The Imperial Rule Assistance Association , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his Shintaisei movement. It evolved into a "statist" ruling political party which aimed at removing sectionalism and factionalism from politics and economics in the Empire of Japan, creating a totalitarian one-party state in order to maximize the efficiency of Japan's total war effort in China. When the organization was launched officially, Konoe was hailed as a "political savior" of a nation in chaos; however, internal divisions soon appeared.

The Second Sino-Japanese War was the war fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan from 1937 to 1945 as part of World War II. It is often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. It was the largest Asian war in the 20th century and has been described as "the Asian Holocaust", in reference to the scale of Japanese war crimes against Chinese civilians. It is known in Japan as the Second China–Japan War, and in China as the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.