The was an
infantry division
A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers.
In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Histo ...
in 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
tsūshōgō were unit code names used by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II.
Each ''tsūshōgō'' consisted of a and a . Unit Character Codes typically consisted of one character, although some units established in the late stages of the ...
code name was the . The ''10th Divisio''n was one of six new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the aftermath of the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...
, 1 October 1898. Its troops were recruited primarily from communities in the three prefectures of
Hyōgo,
Okayama and
Tottori, plus a portion of
Shimane
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...
. It was originally headquartered in the city of
Himeji
260px, Himeji City Hall
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...
, and its first commander was Lieutenant General
Prince Fushimi Sadanaru
was the 22nd head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke (branch of the Imperial Family). He was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army.
Early life
Prince Sadanaru was born in Kyoto as the fourteenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (1802– ...
.
Action
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
During the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
, under the command of Lieutenant General
Kawamura Kageaki
Viscount was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army.
Biography
Kawamura was born in Kagoshima in the Satsuma han feudal domain (present day Kagoshima prefecture. He first fought as a samurai in the Anglo-Satsuma War. He was part of the ...
, this division was assigned to the
4th Army, and saw combat (and casualties) at the
Battle of the Yalu River (April 1904),
Battle of Hsimucheng (July 1904),
Battle of Liaoyang (August 1904),
Battle of Shaho (October 1904) as part of the
4th army. From 15 January 1905, it came under the command of Lieutenant General
Andō Teibi and participated at the
Battle of Sandepu and
Battle of Mukden.
[Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 107.]
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
to
Pacific War
The 10th Division was deployed back to the Asian continent during the
Mukden Incident of September 1931 and remained stationed in
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
afterwards, participating in the
Chinchow Operation
The Jinzhou Operation or Chinchow Operation was an operation in 1931 during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which was a preliminary, contributing factor to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
Background
In late November 193 ...
of 1932, and returned to Japan in March 1934.
From July 1937, with the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
, the 10th Division returned to China under the command of Lieutenant General
Rensuke Isogai
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation from February 20, 1942 to December 24, 1944.
Biography Early career
A native of Hyōgo Prefecture, Isogai graduated from the 16th class of the Imp ...
. It was in combat during the
Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation
The Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation ( ja, 京漢線作戦; Mid August – Dec. 1937) was a follow up to the Battle of Beiping–Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, fought simultaneously w ...
,
Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation
The Tientsin–Pukow Railway Operation ( ja, 津浦線作戦; early August to mid November, 1937) was a follow up operation to the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, foug ...
and
Battle of Xuzhou
The Battle of Xuzhou was a military conflict between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
History
In 1937 the North China Area Army had chased Song Zheyuan's 29th Army to the ...
, where it suffered a serious reverse in the
Battle of Taierzhuang. It was also in the northern pincer of the Japanese offensive in the
Battle of Wuhan. It was withdrawn back to Japan in October 1939 and reorganized at that time into 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 ...
, with its IJA 40th Infantry Regiment (Tottori) transferred to the newly formed
IJA 25th Division. In August 1940, the reorganized division was sent to
Jiamusi
Jiamusi (Manchu: ; formerly Kiamusze) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. Located along the middle and lower reaches of the Songhua River, it faces Russia's Khabarovsk Krai across the Ussuri R ...
, northern
Manchukuo under the command of Lieutenant General
Tōichi Sasaki, and placed under the control of the
Kwantung Army
''Kantō-gun''
, image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo
, dates = April ...
. For the next few years, it served as a border garrison force and supporting anti-partisan police actions.
However, in 1944, as the situation in the
Pacific War grew increasing desperate for Japan, the 10th Division was transferred to the operations against the United States. Initially earmarked for a transfer to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, the 10th Division was sent instead to
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, coming under the command of the
Japanese Fourteenth Area Army
The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. It was originally the 14th Army, formed on November 6, 1941 for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines. It was reorganized in the Philippines on July 28, 1944, w ...
. It was mostly annihilated in the subsequent
Battle of Luzon
The Battle of Luzon ( tl, Labanan sa Luzon; ja, ルソン島の戦い; es, Batalla de Luzón) was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies agai ...
, with 39th infantry regiment thought with particular distinction, and continued a
guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...
until the
Surrender of Japan 15 August 1945, despite heavy casualties due tropical diseases and malnutrition.
See also
*
List of Japanese Infantry divisions
References
*
* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945''
volsAllentown, PA: 1981
* This page incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page
第10師団 (日本軍), accessed 29 January 2016
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:10th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
Japanese World War II divisions
Infantry divisions of Japan
Military units and formations established in 1898
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
1898 establishments in Japan
1945 disestablishments in Japan