Modern Era
Battle of Midway (1942): The Turning Point in the Pacific War
Decisive US victory; Japan lost four fleet carriers and the initiative in the Pacific passed to the Allies.
Region
Asia
Modern Era
Kamikaze Attacks (1944–1945): Japan's Special Attack Units
Kamikaze aircraft sank dozens of Allied ships and killed thousands of sailors but could not stop the Allied advance on Japan.
Modern Era
Battles of Imphal and Kohima (1944): Turning the Tide in Burma
Decisive Allied victory; the Japanese 15th Army was shattered, opening the way for the reconquest of Burma.
Modern Era
Battle of the Philippine Sea (1944): The Marianas Turkey Shoot
Decisive US victory; Japan lost three carriers and most of its carrier aircraft and aircrews, and the Marianas were secured.
Modern Era
Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944): The Largest Naval Battle in History
Decisive Allied victory; the Imperial Japanese Navy lost most of its remaining strength and could no longer fight as a fleet.
Modern Era
Soviet Invasion of Manchuria (1945): Operation August Storm
Soviet victory; the Kwantung Army surrendered, about 600,000 Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner, and the Soviet entry into the war contributed to Japan's decision to surrender.
Modern Era
Bombing of Tokyo (1945): The Operation Meetinghouse Firestorm
About 41 square kilometres of eastern Tokyo burned, an estimated 80,000–100,000 or more people died and over a million were made homeless in the deadliest single air raid in history.
Modern Era
Surrender of Japan (1945): VJ Day and the End of World War II
Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration and signed the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945, ending the Second World War and beginning the Allied occupation of Japan.
Modern Era
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki (1945): Fat Man and Its Victims
The second and so far last use of a nuclear weapon in war devastated the Urakami valley of Nagasaki and killed an estimated 40,000–80,000 people by the end of 1945.
Modern Era
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima (1945): The First Nuclear Attack
The first use of a nuclear weapon in war destroyed most of Hiroshima and killed an estimated 90,000–140,000 people by the end of 1945.
Modern Era
Battle of Okinawa (1945): The Last Great Battle of the Pacific
US victory after nearly three months; Okinawa became the main staging base for a planned invasion of Japan, at a cost of well over 200,000 military and civilian lives.
Modern Era
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945): The Marines and Mount Suribachi
US victory after five weeks of fighting; almost the entire Japanese garrison was killed, and the island's airfields were used by American aircraft for the rest of the war.