The was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

was the . It was formed 16 June 1938 in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

as a B-class

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artillery ...

. The nucleus for the formation was the 4th division headquarters. The division was originally subordinated to the

Northern China Area Army The was an area army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History The Japanese North China Area Army was formed on August 21, 1937 under the control of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to th ...

History

Originally the ''104th division'' was sent for the escalating

Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (29 July – 11 August 1938), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (russian: Хасанские бои, Chinese and Japanese: ; Chinese pinyin: ; Japanese romaji: ) in China and Japan, was an attempted military incu ...

on Soviet border, but the battle was finished 11 August 1938. Therefore, the ''104th division'' was attached to 21st Army on 19 September 1938 and sailed from Dalian on 4 October 1938. It arrived in

Daya Bay Daya Bay (), formerly known as Bias Bay, is a bay of the South China Sea on the south coast of Guangdong Province in China. It is bordered by Shenzhen's Dapeng Peninsula to the west and Huizhou to the north and east. History The bay was a hideo ...

on 12 October 1938. The 137th Infantry Regiment then landed and proceeded inland to isolate

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, as part of the large-scale

Canton Operation The Canton Operation (; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Empire of Japan, Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade Republic of China (1912-1949), China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world ...

. Afterwards, the main garrison of the 104th Division was established in

Conghua District Conghua District, alternately romanized as Tsungfa, is one of 11 urban districts and the northernmost district of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Conghua connects the Pearl River Delta with th ...

. On 9 February 1940 the 21st Army was dissolved and the 104th Division was reassigned to the Southern China Area Army. The 104th Division was reassigned to the 23rd Army in January 1941, and simultaneously lost the 170th Infantry Regiment, becoming a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade hea ...

.104th Division (Ootori)
/ref> The detached regiment was converted into the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade which was eventually sent to participate in the Invasion of Southern French Indochina. After a long garrison service in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, the 104th Division participated in

Operation Ichi-Go Operation Ichi-Go ( ja, 一号作戦, Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit=Operation Number One) was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from A ...

, capturing

Zhaoqing Zhaoqing (), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,113,594, with 1,553,109 living in the built-up (or metro) area made of Duanzhou, Dinghu ...

on 16 September 1944,

Wuxuan County Wuxuan County (; za, Vujsenh Yen) is a county in the east-central part of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Laibin. During the Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the ...

on 4 November 1944 and

Xiangzhou County Xiangzhou County (; za, Siengcouh Yen) is a county of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Laibin Laibin (, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Auto ...

on 6 November 1944. Also, it captured

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...

on 15 January 1945 and

Haifeng County Haifeng County ( postal: Hoifung; ) is a county under the administration of Shanwei, in the southeast of Guangdong Province, China. History Hakka peasants from nearby villages of Chengxiang county (modern-day Meixian) immigrated to Haifeng, fo ...

on 18 January 1945. Until the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, the 104th Division built coastal fortifications along the

–

– Lufeng –

line. The 161st Infantry Regiment and 104th Transport Regiment were concentrated at

. The 108th Infantry Regiment was at

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...

. It was moved to the port of

Taiping, Perak Taiping (, Jawi: ; zh, t=太平, , Hokkien: Thài-pêng; ta, தைப்பிங்) is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and so ...

by 16 February 1946. The 137th Infantry Regiment was garrisoned at

, and was moved to

Humen Town Humen Town (), formerly Fumun, is a town in Dongguan city on the eastern side of the Humen strait on the Pearl River Delta, in Guangdong province, China. The former town of Taiping was incorporated into Humen Town in 1985. The population was 577,5 ...

port on 19 February 1946. The 104th Artillery Regiment was located on the southern outskirts of

, but was transferred on 18 February 1946 to

. The 104th Engineer Regiment was in

. The division departed from

port between 28 March and 2 April 1946, and arrived at Uraga, Kanagawa between 6 and 19 April 1946. The dissolution of the 104th Division was complete by 23 May 1946.

Notes

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第104師団 (日本軍), accessed 16 June 2016

References

* Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle'', 1937–1945 vols Allentown, PA: 1981. * {{DEFAULTSORT:104th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 1938 establishments in Japan 1946 disestablishments in Japan

History

See also

Notes

References