What is Japanese occupation of Singapore?
{{nosources|date=December 2010}} The '''Japanese Occupation of Singapore''' is a time from 1942-1945 (during [[World War II]]) where the [[Japan]]ese [[Military occupation|occupied]] [[Singapore]]. Japan attacked because Singapore was an important naval base for controlling other areas. The occupation started after the [[army]] of [[Japan]] defeated [[garrison]] troops from [[Australia]], [[British Malaya]], [[Britain]], and [[India]]. This was at the [[Battle of Singapore]]. The British decided to [[wikt:surrender|surrender]] to the Japanese on 15 February 1942 at the Ford Motor Factory. The city was renamed to [[Syonan-to]] (pronounced as Sho-nan-to), meaning Light of the South, during the rule. It was officially returned to the British after the peace treaty ending World War II was signed. The Japanese did not treat the people very well during their occupation. There was a large amount of [[inflation]] because the Japanese printed paper money for Singapore to use, which did not have any identification numbers. Also called 'banana notes' as they had a picture of a banana tree on them, the paper notes could have been printed by people who had a modern-day printer and sufficient paper. == Timeline == In 1941, due to the weak [[defense (military)|defense]]s, the Japanese [[attack]]ed Singapore. They landed on Singaporean soil on the 9th of February 1942 and took control of the colony on 15 February 1942, soon renaming it [[Syonan-to]] (pronounced as Sio-nan-to or Sho-nan-to), meaning Light of the South Island, during the rule.<ref>[https://webworthseo.com/archive-the-battle-for-singapore/ Japanese Occupation] Archived from [http://library.thinkquest.org/10414/japan.html Original Link]{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Many people suffered during this time till the Japanese surrendered and the British returned to Singapore in September 1945. == The Black Market == During the Japanese Occupation, the trade was disrupted, resulting in scarcity of food and other