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Organization of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia during World War II

Contents 1 Southern Army Command (Indochina HQ) 2 Japanese Forces in Hong-Kong 3 Conformation of Indochina Army Garrison 3.1 Commanders-in-Chief Indochina Army Garrison 3.2 Chief of Staff Indochina Army Garrison 3.3 Staff officers, Indochina Army Garrison 3.4 Commander of Transportation regiment Imperial Guards, Indochina detachment 3.5 Commanders of Regular Armies, Indochina Army Garrison 3.6 Unit in Indochina 3.7 Air Squadrons in Indochina area 3.8 Structures of Japanese forces in Penang Region 4 Organization of Japanese forces in Philippines 4.1 Operative Commanders in Philippine Campaign 4.2 Army Units in Philippines 4.3 Commanders of Army Air Force, during Philippines Campaign 4.4 Commanders of Japanese Army Airborne units, Philippines Campaign 4.5 Units in Philippines 4.6 Air Squadrons in Philippines 5 Organization of Japanese units in Singapore 5.1 Commander in Chief, Seventh Area Army 5.2 Deputy Chief of Staff, Singapore Units 5.3 Officers attached to Seventh Area Army HQ 5.4 Chief of Staff, Seventh Area Army 5.5 Chiefs of Unit 9420, Singapore 5.6 Commanders of regular Armies, Malay Peninsula 5.7 Structures of Japanese forces in Penang Region 5.8 Operative units in Malaya area 5.9 Chiefs of Regular Armies, Singapore Campaign 5.10 Japanese Units in Singapore, Andaman and Malaya 5.11 Japanese Army organization in Andaman/Nicobar Islands 5.12 Japanese Air Force Commanders in Singapore 5.13 Air Units in Malaya, Singapore 6 Organization of Burmese Army Detachment 6.1 Commanders-in-Chief, Burma Area Army 6.2 Chief of Staff, Burma Area Army 6.3 Commanders in regular Armies, Burma Area 6.4 Operative units in Burma 6.5 Air Units in Burma 7 Japanese Units in Thailand 7.1 Eighteenth Area Army Commander 8 Conformation of Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies 8.1 Commanders in Japanese forces detachment, Dutch East Indies 8.2 Commanders in Regular Armies, Dutch East Indies Campaign 8.3 Units in the Dutch East Indies 8.4 Units in Halmahera island (Dutch East Indies) 8.5 Japanese Air Units in the Dutch East Indies 9 References

  Southern Army Command (Indochina HQ)

• Hisaichi Terauchi, Commander of Southern Army
• Seiichi Aoki, Assistant Chief of Staff Southern Army
• Kitsuju Ayabe, Vice Chief of Staff Southern Army
• Masazumi Inada, Vice Chief of Staff Southern Army
• Jo Iimura, Chief of Staff Southern Army

  Japanese Forces in Hong-Kong

• Takeo Ito: Commanding Officer Infantry Group 38th Division, Hong Kong
• Rensuke Isogai: Governor-General of Hong Kong
• Major-General Ichiki: Head Secretariat to Governor-General of Hong Kong
• Juro Adachi: General Officer Commanding Hong Kong Defence Unit
• Major-General Arisue: Chief of Staff 23rd Army, China-Hong Kong

  Conformation of Indochina Army Garrison

  Commanders-in-Chief Indochina Army Garrison

• Yuitsu Tsuchiashi:- Commanding General, Indo-China Garrison Army
• Hisaichi Terauchi:- Commander-in-Chief, Southern Army, Field Marshal; formally surrendered his command, Saigon, was moved to Malaya, died at his quarters, Johore Bahru, of cerebral hemorrhage

  Chief of Staff Indochina Army Garrison

• Shinichi Tanaka:- Chief of Staff, Inspectorate General, LOC; inspection tour, French Indo-China, LtGen, inspection tours of French Indo-China, Thailand, Malaya, Philippines

  Staff officers, Indochina Army Garrison

• Masutaro Nakai:- Staff Officer, French Indo-China Expeditionary Army

  Commander of Transportation regiment Imperial Guards, Indochina detachment

• Nobuyoshi Obata:- Commanding Officer, Transportation Regiment, Imperial Guard Division, (Tokyo; French Indo-China; Malaya; Sumatra)

  Commanders of Regular Armies, Indochina Army Garrison

• Yuitsu Tsuchiashi:- Commanding General, Thirty-eighth Army (Indo-China)
• Lieutenant-General Chijisima: Governor-General of Indo-China
• Shōjirō Iida: General Officer Commanding 25th Army, Indo-China

  Unit in Indochina

• 11th Base Unit (Saigon)
• Fifteenth Army Detachment
• Imperial Guard Division in South French Indo-China
• 55th Division headquarters were in French Indo-China

  Air Squadrons in Indochina area

• Japanese Navy units:
  • Genzan Air Group
  • Mihoro Air Group

• Japanese Army units:
  • 64th Sentai
  • 3rd Sentai:- about 430 planes, In South French Indo-China

• Kiyotake Kawaguchi, command the Kawaguchi Expeditionary Detachment struck at British Borneo.
• Utata Fukunaga : Commanding Officer 16th Field Transport Command, Malaya
• Lieutenant-General Inoue: General Officer Commanding 94th Division, Malaya
• Teizo Ishiguro Led the Twenty-ninth Army (with 94th Division, etc.): Malay Peninsula

  Structures of Japanese forces in Penang Region

• Masakichi Itami: Governor-General of Penang Region

  Organization of Japanese forces in Philippines

  Operative Commanders in Philippine Campaign

• Masaharu Homma:- Fourteenth Army Commander, (Philippines Campaign)
• Kenzo Kitano:- 4th Division Commander, from Shanghai to Philippines campaign
• Makino Shiro:- 16th Division Commander (Leyte)
• Sosako Suzuki:- Thirty-fifth Army Commander (Central and Southern Philippines), killed in action
• Yuitsu Tsuchiashi:- 48th Division Commander (Philippines operation)
• Tadasu Kataoka:- 1st Division Chief
• Tsuyuo Yamagata:- 26th Division Commander
• Shigenori Kuroda:- Fourteenth Army Commander
• Shinpei Fukuei:- led the 102nd Division
• Shizuo Yokoyama:- led the 8th Division (Shinbu Group)
• Rikichi Tsukada:- command the 10th Division and 1st Raiding Group (Kenbu Group)
• Fourteenth Area Army (Shobu Group)
• Tomoyuki Yamashita:- Twenty-fifth Army Commander, (took Singapore, conquered Bataan and Corregidor), also Fourteenth Area Army Commander, arrived Manila, directed Philippines Campaign, surrendered, Baguio

  Army Units in Philippines

• Yoshiharu Iwanaka: General Officer Commanding 2nd Armored Division, Philippines
• Torao Ikuta: Commandant Manila Garrison
• Masaharu Honma General Officer Commanding 14th Army, Philippines
• Takichi Hōjō: Commanding Officer 54th Independent Mixed Brigade, Philippines
• Lieutenant-General Igatu: General Officer Commanding Prisoner of War Camps Philippines
• Masatsugu Araki: Commanding Officer 79th Brigade, Philippines
• Isamu Chō: Southern Army Liaison Officer to 14th Army, Philippines
• Shinpei Fukei: General Officer Commanding 102nd Division, Philippines and General Officer Commanding 102nd Division, Philippines
• Jiro Harada: General Officer Commanding 10th Division and General Officer Commanding 100th Division, Philippines
• Yoshihide Hayashi: Director-General of Military Administration Philippines

  Commanders of Army Air Force, during Philippines Campaign

• Kioji Tominaga:- Fourth Air Army Commander; arrived Manila—engaged in Philippines Campaign

  Commanders of Japanese Army Airborne units, Philippines Campaign

• Rikishi Tsukada:- Commanding General, 1st Airborne Raiding Group, moved to Luzon-participated in battle for Clark Field

  Units in Philippines

• 31st Special Base Unit (Manila)
• 32nd Special Base Unit (Davao)
• 33rd Special Base Unit (Cebu)
• 18th Division (Leyte Island)
• 102d Division (Visayas)
• 100th Division Davao (Mindanao)
• 30th Division Cagayan (Mindanao)
• 54th Independent Mixed Brigade Zamboanga (Mindanao)
• 55th Independent Mixed Brigade (Jolo Island)
• 4th Tank Regiment - Lieut. Colonel Kumagaya
• 7th Tank Regiment - Colonel Sonoda
• 7th Independent Tank Company - Captain Kono
• 1st Independent Tank Company - Captain Uchida
• 2nd Independent Tank Company - Captain Kurobe
• Itoh SNLF Tank Company - Major Itoh
• 2nd Tank Division - Lieut. General Iwanaka
• 8th Independent Tank Company - 1st Lt. Matsumoto
• 9th Independent Tank Company - 1st Lt. Nakajima
• Iwashita Independent Tank Company - Captain Iwashita
• Sumi Independent SP Gun Company - Captain Sumi
• 3rd Tank Brigade - Brigadier General Shigemi
• 6th Tank Regiment - Colonel Ida
• 10th Tank Regiment - Colonel Harada
• 4th Tank Brigade
• 11th Tank Regiment

  Air Squadrons in Philippines

• Japanese Navy
  • First Air Fleet
  • Tainan Air Group
  • Takao Air Group
  • 204th Air Group
  • 1st Air Group

• Japanese Army
  • Fourth Air Army
  • 11th Air Fleet
  • 2nd Sentai
  • 14th Sentai
  • 30th Sentai
  • Tachikawa Air Unit (technical evaluations on captured equipment)
  • 4th Air Division
  • 7th Air Division
  • 2d Air Division

  Organization of Japanese units in Singapore

  Commander in Chief, Seventh Area Army

• Seishirō Itagaki, Commander in Chief, Seventh Area Army (Singapore)

  Deputy Chief of Staff, Singapore Units

• Kitsuju Ayabe:- Deputy Chief of Staff, Southern Army (Singapore)

  Officers attached to Seventh Area Army HQ

• Kitsuju Ayabe:- assigned to Seventh Area Army Headquarters (Singapore)

  Chief of Staff, Seventh Area Army

• Kitsuju Ayabe:- Chief of Staff, Seventh Area Army, till end of War

  Chiefs of Unit 9420, Singapore

• Rioichi Naito:- founder of Oka Unit (Unit 9420)
• Masataka Kitagawa:- Commander of Unit 9420

  Commanders of regular Armies, Malay Peninsula

• Twenty-ninth Army Commander, Teizo Ishiguro
• 94th Division, Commander Teizo Ishiguro (HQ in Malay Peninsula)
• Bin Kinoshita: Commander of Third Air Army was assigned to Singapore, where it controlled the 5th, 7th, and 9th Air Divisions, etc.
• Major-General Arimina: Commandant Changi Jail, Singapore
• Kitsuju Ayabe: Chief of Staff 7th Area Army, Singapore
• Shinpei Fukei: Commandant Prisoner of War Camps, Singapore
• Kenji Doihara: Commander in Chief 7th Area Army, Singapore
• Masazumi Inada: Commanding Officer 3rd Shipping Transport Command, Singapore
• Kiyotake Kawaguchi, commanded the Kawaguchi Expeditionary Detachment striking at British Borneo.
• Utata Fukunaga: Commanding Officer 16th Field Transport Command, Malaya
• Lieutenant-General Inoue: General Officer Commanding 94th Division, Malaya
• Teizo Ishiguro: Led the Twenty-ninth Army (with 94th Division, etc.): Malay Peninsula

  Structures of Japanese forces in Penang Region

• Masakichi Itami: Governor-General of Penang Region

  Operative units in Malaya area

• 1st Tank Regiment - Colonel Mukaida
• 6th Tank Regiment - Colonel Kawamura
• 14th Tank Regiment - Colonel Kita

  Chiefs of Regular Armies, Singapore Campaign

• Tomoyuki Yamashita:- Twenty-fifth Army Commander, (took Singapore, conquered Bataan and Corregidor)

  Japanese Units in Singapore, Andaman and Malaya

• 10th Special Base Unit (Singapore)
• 12th Special Base Unit (Andaman)
• 15th Base Unit (Penang)
• Seventh Area Army (Singapore) - Kenji Doihara
• Sixteenth Army
• Twenty-fifth Army
• Twenty-ninth Army

  Japanese Army organization in Andaman/Nicobar Islands

• Yoshisuke Inoue: Commanding Officer 35th Independent Mixed Brigade, Andaman Islands
• Major-General Saburo Isoda: Japanese Liaison Officer to Indian National Army
• Toshio Itsuki: Commanding Officer 36th Independent Mixed Brigade, Nicobar Islands
• Hideo Iwakuro: Japanese Liaison Officer to Indian National Army

  Japanese Air Force Commanders in Singapore

• Bin Kinoshita:- Chief of Third Air Army (HQ in Singapore)

  Air Units in Malaya, Singapore

• Japanese Navy
  • Kanoya Air Group
  • Genzan Air Group
  • 22nd Koku Sentai

• Japanese Army
  • Tachikawa Air Unit (technical evaluations on captured equipment)
  • 5th Air Division
  • 7th Air Division
  • 9th Air Division

  Organization of Burmese Army Detachment

  Commanders-in-Chief, Burma Area Army

• Masakazu Kawabe:- Commanding General, Burma Area Army
• Heitarō Kimura:- Commanding General, Burma Area Army

  Chief of Staff, Burma Area Army

• Shinichi Tanaka:- Chief of Staff, Burma Area Army

  Commanders in regular Armies, Burma Area

• Shinichi Tanaka:- 18th Division Commander (Burma)
• Masakazu Kawabe led the (Burma Area Army)
• Shozo Sakurai Commanded the Twenty-eighth Army
• Kōtoku Satō command the 31st Division
• Yuzo Matsuyama 56th Division, commanded by Lieutenant General
• Masabumi Yamauchi led the 15th Division
• Renya Mutaguchi, who had command of the Fifteenth Army
• Hideo Iwakuro: Chief of Staff 55th Division, Burma and Chief of Staff 28th Army, Burma
• Takeakira Isomura: Deputy Chief of Staff Burma Area Army, Burma
• Haruki Isayama, : Chief of Staff 15th Army, Burma
• Shōjirō Iida: General Officer Commanding 15th Army, Thailand-Burma
• Masaki Honda: General Officer Commanding 33rd Army, Burma
• Jiro Ichida : Vice Chief of Staff Burma Area Army
• Tuyoji Hirano,: Commanding Officer Kempeitai 25th Army, Sumatra
• Toshiji Aida : Commanding Officer Infantry Group 18th Division, Burma
• Iwaichi Fujiwara: Chief of Intelligence 15th Army, Burma
• Tadashi Hanaya: General Officer Commanding 55th Division, Burma
• Yoshihide Hayashi: Commanding Officer 24th Independent Mixed Brigade, Burma and General Officer Commanding 53rd Division, Burma

  Operative units in Burma

• 1st Company/2nd Tank Regiment - First Lieut. Okada
• 14th Tank Regiment - Lieut.Colonel Ueda

  Air Units in Burma

• Japanese Army units:
  • 81st Sentai

• Japanese Navy units
  • Kanoya Air Group
  • Yamada Air Group
  • Toko Air Group
  • Seaplane tender Sagara Maru
  • 22nd Koku Sentai

  Japanese Units in Thailand

  Eighteenth Area Army Commander

• Akito Nakamura:- Eighteenth Area Army Commander
• Shihachi Katamura:- Fifteenth Army Commander
• Shihachi Katamura: Command the Fifteenth Army
• Akito Nakamura: Led The Eighteenth Area Army,was stationed in Thailand
• Masachika Hirata: General Officer Commanding 22nd Division, Thailand
• Tadashi Hanaya: Chief of Staff 18th Area Army, Thailand
• Shōjirō Iida: General Officer Commanding 15th Army, Thailand
• Katsumi Adachi: General Officer Commanding 4th Special Railway Corps, Thailand
• Hitoshi Hamada: Chief of Staff 39th Army, Thailand: Deputy Chief of Staff 18th Area Army, Thailand and Second Superintendent of Railways, Thailand

  Conformation of Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies

  Commanders in Japanese forces detachment, Dutch East Indies

• Kenzo Kitano:- Nineteenth Army Commander (Headquarters: Amboina)
• Yuichiro Nagano:- Commander Sixteenth Army and 48th Division (Headquarters: Java)
• Moritake Tanabe:- Twenty-fifth Army and the Imperial Guard Division unit (Headquarters: Sumatra)
• Fusataro Teshima:- Second Army Commander with leading of 5th, 32nd, 35th, and 36th Divisions comprised the heart of this army.

  Commanders in Regular Armies, Dutch East Indies Campaign

• Kiyotake Kawaguchi:- Brigade Commander, 35th Infantry Brigade (MajGen), after outbreak of Pacific war, participated in Borneo invasion.^[1]
• Shizuo Sakaguchi Commanded the Sakaguchi Detachment built around three infantry battalions detached on the eastern coast of Borneo.^[2]
• Moritake Tanabe Commanding Twenty-fifth Army (with the Imperial Guard Division, etc.) Sumatra area.
• Hitoshi Imamura: Commanding 16th Army, Java, then 8th Area Army (responsible for 17th Army in the Solomons and 18th Army in New Guinea)^[3]
• Yuichiro Nagano: Commanding 16th Army, Java
• Kumachiki Hada: Commanding 16th Army, Java
• Major-General Akashi: Commanding Officer 56th Independent Mixed Brigade, Borneo
• Masao Baba General Officer Commanding 4th Division, Sumatra and General Officer Commanding 37th Army, Borneo
• Shinichi Endo: Commanding Officer 57th Independent Mixed Brigade, Celebes
• Major-General Ishiri: Commander in Moluccas Area
• Takeo Itō: Commanding Officer 40th Independent Mixed Brigade, New Ireland Island from 8 July 1944^[4]
• Shigeo Iwabe: Commanding Officer 28th Independent Mixed Brigade, Java
• Jo Iimura: Commander in Chief 2nd Area Army, Celebes

  Units in the Dutch East Indies

• 21st Special Base Unit (Surabaya)
• 22nd Special Base Unit (Balikpapan)
• 23rd Special Base Unit (Makassar)
• 25th Special Base Unit (Ambon)
• Second Area Army (in the Celebes)
• Thirty-seventh Army (in South Borneo) - Masao Baba
• 4th Tank Regiment - Lieut.Colonel Kumagaya
• 2nd Tank Regiment - Colonel Mori

  Units in Halmahera island (Dutch East Indies)

• Imperial Army detachment
  • 32nd Division-Lieutenant-General Yoshiho Ishii
  • 128th Independent Mixed Brigade

• Imperial Navy detachment
  • 26th Special Base Force - Vice-Admiral Shinichi Ichinose. (It was disbanded in the late World War II)

  Japanese Air Units in the Dutch East Indies

• Japanese Navy
  • Genzan Air Group
  • Tainan Air Group
  • 934th Air Fleet
  • 36th Air Fleet

  References