Japan was involved in World War II.
World War II . Supplied by the Soviet Union , from late 1939 to early 1941 , in a series of campaigns and treaties , Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe , and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan . The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway , near Hawaii , and Germany was defeated in North Africa and then , decisively , at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union .