On November 5, 1941, the Combined Japanese Fleet receive Top-
Secret Order No. 1: In just over a month’s time, Pearl Harbor is
to be bombed, along with Malaya (now known as Malaysia), the
Dutch East Indies and the Philippines.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Commander-in-Chief of the
Japanese Combined Fleet who planned the attack.

On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal,
leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign.

The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the
Solomon Islands.

Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands
and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean.

"Guadalcanal" Painting by Keinichi Nakamura 1943.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Port Arthur, the Russian naval
base in China, fell to Japanese naval forces under Admiral
Heihachiro Togo. It was the first in a series of defeats that by
June turned the tide of the imperial conflict irrevocably against
Russia.

In February 1904, following a Russian rejection of a Japanese plan
to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan
launched a surprise naval attack on Port Arthur, decimating the
Russian fleet. In the subsequent fighting, Japan won a series of
decisive victories over the Russians, who underestimated the
military potential of its non-Western opponent.

Surrender of the Russian defenders to the Japanese after the Siege of Port Arthur, Russo-Japanese War.