From the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, a multitude of military and civil-defence forces strove to support the Japanese war effort and latterly prepared to defend the Home Islands against invasion. During World War II, Japan was the world's most militarized society and by 1945 nearly every Japanese male over the age of 10 wore some kind of military attire, as did the majority of women and girls. In this volume, Philip Jowett reveals the many military and civil-defence organizations active in wartime Japan, while specially commissioned artwork and carefully chosen archive photographs depict the appearance of the men, women and children involved in the Japanese war effort in the Home Islands throughout World War II.

Introduction
Medical Services
The Police
The Fire Service
The Keibodan
Civil-defense Organizations
Patriotic Volunteer Groups
Air Defenses
The Transportation System
Industries in Wartime
Daily Life in Wartime Japan
Bibliography
Index

Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961 and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was the ground-breaking Men-at-Arms 306, Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49, and since then he has published numerous other titles for Osprey including MAA 414, The Russo-Japanese War 1904-05, MAA 532, Japan's Asian Allies 1941-45 and NVG 19, Armour in China 1920-1950. He lives in North Lincolnshire, UK.