Tokyo Express

Japanese Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka, the main leader of the Tokyo Express operation during the Solomon Islands campaign.

Map of the usual Tokyo Express route from Bougainville, through "The Slot," to Guadalcanal.

Japanese troops load onto a destroyer in preparation for a "Rat Transportation" (called "Tokyo Express" by Allied forces) to Guadalcanal in 1942.

Japanese destroyer Umikaze that often took part in Tokyo Express runs in the Solomon Islands.

Four Japanese destroyers return up "The Slot" after delivering supplies and/or troops on a Tokyo Express run to Guadalcanal, sometime in 1942.

Japanese seaplane tender Nisshin under attack near Buin, Bougainville by U.S. aircraft on October 13, 1942. Nisshin was used during this time for several Tokyo Express runs to deliver heavy equipment to Guadalcanal.