Japan Japan was an island nation off the coast of east Asia . The capital city was Tokyo . History . Early history . The Ninth Doctor , Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness visited Kyoto , Japan in 1336 . ( TV : " Bad Wolf " ) The Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams briefly visited medieval Japan . ( COMIC : " The Doctor and the Nurse " ) The Seventh Doctor and Chris Cwej visited Japan in 1560 . ( PROSE : " The Room With No Doors " ) The Master had the TARDIS take the Eighth Doctor and Izzy Sinclair to Japan in the early 17th century , during an isolationist period , to witness the chaos being caused by the alien " Gaijin " . ( The Doctor had intended to land in the tenth century ' s Heian Period ) The Clan Rikushira plotted to use the " Gaijin ' s " technology to depose the shogun . ( COMIC : " The Road to Hell " ) The Doctor witnessed the Earth ' s fury at the Japanese island of Okushiri in 1720 . ( PROSE : " The English Way of Death " ) 20th century . In 1905 , soldiers from the Russo - Japanese War were abducted by the War Lord s for use in their war games . ( TV : " The War Games " ) Japan became involved in World War I . ( PROSE : " Doctor Who and the War Games " ) The Imperial Japanese Army invaded the north - eastern Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931 and reorganised it into the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 occupied by the Kwantung Army . They subjugated the Chinese peasants and used them as slave s and test subjects while seeking to develop biological weapon s in Zhong Ma Fotress , in preparation for further conflict against either China or the Soviet Union ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " , " Log 384 " ) In 1932 , Shanghai placed sanctions on Japanese trade . Japanese soldier s were deployed onto the streets and clashed with the Chinese before Western powers intervened . Major Ryuji Matsu promised Sung - Chi Li that Shanghai would one day fall to Japan . He also claimed Japan was attempting to expand their rule to China to restore order to the nation which was divided by the struggle between Nationalists and Communists . In February 1936 , a military revolt by the First Infantry Division broke out in Tokyo in support of the Kodo Ha faction of the army . Numerous government ministers and civil servants were killed before the revolt was put down by imperial decree , leaving the Tosei Ha in charge of the army . In July 1937 , the army engineered a fight between the Chinese at Marco Polo Bridge to justify further expansion of the Japanese Empire into China . This signaled the beginning of World War II in Asia . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) On Sunday , 7 July 1941 , the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Honolulu , Hawaii , bringing the United States of America into the war . ( PROSE : " Only Connect " ) In February 1942 , they declared war on the United Kingdom and went after the British Empire ' s colonies towards Singapore . ( AUDIO : " The Forsaken " ) In 1945 , two atomic bomb s were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . A third bomb was planned to be dropped on Kyoto , but the aircraft carrying the bomb , the " Sky Jack " , fell through a black hole . ( COMIC : " Sky Jacks " ) Japan surrendered to the Americans . Ishii Shiro and the other war criminal s behind Zhong Ma and Unit 731 were granted immunity for their war crimes . ( PROSE : " Log 384 " ) According to Ian Chesterton , Susan Foreman thought Japan was a county in Scotland before she was tutor ed by Barbara Wright . ( PROSE : " Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks " ) In 1967 , the film " King Kong Escapes " was released in Japan . It featured a character named Dr Who . ( PROSE : " The Adventuress of Henrietta Street " ) Izzy Sinclair was a fan of Japanese sci - fi shows and film s . ( COMIC : " The Road to Hell " ) 21st century . In 2008 , a Samurai warrior was brought forward to the early 21st century by the Rift Manipulator where he began to terrorise travellers on the Tokyo subway system . ( TV : " End of Days " ) During the Sontaran invasion of Earth in 2009 , Tokyo was the first place of human deaths by the smog which was distributed by ATMOS . ( TV : " The Poison Sky " ) According to Ianto Jones , Japan was one of the first countries where the Dalek s landed during their invasion of Earth in the Medusa Cascade . ( TV : " The Stolen Earth " ) Later in 2009 , Japan was among the nations which agreed to let John Frobisher speak on their behalf to the 456 . ( TV : " " ) In 2010 , Santiago Jones ' mother went to Japan , where she was trying to stop whaling ships . Furthermore she organised a rally in Japan . ( TV : " Death of the Doctor " ) In 2011 , Clyde Langer told Sky Smith about some cool robots which were invented in Japan that year . These robots could not think for themselves . ( AUDIO : " Children of Steel " ) At some point in the 2010s , Colonel Alan Mace was stationed in Japan as UNIT faced a Silurian invasion of Great Britain . ( AUDIO : " United " ) In 2016 , the Twelfth Doctor invaded the Shoal of the Winter Harmony agency in Tokyo . ( TV : " The Return of Doctor Mysterio " ) In the early 21st century , Japan was renowned for its advances in the robotics industry . When Peter Dalton encountered K9 , Luke Smith said that K9 was a new robot toy from Japan . ( TV : " The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith " ) Axos took over Japan through use of ingredients in the Goruda brand drink . The children who had drunk it turned into Axons . UNIT , under Major Hiraki , called in the Eleventh Doctor . ( COMIC : " The Golden Ones " ) The Twelfth Doctor encountered the Japanese UNIT branch again , this time represented by Colonel Ishiguro , when he dealt with a Kaznak Simu - System . ( COMIC : " Big in Japan " ) Later in the 21st century , Tokyo had a T - Mat centre . ( TV : " The Seeds of Death " ) In the 2050s , genetically engineered guard panther s were status symbols in Japan . ( PROSE : " Alien Bodies " ) Due to the destabilisation of the Myloki conflict of 2066 - 68 , Japan invaded New Zealand ; by 2096 , Tokyo was an independent city - state . ( PROSE : " The Indestructible Man " ) In the late 21st century , Japan had been a key player in space colonisation but their once - mighty corporations were challenged , and defeated , by newly competitive foreign companies . ( PROSE : " Transit " ) Post - 21st century . By the early 22nd century , Japan was years into a recession and money had dried up for Martian terraforming . The resulting social collapse caused many to emigrate to the offworld colonies , including the Pluto Japanese - colony cities of Yamaha , Dentsu and Nagorno - Karabakh . ( PROSE : " Transit " ) The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones travelled to Tokyo in the year 3000 , which featured a building known as the Mega Bank of Tokyo . ( COMIC : " Operation Lock - up " ) At some point prior to the 38th century , Japan and India merged into Indo - Japan due to a tectonic realignment in the wake of the Great Catastrophe . ( TV : " Sleep No More " ) Undated events . stole a golden statue . ( PROSE : " Dr . Twelfth " ) References . Among the guises employed by Chancellor Goth during his battle with the Fourth Doctor in the Matrix was that of a Japanese samurai . ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " ) Christopher Columbus initially believed that he had arrived in Japan when he came to North America in 1492 . ( AUDIO : " Trouble in Paradise " ) Alternate timeline . During the Year That Never Was , destroyed Japan , watching the islands and its cities and inhabitants burn . However , when the year was erased from history , Japan was returned to its proper place and its people were returned to their homeland . They did not remember their own deaths or anything else that had happened . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) Martha escaped Japan and made her way towards Europe . ( PROSE : " The Story of Martha " )