Did Japan really lose ww2 because of low resources?

Actually, yes, they did.

No....

Japan lost WWII because they were no match for the United States....

If Japan had all the natural resources they could use they still would have lost.

The US had twice Japan's population, 10 times it's size, 10 times it's wealth, and a big lead in industry/ technology/ weapons. Japan could never match it no matter what it did. The Japanese leadership even realized this. Their whole strategy for 'Pearl Harbor' was to give the US a 'temporary crippling blow' that would set it back and discourage it from continuing the War because they knew they had no chance to win a full blown war with the US, if the US chose to fight one.

Japan's lack of natural resources was one reason the Japanese militarists gave for 'starting' the War in the first place (with China 1937, everyone else 1941) and the lack hurt Japan's war effort mid 1943 on, but they were already losing by then 'anyway'.

"They lost simply because their soldiers were of poor quality"

They lost because of the difference in mindsets and tactics; Japanese believed to die was an honour, the Bushido code and all that... tactics to match warfare against an overwhelmingly larger enemy reinforced that belief. Make the Pacific as bloody as you can and you don't have to win by attrition, you win by the enemy just picking up and leaving; Hitler and the Germans believed the exact same of the USA during The Ardennes Offensive [Battle of the Bulge in USA]... the USA wouldn't have the stomach for heavy casualties.

Where-as the Allies belief was stated best by Patton; "No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor bastard die for his country"... and the tactics and mindset that resulted from that was superior to the banzai charge mentality.

"Unlike their German counterparts who were superior."

That's a tough one to argue with, albeit the Germans nearly fell into the same problem that lost the Japanese the war.

During the Battles of Poland and France fact was as mighty as the Panzers were made out to be over 60% of all Panzer Divisions were the puny little Panzer I & IIs, light tanks armed with a 20cm cannon at best... but because of the success of Blitzkrieg the Germans were blind to how light-weight their Divisions really were. Enter the T-34, next thing you know that spawns the Panther, Tiger, Royal Tiger etal.

The Japanese, simply missed the bus. Their tanks through-out the whole war were not much better than those possessed by Italy; little tonka toys that even Shermans had little problem against. Same in the air with the much manouverable once superior Zero being shot out of the skies would a viable replacement.

In technology and battlefield advancement indeed the Japanese fell far short.

(can you even imagine being a tanker in some puny tin-can Japanese I-Go type, facing off on the plains of Manchuria against a Russian T-34/85 or IS-3? Ouch.)

If you look at the weapons that Japan made during the war, you'll see a degradation of quality.

This was due to lack of quality material and the pressure of time.

Iwo Jima [originally called Iwo To] was indeed lost due to a lack of replenishment - the Allies had both air and sea control of the area.

The Japanese had little in the way of food, weapons replenishment or shelter, both for it's fighting forces as well as the civilian population...but they had faith. It took an announcement by the Emperor to stop the fighting.

Talk to any veteran of the Pacific a Japanese Imperial Marine was disciplined, dedicated, fanatical, crafty and cunning warriors, not to be underestimated. But cutting off of supplies from Manchuria such as coal and Iron, gasoline and rubber from the dutch west indies....made a considerable dent in Japans war effort. It may have been the most secret of military branches, also inglorious but the submarine force accounted for 1/3 or 1/2 of loss of material coming into Japan. If you cannot refuel, feed and supply ammo to a army in time it will die. Don't get me wrong, there were some fortress Islands like Sarabatchi that where key choke points that the japanese has 22 yrs to re-enforce and supply were US MARINES had to fight bitterly and to the death over. But if it was not for the actions of the submarine force starving out the Japanese military industrial complex...the war could have been longer and bloodier.

Low resources played a significant role. Fuel for their fleet and airplanes was in short supply, especially after mid-1944. Japan could not replace lost merchant ships fast enough.

There were other reasons for Japan's loss, but poor soldiers was not a significant reason.

they lost because they chose not to have their cities destroyed one by one by atomic weapons. After the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Aug 6, 1945, there were those in the military who tried to convince the emperor that USA had only one of those bombs, and to keep fighting. After the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki 3 days later, that argument failed because if USA had 2, odds are they had and could make more.

Germany had an extremely stable technique on the thank you to take over the U.S.. As you maximum possibly understand, they used the pincer technique and decrease off alot of the USSRs important forces interior the west. additionally, that they had a long much extra advantageous tanks interior the early on battles, the Tigers. those Tigers would frequently take out the T-32 u.s. tanks at an replace of 20-a million. It regarded early on interior the warfare that the U.S. would be defeated actual by stepped forward German procedures and equipment. additionally, i do no longer understand why you're specializing in that one conflict besides. the reality of the issue is, if Japan did attack the U.S., whether they have been given their asses exceeded to them, Germany would have been waiting to wipe the U.S. out. the reason for it particularly is, whilst Japan desperate to no longer attack the U.S., of which the indicators have been very glaring, Germany became knocking on Moscows door. that they had got here throughout the open fields of the U.S. as though there became no resistance in any respect. So by using the time they have been at moscow and wanted to press on extra beneficial, winter got here. Now sure, alot of human beings think of that's what did it in for them, in spite of the shown fact that it became easily the loads of troops and equipment from the properly experienced and equiped Serbian armies. With those in particular chilly climate working troops, they have been waiting to fend Germany off till the coldest seasons of winter. if that they had no longer, Germany ought to have made its way into Moscow, and with nutrition, look after, and a place to sleep, that should have been the perfect regrouping ingredient. After that they'd wait out the winter and wetter months, afterwhich pushing extra beneficial into u.s.. It became all approximately scuffling with the Germans from effectively taking Moscow, and the sparkling grant of troops, that should have otherwise been scuffling with the jap i'd upload, would have carried out it.