The Special Naval Landing Forces were standalone naval infantry units in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN land forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and in the Pacific theatre of World War II. While not existing as a dedicated naval infantry branch nor classified as "marines" by the IJN, they functioned as the infantry of the Navy, and engaged in many coastal or amphibious operations, leading to them being referred to as "Imperial marines" or simply "Japanese marines" by a number of Western sources.