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X-Day: The Invasion of Japan poster

X-Day: The Invasion of Japan

Film100 min

Directed by Andy Webb

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By spring of 1942, Japan controlled the western Pacific, the Philippines, and large parts of Indochina. America and her allies knew that final victory could only be achieved by unconditional surrender and that would involve occupation of the Japanese homeland. This is the story Operation Downfall, the plan to invade and occupy Japan that would dwarf the D-Day landings in Europe. According to the plan, on X-Day--November 1, 1945--General MacArthur would lead an invasion force onto the beaches of Kyushu, the southern most of the Japanese Islands. Y-Day would follow six months later when the largest beach landing in military history would take Tokyo. Politicians and military strategists knew that Japanese resistance would be ferocious. Plans for the invasion continued throughout 1945 until President Truman made the decision to drop the atom bomb. We trace the invasion plans from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and analyze why Truman chose the bomb over Operation Downfall.Read moreLess

By spring of 1942, Japan controlled the western Pacific, the Philippines, and large parts of Indochina. America and her allies knew that final victory could only be achieved by unconditional surrender and that would involve occupation of the Japanese homeland. This is the story Operation Downfall, the plan to invade and occupy Japan that would dwarf the D-Day landings in Europe. According to the plan, on X-Day--November 1, 1945--General MacArthur would lead an invasion force onto the beaches of Kyushu, the southern most of the Japanese Islands. Y-Day would follow six months later when the largest beach landing in military history would take Tokyo. Politicians and military strategists knew that Japanese resistance would be ferocious. Plans for the invasion continued throughout 1945 until President Truman made the decision to drop the atom bomb. We trace the invasion plans from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and analyze why Truman chose the bomb over Operation Downfall.

The story

By spring of 1942, Japan controlled the western Pacific, the Philippines, and large parts of Indochina. America and her allies knew that final victory could only be achieved by unconditional surrender and that would involve occupation of the Japanese homeland. This is the story Operation Downfall, the plan to invade and occupy Japan that would dwarf the D-Day landings in Europe. According to the plan, on X-Day--November 1, 1945--General MacArthur would lead an invasion force onto the beaches of Kyushu, the southern most of the Japanese Islands. Y-Day would follow six months later when the largest beach landing in military history would take Tokyo. Politicians and military strategists knew that Japanese resistance would be ferocious. Plans for the invasion continued throughout 1945 until President Truman made the decision to drop the atom bomb. We trace the invasion plans from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and analyze why Truman chose the bomb over Operation Downfall.

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Cast & crew

Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltSelf (archive footage)
Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthurSelf (archive footage)
Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSelf (archive footage)
Edward Desrosiers
Edward Desrosiers
Self - 1st Battalion, Iwo Jima
Chester W. NimitzChester W. NimitzSelf (archive footage)
Alfred Cialfi
Alfred Cialfi
Self - 2nd Battalion, Iwo Jima
Daniel Vece Jr.
Daniel Vece Jr.
Self - Pioneer Battalion, Iwo Jima
Bernard Dobbins
Bernard Dobbins
Self - 3rd Battalion, Iwo Jima
George Abel
George Abel
Self - 1st Battalion, Iwo Jima
Haruyo Nihei
Haruyo Nihei
Self - Tokyo Ari Raid Survivor
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Director
Andy Webb