 The East Indies were targeted by the Japanese for their rich oil resources which would become a vital asset during the war.The campaign and subsequent three and a half year Japanese occupation was also a major factor in the end of Dutch colonial rule in the region.The East Indies was one of Japan's primary targets if and when it went to war because the colony possessed abundant valuable resources the most important of which were its rubber plantations and oil fields; the colony was the fourth-largest exporter of oil in the world, behind the U.S., Iran, and Romania.