ABSTRACT
The topic of Japanese-German relations in general, and specifically during World War II, has been little explored. The great bulk of German and Japanese commanders and leaders had little sense of global inter-relationships. Mistrust, envy, suspicion, treachery, and notions of racial superiority prevented Germany and Japan from coming to terms and communicating frankly. Indeed, the Japanese in particular were actually afraid of German successes. German victories in Europe from 1938 to 1942 left Japan concerned that it might lose its share of Asia if Germany dominated Europe. Germany badly needed Japanese raw materials and Japan needed German high technology products. In an Anglo-American dominated democratic capitalist world, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were revisionist powers that wished to destroy the status quo. Germany was operating in the heart of Europe, then the center of world politics, while Japan was operating on the fringe of Eurasia, at the periphery of world politics.
