- noun
1. (the language) Tok Japan
2. (the people) ol Japan
- adjective bilong Japan
FYI
On 23 January 1942, a Japanese seaborne force captured Rabaul, in New Guinea, and on 3 February Japanese planes bombed Port Moresby, the capital of Papua. Between 1942 and the retreat of the Japanese troops in September 1945, 300,000 Japanese fought one million Americans and 500,000 Australians on PNG soil. The Japanese forces sustained heavy casualties and over 200,000 Japanese soldiers died. Some Japanese soldiers treated the local people well. Some treated them very badly.
As its economy recovered after the war Japan began buying PNG copper and timber and investing in timber and fishing projects. Japanese were also interested in PNG as a market for manufactured goods. At Independence in 1975, 20 percent of PNG’s imports of manufactured goods came from Japan. In 1991 Japan was the second most important destination for exports (23 percent) and the second most important source of imports (14 percent). Aside from trade, PNG’s relationship with Japan since the war has been mainly diplomatic. Japan has provided little aid.