Brunei during the Japanese occupation

Japanese occupation of Brunei means the time or when the Japanese occupied, stayed in Brunei and ruled Brunei.

On 16 December 1941, The Japanese army landed in Brunei at Kuala Belait. The British were easily defeated by the Japanese as they were unprepared and outnumbered.

The Japanese began an attack on Kuala Belait because of the district’s economic importance. After capturing Kuala Belait, The Japanese army moved on to Brunei Town and captured it on 22 December 1941. Due to the superiority of the Japanese army, The Sultan , The Malay Chiefs and the people decided not to resist the Japanese.

While in Borneo, The Japanese introduced a system of administration called ‘ Miri Shyu’. This system brought together Brunei, Labuan, Baram, Limbang, Bantulu and Lawas as one territory. With Brunei under Japanese control, His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin was dismissed with a pension. The new administration was headed by a Japanese military governor. The people began to dislike the Japanese because the Japanese did not care about Brunei’s development. The people live at that time were shortages of food and medical supplied which led to famine and epidemic. The ‘kempeitai’ caught and tortured people who were against the Japanese. Kempeitai mean the Japanese military police who carried out cruel punishment.

The Japanese ruled Brunei for three years. The people suffered shortages of food and medical supplies which led to an outbreak of cholera and malaria epidemics.

There was no development but the feeling of nationalism grew among the local people who led to an awareness of the need for self-rule and the fate of the country decided by its own people.