Occupied Nauru ナウル | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942–1945 | |||||||||
 Nauru during World War II | |||||||||
| Status | Military occupation by the Empire of Japan | ||||||||
| Common languages | Japanese, English, Nauruan | ||||||||
| Japanese Governor | |||||||||
• 26 August 1942 to 7 March 1943 | Nakayama Hiromi (First) | ||||||||
• 7 March 1943 to 13 July 1943 | Takenouchi Takenao | ||||||||
• 13 July 1943 to 13 September 1945 | Soeda Hisayuki | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||
• Established | 1942 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 21 August 1945 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Nauru | ||||||||
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The Japanese occupation of Nauru was the period of three years (26 August 1942 – 13 September 1945) during which Nauru, a Pacific island which at that time was under Australian administration, was occupied by the Japanese military as part of its operations in the Pacific War during World War II. With the onset of the war, the islands that flanked Japan's South Seas possessions became of vital concern to Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and in particular to the Imperial Navy, which was tasked with protecting Japan's outlying Pacific territories.[1]
The Japanese hoped to exploit the island's phosphate resources, and to build up their military defences in the area. They were unable to relaunch phosphate mining operations, but succeeded in transforming Nauru into a powerful stronghold, which United States forces chose to bypass during their reconquest of the Pacific. The most important infrastructure built by the Japanese was an airfield, which was the target of repeated Allied air strikes.
The war deeply affected the local population. The Japanese enforced a harsh regime, particularly on Chinese labourers who they saw as being at the bottom of the racial hierarchy; forced labour and brutal treatment were commonplace. They decided to deport the majority of Nauru's indigenous population to the Truk islands, hundreds of miles away, where mortality was extremely high. Still overpopulated with troops and imported labourers, the island was subject to food shortages, which worsened as the Allies' island-hopping strategy left Nauru completely cut off.
Although effectively neutralised by Allied air and sea control, the Japanese garrison did not surrender until eleven days after the official surrender of Japan.
- ^ Stanley C. Jersey (29 February 2004). "The Battle for Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll". Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2011.