why and how did japanese attack malaya in world war two?

Question

i have basic information about how they attacked malaya, however, i need more information on why they attacked, like for example, is it their location or resources?

Answer 1

WHY:

In preparation for the expected war, planning began in early 1941 for a Pearl Harbor attack. Malaya was a stepping stone towards Japan's ultimate goal of Pearl Harbor.

Japan was faced with the choice of withdrawing from China and Indochina, negotiating some compromise, buying what they needed somewhere else, or going to war to conquer territories that contained oil, iron ore, bauxite and other resources. Japan's leaders believed that the existing Allies were preoccupied with the war against Germany, and that the United States would not be war-ready for years and would compromise before waging full-scale war. Japan thus proceeded with its plans for the war in the Pacific by launching nearly simultaneous attacks on Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Wake Island.

For propaganda purposes, Japan's leaders stated that the goal of its military campaigns was to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This, they claimed, would be a co-operative league of Asian nations, freed by Japan from European imperialist domination, and liberated to achieve autonomy and self-determination. In practice, occupied countries and peoples were completely subordinate to Japanese authority.

HOW:

The Japanese plan for the invasion involved landing troops on the east coasts of Thailand and Malaya. The forces in Thailand were to push through to the west coast and invade Malaya from its northern province of Kedah, whilst their eastern forces would attack down the east coast and into the interior of Malaya from Kota Bharu.

The Japanese attack force for the invasion of Malaya, Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita's 25th Army, had sailed from Samah Harbour on Hainan Island on 4 December 1941. Additional ships carrying more troops joined the convoy from Saigon, French Indochina. The invasion force was spotted on both December 6 and 7 December by Lockheed Hudson aircraft and a PBY Catalina sea plane which was shot down while trying to shadow the fleet. Flying Officer Bedell, commanding the Catalina, and his crew became the first Allied casualties in the war with Japan.


enjoy
~

Answer 2

Their main aim was Singapore at the bottom of the Malaysian
peninsula which was a main British naval base in the Far East.
All the defences of Singapore were sited so that they could repel an invasion from the sea but the Japs came down from Thailand using an army which travelled by bicycle through jungle tracks and attacked from the landward side.
The British were taken by surprise and the defences collapsed almost without a fight.

Answer 3

Rubber was a major product of Malaya and that and other resources were what the Japanese wanted as they lacked many natural resources themselves.