Even though the 1937 invasion of China can be considered all out war - an invasion of several hundred thousand men, coordinated with amphibious landings - torching of major cities such as Nanjing - Japan did not declare war against China. Why did Japan continue to call this an "incident"?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Contextual note: The question asks why, despite a large-scale invasion, Japan chose to classify it as an "incident" rather than a declared war. Each option presents a different rationale that could have influenced such framing.
Option 1: 'Japanese leaders were worried about public opinion in Japan, which might turn against the war. Playing down the magnitude of the war was part of placating the Japanese public.' While domestic sentiment is a factor in wartime messaging, the specific historical motivation for labeling the events as an incident was more strategically tied to international reactions and concessions rather than a simple aim to protect public opinion at home. This option understates the international policy calculus that guided the terminology.
Option 2: 'Japanese leaders were worried about public opinion among its allies in Germany and Italy.' Although wartime alliance considerations could influence policy, Germany and Italy were not the primary drivers for Japan’s cautious linguistic framing of its actions in China. The Tripartite Axis alignment did not depend on how Japan described the conflict with China, so this rationale is less direct and not the central constraint documented by historians.
Option 3: 'Japanese leaders were worried about economic sanctions by the US, since it relied on imported raw materials from the US.' This is the core strategic concern underpinning the decision to keep the hostilities classified as an "incident" rather than a full-scale war. By avoiding a formal declaration of war, Japan aimed to minimize triggers for a broader Western response, keeping channels open and delaying complete economic and diplomatic reprisals as much as possible, given its dependence on US-imported raw materials.
Option 4: 'Japanese leaders were worried about public opinion in the Soviet Union fearing an attack by the Soviets on Manchuria.' The Soviet threat to Manchuria did exist historically later in 1945, but at the time of the 1937 Sino-Japanese conflict, the direct concern about Soviet reaction was not the primary lever in the decision to label the events as an incident. This option misattributes the principal strategic concern to a later stage of geopolitics rather than the immediate wartime diplomacy.
Overall, the justification centers on the strategic aim to avoid provoking costly economic sanctions and broader economic disruption from the United States, given Japan’s heavy reliance on imported raw materials from the US. The other options appropriately identify factors that can influence wartime framing in some contexts, but they do not capture the central economic-calculus motive that historians emphasize for why Japan downplayed the conflict as an incident rather than declaring war.

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