Karafuto Prefecture
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Karafuto Prefecture was established by the Empire of Japan in 1907 to govern the southern part of Sakhalin. This territory became part of the Empire of Japan in 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War, when
The Karafuto Prefectural Office in Toyohara
A Japanese soldier at the border between the Karafuto Prefecture and Soviet Sakhalin
This Japanese D51 steam locomotive stands outside the present day Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. They were used by the Soviet Railways until 1979.
The Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin, also known as the Battle of Sakhalin, was the Soviet invasion of the Japanese portion of Sakhalin Island also known as Karafuto Prefecture. The invasion was part
Karafuto Prefecture
…from 1905 to 1908 and Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) from 1908 to 1945. In August 1945, the Japanese administration ceased to function following the Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin. The Soviet Union annexed Karafuto Prefecture, although it continued to exist under Japanese law until Japan formally abolished it in June 1949. The…
Japanese Border Police: Countering the Soviet Army along with Army forces
The urban area of Esutoru Town (Hama District)
The city of Maoka Town before the Soviet military invasion
A Soviet soldier advances over the bodies of Japanese soldiers at Mooka and the Kumosa Pass.