Under the Rising Sun

Abstract

On the whole the inhabitants of Sarawak were more bewildered by the Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation than frightened of their new masters. The scant fighting with the retreating British defenders and the absence of physical resistance from the local population made the Japanese entry into Sarawak a fairly easy accomplishment. There were several civilian casualties in Kuching and the Lower Rejang district as a consequence of air raids prior to the landings, but little damage to property.¹