This article explores the history of China and Japan, their political relations, and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in order to answer the question of whether or not China ever fell to Japan. It is clear that despite multiple attempts at invading parts of mainland China, Japanese forces were met with fierce resistance from local citizens which eventually led to their withdrawal from all occupied territories within mainland China by 1949. Therefore, it can be said that while there were periods where certain parts of mainland China were under Japanese occupation, overall China was never completely subjugated by Japan.