Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army

In the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), the term "Gun", literally meaning "army", was used in a different way to the military forces of other countries. A "So-Gun", meaning "General Army", was the term used in the IJA for an army group. Of a similar but slightly lower status was a "Haken Gun", or "Expeditionary Army". A "Homen Gun" ("Area Army" or "Theatre Army") was equivalent to the field armies of other nations and a "Gun" ("Army") was equivalent to a corps in other armies.

General Armies

During its history, the IJA had seven General Armies. The "Kantōgun", usually known in English as the Kwantung Army, was the largest army group of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Strength of the "Kantōgun" peaked at 700,000 personnel, in 1941. It originated as a division-level garrison at the Kwantung Territory, in north east China, in 1908, was gradually expanded as Japan annexed further territory. The "Kantōgun" remained in China until 1945, when it faced and was destroyed by Soviet forces.

For a brief periods in 1932 and 1937-38, there was a "Shanghai Hakengun" (Shanghai Expeditionary Army). The "Shina Hakengun", the "China Expeditionary Army" was formed in Nanjing, in September 1939, to control operations in central China. At the end of World War II, it consisted of 620,000 personnel in one armored and 25 infantry divisions.

"Nanpo Gun", also known as "Nanpo So-Gun", the "Southern Army" or "Southern Expeditionary Army", was responsible for southern China, South East Asia and the South West Pacific (including the Solomon Islands).

In April 1945, as Allied forces approached the Japanese Home Islands, the main home defense formation, the "Boei So-Shireibu" (translated as "General Defense Command", "Home Defense General Headquarters" or variations of these) was split into three General Armies: "Dai-Ichi So-Gun" "1st General Army", "Dai-Ni So-Gun" "2nd General Army", and the "Koku So-Gun" "Air General Army".

By the end of the war, these comprised two million personnel, in 55 divisions and numerous smaller independent units. With the official Japanese surrender in September 1945, these were dissolved, except for the "Dai-Ichi So-Gun", which existed until November 30, 1945 as the 1st Demobilization Headquarters.

;Organization
*Kwantung Army (Kantogun) - Manchuria
*China Expeditionary Army - China
*Southern Expeditionary Army Group - also called the Southern Army; responsible for southern China, South East Asia and the South West Pacific (including the Solomon Islands)
*Shanghai Expeditionary Army - brief periods in 1932 {January 28 Incident) and 1937-38 Battle of Shanghai only
General Defense Command, from April 1945 divided into:
*1st General Army headquarters in Tokyo
*2nd General Army headquarters in Hiroshima
*Air General Army air force home defense formation; headquarters in Tokyo
* Under these General Armies were military districts/commands:
**Northern Army - Hokkaidō and northern Honshū
**Eastern District Army- Eastern Honshū and Tokyo
**Central District Army - Central Honshū
**Western District Army - southern Honshū, Shikoku Island, and the Ryukyu Islands to include Okinawa.
**Formosan Army - Taiwan
**Chosen Army - responsible for Korea

Area Armies

Area Armies were equivalent to a field army in western military terminology. There is much confusion between numbered Area Armies and Armies in historical records, as many writers did not make a clear distinction when describing the units involved.

**First Area Army - Manchukuo
**Second Area Army - Manchukuo
**Third Area Army - Manchukuo
**Fifth Area Army - Japan
**Sixth Area Army - China
**Seventh Area Army - Malaya
**Eighth Area Army - Solomon Islands, New Guinea
**Tenth Area Army - Formosa
**Eleventh Area Army - Japan
**Twelfth Area Army - Japan
**Thirteenth Area Army - Japan
**Fourteenth Area Army - Philippines
**Fifteenth Area Army - Japan
**Sixteenth Area Army - Japan
**Seventeenth Area Army - Korea
**Eighteenth Area Army - Thailand
**Burma Area Army - Burma
**Central China Area Army - China
**Northern China Area Army - China
**Southern China Area Army - China

Armies

Equal to a corps in other armies, and usually commanded by a lieutenant general:
**First Army - China
**Second Army - China
**Third Army - Manchukuo
**Fourth Army - Manchukuo
**Fifth Army - Manchukuo
**Sixth Army - Manchukuo
**Tenth Army - China
**Eleventh Army - China
**Twelfth Army - China
**Thirteenth Army - China
**Fourteenth Army - China
**Fifteenth Army - Burma
**Sixteenth Army - Java
**Seventeenth Army - Solomon Islands
**Eighteenth Army - New Guinea
**Nineteenth Army –
**Twentieth Army - China
**Twenty-First Army - China
**Twenty-Second Army - China
**Twenty-Third Army - China
**Twenty-Fifth Army - Japan
**Twenty-Seventh Army
**Twenty-Eighth Army - Burma
**Twenty-Ninth Army - Malaya
**Thirtieth Army – Manchukuo
**Thirty-First Army – Truk
**Thirty-Second Army - Okinawa
**Thirty-Third Army - Burma
**Thirty-Fourth Army - Manchukuo
**Thirty-Fifth Army - Philippines
**Thirty-Sixth Army - Japan
**Thirty-Seventh Army - Borneo
**Thirty-Eighth Army -Indochina
**Thirty-Ninth Army -Thailand
** Fortieth Army – Japan
**Forty-First Army – Japan
**Forty-Third Army – China
**Forty-Fourth Army - Manchukuo
** Fiftieth Army – Japan
**Fifty-First Army – Japan
**Fifty-Second Army – Japan
**Fifty-Third Army – Japan
**Fifty-Fourth Army – Japan
**Fifty-Fifth Army – Japan
**Fifty-Sixth Army – Japan
**Fifty-Seventh Army – Japan
**Fifty-Eighth Army – Korea
**Fifty-Ninth Army – Japan

**China Garrison Army - China
**Mongolia Garrison Army- Inner Mongolia

*Special Mission Forces

Auxiliaries

*Manchukuo Imperial Army
*Mengjiang National Army
*Indian National Army
*Burmese National Army
*Kempeitai

External links/references

*" [http://maisov.oops.jp/e/ Organizations of Imperial Japanese Army & Navy] "