COLD OPEN:
We're reading from "How the Japanese Army Fights," a 162-page wartime intelligence study published in 1942. This document, written by Lt. Cols. P.W. Thompson, H. Doud, and J. Scofield, was originally published in the Infantry Journal. It provides a detailed knowledge of the Japanese Army as it existed in 1942. The study is notable for its candid assessment of the Japanese military's strengths and weaknesses. Source: https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/various-wwii-reports-and-documents/ https://www.theblackvault.com/documents/wwii/marine1/1222.pdf
PROVENANCE:
This document was released through The Black Vault, a website that provides access to declassified government records. The document is a reprint of a historical work, not available elsewhere, and is part of the U.S. Marine Corps' Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) series. No FOIA case number is available for this release.
THE DOCUMENT:
FMFRP 12-22 How the Japanese Army Fights U.S. Marine Corps PCN 14012220000 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY Headquarters United States Marine Corps Washington, DC 20380-0001 FOREWORD 27 April 1989 1. PURPOSE Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-22, How the Japanese Army Fights, is published to ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine or to be published in Fleet Marine Force manuals.
2. SCOPE This reference publication was written by Lt. Cols. P.W. Thompson, H. Doud, and J. Scofield, and published originally in the Infantry Journal. It provides the reader with a detailed knowledge of the Japanese Army as it existed in 1942. From its organization and history, from arms and equipment, to analysis of the Japanese Army in campaign and in battle, the book is an excellent study of the Japanese soldier as an individual and his army as a whole.
3. CERTIFICATION Reviewed and approved this date. BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS Major General, U.S. Marine Corps Deputy Commander for Warfighting Marine Corps Combat Development Command Quantico, Virginia
INTRODUCTION We Americans have learned much about the Jap since December 7, 1941—much that we should have known earlier had we not been blind to the dire necessity of knowing. And now that the necessity and the desire are in our minds and hearts, no book on the Army of the Jap needs an introduction. We must know our foes and know them well.
CHAPTER 1 BEHIND THE FOG OF WAR A Glance at the History and Organization of the Jap Army [Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Thompson, Corps of Engineers; who has written this brief estimate of the history, organization, and men of the Jap Army, is also the author of Chapters 4 and 5, in which he describes the methods used by the Japanese forces in specific campaigns in China and Malaya.]
THE BUILDINGS in Tokyo from which the Japanese Imperial General Staff does a fair job of directing far-flung military activities are old and have a down-at-the-heels appearance. In a sense, these structural eyesores set the motif for the Japanese Army. It is an army which looks like hell—but which performs acceptably. At least it has performed acceptably so far.
To attempt an estimate of the Japanese Army is something like attempting to describe the other side of the moon, the side which is never turned toward us. The Japs have never been ones to flaunt their business in the open; but since about 1937—the year marking the beginning of big-time Jap aggression—the veil they have thrown up around their military establishment and operations has been well-nigh impenetrable.
CONTEXT:
The U.S. Marine Corps' publication of this study acknowledges the importance of understanding the Japanese military's strengths and weaknesses. The study's candid assessment of the Japanese Army's organization, history, and tactics provides valuable insights for military strategists.
OUTRO:
This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. The study of the Japanese Army's strengths and weaknesses, as presented in "How the Japanese Army Fights," offers a candid assessment of the military's organization, history, and tactics. The document is available at https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/various-wwii-reports-and-documents/ https://www.theblackvault.com/documents/wwii/marine1/1222.pdf.
