00:00

Up next

Dad and Me Love History63: Why did Japan attack itself?
14 min

63: Why did Japan attack itself?

Listened

Did WWII really start in 1931 in Asia?

Yes, it pretty much did - ten years before Pearl Harbor. Today, we investigate how and why the Japanese Empire attacked itself – and how that led to war with China and beyond! We are joined by expert historian, Quin Cho (Archival Researcher for https://www.pacificatrocities.org/). Quin has literally written the book on this: The Kwantung Army and the Japanese Occupation of Manchuria, available from September 2025.

Read more
Listen now14 min

© Paul LettersLength 14 min10 August 2025HistoryEducationalUKEpisodic

Season 1 Teaser with James and Dad

Season 1 Teaser with James and Dad

This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

Listen to episode one here
6-1011+HistoryEducationalUKEpisodic10 August 2025© Paul Letters

Did WWII really start in 1931 in Asia?

Yes, it pretty much did - ten years before Pearl Harbor. Today, we investigate how and why the Japanese Empire attacked itself – and how that led to war with China and beyond! We are joined by expert historian, Quin Cho (Archival Researcher for https://www.pacificatrocities.org/). Quin has literally written the book on this: The Kwantung Army and the Japanese Occupation of Manchuria, available from September 2025.

This is the second of three episodes in Dad & Me's series on modern Japan. Check out the photos from our research trip on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

After the end theme music, you'll find these questions:

When did World War II begin for the USA?

When did World War II begin in Europe?

In Asia-Pacific, war began between Japan and which country?

How did Japan fake an attack on the Japanese-owned railway in Manchurian, in north-east China in 1931?

Which country faked an attack against Poland in 1939?

Why do you think these countries choose to fake an attack by the other side?

Here's our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media: dadandmelovehistory.com - here, you can also listen to episodes.

We also strongly recommend the family-friendly History Detective podcast, as advertised in our pod. Check out historydetectivepodcast.com!

For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad's World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad's first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II.

Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app!

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2025 © BBC


© Paul Letters |Original Episode URL. The content, artwork and advertising within this podcast is not owned or affiliated with Sound Carrot and remain the property of their respective owners.


Find your next favourite Podcast

Sound Carrot is your source for Family Podcast Discovery. Verified awesome, 0% boring.

Privacy Focused

Distraction free website, no flashing banners or adverts to steal your attention.
(Some shows do contain their own ads however).

Kid verified

At first I made this site for my kids, but like any dad I got a little over excited. I hope you find it as useful as they do.

Family Friendly

Whether you want to listen to them together in the car, or alone in your room - the content is all safe for younger ears.