Japan is split into two entities after the end of the Second World War in December 1945. East Japan or the People's Republic of Japan created by the Soviets, and West Japan a state formed by the United States, Great Britain and the Commonwealth of Australia.
Within five years following Operation Olympic and the Soviet invasion, the Japanese people are thrust into the center of a new war between Communist and Non Communist entities.
-August 5th, 1945, The "Enola Gay" drops A-bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
-August 8th, The Soviet Union declares war on the Empire of Japan.
-August 9th, The Soviet Union invades Manchuria.
-August 9th, Second A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
-August 9th, The "Big Six" i.e. The Supreme War Council of the Japanese Government enter debate on whether to accept conditions of the Potsdam Declaration.
- August 11th, 3:54 a.m. Japanese Minister of the Navy, Mitsumasa Yonai, member of the Six and supporter of surrender and acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration collapses after lengthy debate with opponents. Yonai enters coma from presumed brain aneurism and dies 7:19 a.m.
-August 12th, the Council advises Emperoro Hirohito that surrender is unacceptable and that too many lives have been sacrificed thus far for such an outcome. The fate of Japan must be decided on home soil. Hirohito quietly acquiesces to decision.
-August 14th, Royal Fleet Air Arm aircraft from HMS Colossus and HMS Glory conduct air strikes against Yokosuka's port facilities.
-August 18th, Soviets invade Sakhalin and Kuril Islands.
-August 19th, Soviet invasion force meets heavy resistance from Japanese defenders on Sakhalin.
-August 19th, Soviet Naval Infantry along with the 113th Infantry Brigade land at Maoka near southern tip of Sakhalin. Landing troops meet heavier than anticipated resistance from Japanese defenders.
-August 19th, US military planners have preliminary date for Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu for first week in October, 1945.
-August 20th, Japanese submarine I-204 on war patrol off of Kuril Island of Shumshu torpedos and sinks Soviet transport vessel carrying elements of the 87th Rifle Corps.
-August 20th, Heavy fighting continues in and around the town of Maoka. Soviet navy vessels bombard the town to break continued resistance, killing many civilians. This act becomes known as the Maoka Massacre.
-August 21st, Remnants of the Japanese 88th Infantry Division exhausted from fighting pull back towards Toyohara.
-August 25th, Soviet Naval Infantry and Army units land at Otomari and enter Toyohara later that day. The remaining Japanese forces in the town surrender without firing a shot.
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PRJ EastJapan in red. FRJ West Japan in blue.