Battle of Saipan - Aftermath

Aftermath

Saipan, one of the 15 chain islands of the Mariana, was only approximately 1,300 mi (1,100 nmi; 2,100 km) away from home islands of Japan. It was a very important strategic point for the U.S. during the second world war in the pacific theater. It was the key position for the Americans to bring the war to Japanese home land.

After the battle, Saipan became an important base for further operations in the Marianas, and then for the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Bombers based at Saipan attacked the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands and Japan. In response, Japanese aircraft attacked Saipan and Tinian on several occasions between November 1944 and January 1945. With the position secured, American army could also make advancement in the Philippines and also make direct contact with its Chinese ally.

For the Japanese, the defeat in the battle made the futility of the War in the Pacific all the more apparent. According to one Japanese admiral: "Our war was lost with the loss of Saipan." The famous American Marine Corps General Holland Smith said "it was the decisive battle of the Pacific offensive" and "it opened the way to the Japanese home islands." Four months later, the 100 B-29 bombers that took off from Saipan and attacked Tokyo, showed the decision to take Saipan was correct.

The loss of Saipan was a heavy blow to the Japanese ambition. A meeting of senior generals and admirals decided that a symbolic change of leadership should be made and Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō should step aside. In addition, the Emperor should move away from day-to-day affairs so as to avoid looking too directly involved with the now losing war, to distance himself from blame if the war were lost. "shogun" Tōjō. Tōjō agreed and submitted his resignation. Emperor Hirohito—considering Tōjō the strongest war leader Japan had—resisted. Tōjō considered trying to shuffle the Cabinet but encountered too much hostility and gave up. On 18 July, Tōjō submitted again his resignation, this time unequivocally. His entire cabinet resigned with him.

During the course of the battle, Japanese accounts for the home front had concentrated on the fighting spirit and the heavy American casualties, but familiarity with geography would demonstrate that the battles slowly progressed northwards as the American forces advanced, and the reports ceased with the final battle, which was not reported to the public. After Tōjō's resignation, an accurate, almost day-by-day, account of the fall was published by the army and navy, including the nearly total loss of all Japanese soldiers and civilians on the island, and the use of "human bullets"; the report had devastating effects on Japan, with the mass suicides being taken not as evidence of the Imperial Way but of defeat. This was the first time that the Japanese forces had accurately depicted a battle since Midway, which they had proclaimed a victory.

A group of Japanese soldiers, led by IJA Captain Sakae Oba, held out in the mountains until 1 December 1945. A total of 46 men laid down their arms when the final order to surrender reached them. A movie called 「太平洋の奇跡−フォックスと呼ばれた男−」“Taiheiyou no Kiseki ~Fox to Yobareta Otoko” (Miracle in Pacific – The man who was called Fox) about these survivors and their 512 day resistance was released in Japan on 11 February 2011.

After the war concluded, apologists for Hirohito asserted that the order encouraging the civilians of Saipan to commit suicide for benefits in the afterlife had in fact been forged, along with other incriminating orders. Historian David Bergamini considers this unlikely, writing that "half the staff of the palace would have felt obliged to cut open their bellies if the sacred seals of the Throne had ever been misapplied."