West Wind Clear: Cryptology and the Winds Message Controversy--A Documentary History

Chapter 1. Background: Interwar U.S. – Japan Relations and Cryptology

In the Pacific, the years between the end of the First World War and the attack on Pearl Harbor saw the growth of the strategic rivalry between the United States and Japan in East Asia, especially centered on events in China. Japan had occupied and detached China's industrial north, Manchuria, and created the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. In 1937, in response to an incident outside of Beijing, Japan invaded China from the north and east. Tokyo's hopes for a quick campaign faded in the face of Chinese resistance and the sheer territorial enormity of China. Japanese forces could not force a military solution and were mired down. The war absorbed Japan's economic and military ...