<P> Japanese Military Affairs Bureau Unit 82 was formed in 1939 or 1940 and based in Taiwan to bring this about . In its final planning stages, the unit was under the then - Colonel Yoshihide Hayashi . Intelligence on Malaya was gathered through a network of agents which included Japanese embassy staff; disaffected Malayans (particularly members of the Japanese established Tortoise Society); and Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese business people and tourists . Japanese spies, which included a British intelligence officer, Captain Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan and Lord Sempill also provided intelligence and assistance . Heenan's intelligence enabled the Japanese to destroy much of the Allied air forces on the ground . </P> <P> Prior to hostilities Japanese intelligence officers like Iwaichi Fujiwara had established covert intelligence offices (or Kikans) that linked up with the Malay and Indian pro-independence organisations such as Kesatuan Melayu Muda in Malaya and the Indian Independence League . The Japanese gave these movements financial support in return for their members providing intelligence and later assistance in determining Allied troop movements, strengths, and dispositions prior to the invasion . </P> <P> By 1941 the Japanese had been engaged for four years in trying to subjugate China . They were heavily reliant on imported materials for their military forces, particularly oil from the United States . From 1940 to 1941, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands imposed embargoes on supplying oil and war materials to Japan . The object of the embargoes was to assist the Chinese and encourage the Japanese to halt military action in China . The Japanese considered that pulling out of China would result in a loss of face and decided instead to take military action against US, British and Dutch territories in South East Asia . The Japanese forces for the invasion were assembled in 1941 on Hainan Island and in French Indochina . The troop build - up in Indo - China and Hainan was noticed by the Allies and, when asked, the Japanese advised that it related to its operations in China . </P> <P> The occupation commenced with Imperial Japanese Army landings at Padang Pak Amat beach Kota Bharu just after midnight on 8 December 1941, triggering a ferocious battle with the British Indian Army an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor . This battle marked the official start of the Pacific War and the start of the Japanese occupation of Malaya . Kota Bharu airport was occupied in the morning . Sungai Patani, Butterworth, and Alor Star airports were captured on 9 December 1941 . Japanese soldiers landing at Kota Bharu divided into two separate forces, with one moving down the east coast towards Kuantan, and the other southwards towards the Perak River . On 11 December 1941, the Japanese started bombing Penang . Jitra and then Alor Star fell into Japanese hands on 12 December 1941 . The British had to retreat to the south . On 16 December 1941, the British left Penang to the Japanese, who occupied it on 19 December . </P>

The following organizations operated in malaya during world war ii except