WWII Pacific Theatre Trivia Quiz

Answer: Showa

As mentioned above, Hirohito legally reigned as the Showa Emperor. However, according to tradition, Showa became his posthumous name upon death. The other three options were the names of Hirohito's three most recent predecessors.

Answer: He shot himself in the temple to prevent capture in the cave that was his final headquarters

Nagumo was one of the few Japanese officers to oddly choose the standard European form of military suicide over the traditional ritual used by the Japanese. His body was recovered by the United States later and buried around the same time as his army counterpart, Saito, who had chosen the Japanese ritual of Hara Kiri instead.

Answer: USS Enterprise

USS Enterprise had been on her way back to Pearl on the 7th. She missed the attack by less than 6 hours, which would prove to be a decisive factor in the future.

Answer: Mineichi Koga

Koga was made temporary commander of the Combined Fleet after Yamamoto was killed. He drowned after his plane was caught in a storm.

Answer: Gyokusai

Gyokusai translated to a million pieces of shattered jade, derived from an ancient Chinese saying.

Answer: They had a overwhelming economic and technological advantage

While the other three were somewhat true under some conditions, the main reason agreed on by most people was technology and supplies. While the Germans had a reasonable arsenal of jets and other bizarre weapons, (including UFO style planes), they lacked enough supplies to sustain the program.

The Japanese outnumbered the Allies in nearly every battle, but lacked the technology to win. Unlike the United States, the Japanese did not consider their lives theirs upon entering a battlefield and surrendered only on rare occasions.

Answer: USS Ranger

The USS Enterprise, Ranger, and Saratoga were the only carriers to be built before the war to survive it. Wasp was sunk by a Japanese submarine, and Hornet was sunk during the Battle of Santa Cruz. Langley, was also sunk early in the war, less than three months after Pearl Harbor (by Japanese bombers).

Answer: Simon Buckner

While all of them were killed in action during WWII, Buckner ranked the highest among them, a Lt. General. Patton was of lower rank, and died after a freak accident (or perhaps planned assassination) on Europe. The other two were the highest officers aboard the USS Arizona when she was sunk at Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Issac C Kidd, and Captain Franklin van Valkenburgh.

Answer: Masafumi Arima

Arima led a 100 plane attack on the American Fleet at Leyte Gulf. He reportedly dove his plane into the USS Franklin, though this was not confirmed. However, as it was good propaganda, the Japanese quickly showered him with posthumous promotions and recognition and named him the first kamikaze pilot of the war (though many others have previously performed this action earlier in many different countries (China, USA, Britain, France, Germany, Russia).

Answer: Honda

Kawasaki and Mitsubishi both produced warplanes for the Army and Navy. Toyota built many trucks for infantry transportation. Honda could not have helped with any war effort as it was founded years after the war had ended.