The Fujita Plan: Japanese Attacks on the United States and Australia during the Second World War

by Mark Felton

After the staggering success of the Pearl Harbor surprise attack, the Japanese plotted to maintain the initiative and spread fear and panic among the civil population of the United States and Australia.

With his usual skilled research the author has uncovered numerous plans. Some like the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour and the daring Seaplane air raids on Oregon were put into effect. Others never reached that stage due to either impracticality, bad luck or counter-espionage.

The Fujita Plan throws fascinating new light on a little known aspect of the Second World War.

Hardcover

First published December 7, 2006

About the author

British military historian and author. For more information visit www.markfelton.co.uk

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells an exciting and interesting story in a rather dry way at times, which may put off some readers. It's not long enough to be a slog, and the topic is unusual enough that those interested in the odd bits of World War II history will find it very interesting. The technical details of the Japanese fire balloons and other unusual attack forms were interesting, as were the bits about the submarine technology.
The stories of the successes and failures of the submarine attacks were interesting, and the aircraft carrier submarines were a fascinating concept.
There were a few editorial comments which, while probably justified, felt out of place in a historical work of this type. If a book is going to talk about the atrocities committed by some Japanese commanders, then I'd also like to know more about why this happened, even if inconsistently. In the case of prisoners, readers of World War II history have been told that the principles of bushido led commanders to treat POWs as being failures, worthy of extra punishment. The murder of civilians in lifeboats is something else, though, and explanations in this book fail to address that. It's not the same as killing enemy combatants to keep them from coming back at you later.

[Alex Frame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating work on the lesser known Japanese attacks , raids and reconnaissance during WW2 by submarines,planes and balloons on the USA and Australia.
Includes incendiary bombs dropped in Oregon forests, unmanned balloon raids over mainland USA and a mission to land in North Western Australia and explore inland.
Apart from the famous Sydney submarine attack , reconnaissance missions were flown over Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and in New Zealand Wellington and Auckland .
Always good to learn some new facts from the war.

[Vinayak Malik · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a collection of isolated attacks on merchant shipping than a concentrated plan. It was a difficult narrative to keep engaging