchurian, in north-east China in 1931? Which country faked an attack against Poland in 1939? Why do you think these countries choose to fake an attack by the other side? Here's our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media: dadandmelovehistory.com - here, you can also…

People in this episode

Hosts: Paul Letters, James Letters

Guest: Quin Cho

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pacific Atrocities Research

Books & works: The Kwantung Army and the Japanese Occupation of Manchuria

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