No other Army of World War II had as many possible TO&E's for as few types of units as did the Japanese Army. For an army that was mainly made up of infantry divisions, almost every division had it's own organization, as the Japanese Army "tailored" its formations to the task at hand. Additional units were added or removed as needed, as garrisons were created to hold specific points, or units tasked to carry out a specific assignment. While a "standard" organization can be created, it is the exception rather than the rule. What started out as a complex system of "one off" divisions was made even worse by the nature of the War in the Pacific. Japanese units en route from one location to another often lost elements en route, arriving in the field with a reduced TO&E. The units that failed to complete the journey ended up being attached to other commands, often without their equipment. Units ordered to move were often left stranded due to a lack of transportation, so that the desired concentrations never occurred. Due to a lack of replacements during most of the war, a common practice in the field was to consolidate several weak companies into a few full strength ones. It is very common to find Japanese Infantry Battalions operating only one or two full strength infantry companies, instead of three or four understrength formations. One last point that needs to be covered on the Japanese Army. More than any other country, Japan made full use of its service and support troops on the battlefield. They were poorly armed and poorly trained, and often were organized into little better than a armed mob, yet they fought when called on to do so. This element is one that needs to represented in most games where the Japanese Army is used, especially if the Japanese Army is on the defensive. SENIOR COMMAND STRUCTURE The Japanese basic organization was slightly different than other armies. The highest command level, corresponding to the Army Group in other countries was individually named, not following any format. All troops in China reported to the "Kwantung Army", while those in the SouthEast Asia reported to "Southern Region". The next level of command, what would be the Army to most countries, was called by the Japanese the Area Army. Area Armies were either named, or numbered, depending on the circumstances, ie Burma Area Army, or 14th Area Army (The latter served throughout the war in the Philippines). Subordinate to the Area Army, at what would be considered as the Corps level, was the Japanese Army. Armies were numbered with Arabic numerals, in contrast with the Western system of numbering the Corps' with Roman numerals. The Division was the next level of command and was organized in a similar fashion with it's western counterparts, with the difference that the attached infantry regiments were not directly assigned to divisional headquarters, but rather either reported to an infantry brigade headquarters or to an infantry group headquarters. As the war processed, the group or force as it was also called, became an important command level, serving as the Japanese equivalent of the American Combat Command or Task Force. JAPANESE DIVISIONS When World War II started for Japan in 1937, the Army numbered 17 Infantry Divisions, which were stationed as follows: Japan 11 Divisions Korea 2 Divisions Manchuria 4 Divisions Once war started with China, the Japanese mobilized additional divisions, and carried out an reorganization of the existing formations. The Infantry Brigades Headquarters were removed from the division, and replaced by a single Infantry Group Headquarters. In addition, each infantry division lost an infantry regiment, and was reformed as a triangular division. The units removed were used to help form new divisions and independent brigades. Anti-tank elements were added to the infantry regiments, and where possible, some divisions had their horse transport replaced with motorized elements. WWII By December of 1941, 51 Infantry Divisions, and 1 Cavalry Group had been mobilized and were deployed as follows: JAPAN: Infantry Divisions 7, 52, 53, 54, 56 In addition there were 10 training (depot) divisions in Japan. KOREA: Infantry Divisions 19, 20 MANCHURIA: Infantry Divisions 1, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 23, 24, 28, 29, 57 NORTH CHINA: Infantry Divisions 17, 21, 26, 27, 32, 35, 36, 37, 51, 110 CENTRAL CHINA: Infantry Divisions 3, 4, 6, 13, 15, 22, 33, 34, 39, 40, 116 SOUTH CHINA: Infantry Divisions 18, 38, 51, 104 FRENCH INDO CHINA: Infantry Divisions 55, Guards, HAINAN ISLAND: Infantry Division 5 FORMOSA AND OKINAWA: Infantry Divisions 2, 16, 48 MONGOLIA: Cavalry Group (In addition to the above infantry divisions, there were some 22 Independent Infantry Brigades, as well as 37 other brigade sized formations.) Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter WWII Japanese Army Supplement To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com