Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Bayan ya mamaye Kudancin Gabashin Asiya a cikin watannin da suka biyo bayan Pearl Harbor, Japan ta nemi ci gaba da faɗaɗa yankinta, ta karɓi ikon Solomon Islands da sassan New Guinea. A watan Mayun 1942, sojojin Amurka da na Australiya sun kayar da Jafananci a Yakin Tekun Coral, wanda ya haifar da yakin basasa na Japan
a fadin tsibirin New Guinea. Da yake neman karɓar iko da tsibirin da aka sanya da kyau kuma ya hallaka rundunar jiragen ruwa na Amurka a cikin Pacific, Japan ta kuma kai hari kan Midway Atoll da ke hannun Amurka. Tare da taimakon aikin bincike na sihiri, Admiral Chester Nimitz ya jagoranci sojojin Amurka wanda ya ci sojojin ruwan Japan a yakin Midway. Yaƙin Midway ya haifar da asarar jiragen ruwan Japan na manyan jiragen sama guda huɗu, kuma yaƙin ya nuna babban jujjuyawar sa'a a cikin Yakin Pacific. A watan Agusta 1942, Amurka ta kaddamar da mamayewar tsibirin Guadalcanal da ke Kudancin Pacific a tsibirin Solomon Islands; sojojin Japan da na Amurka sun kalubalanci ikon Guadalcanal har zuwa Fabrairun 1943. Bayan yakin Guadalcanal, Amurka ta yi amfani da dabarun tsibirin tsibirin don kauce wa garuruwan Japan. A farkon shekara ta 1944, sojojin Allied sun mallaki yawancin New Guinea kuma sun sauka a tsibirin New Britain da ke kusa.