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The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing 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 Emper ...
.


Role

The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs (''Hyōbushō'') of the early
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
. Initially, the Army Ministry was in charge of both administration and operational command of the Imperial Japanese Army however, from December 1878, the Imperial Army General Staff Office took over all operational control of the Army, leaving the Army Ministry only with administrative functions. The Imperial Army General Staff was thus responsible for the preparation of
war plan A military operation plan (also called a war plan before World War II) is a formal plan for military armed forces, their military organizations and units to conduct operations, as drawn up by commanders within the combat operations process in ac ...
s; the
military training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, procee ...
and employment of combined arms
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
; the direction of troop maneuvers; troop deployments; and the compilation of field service military regulations, military histories, and
cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
. The Chief of the Army General Staff was the senior ranking uniformed officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and enjoyed, along with the
War Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
, the Navy Minister, and the Chief of the Navy General Staff, direct access to the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
. In wartime, the Imperial Army General Staff formed part of the army section of the
Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States ...
, an ''ad hoc'' body under the supervision of the emperor created to assist in coordinating overall command.


History

Following the overthrow of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
in 1867 and the "restoration" of direct imperial rule, the leaders of the new
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
sought to reduce Japan's vulnerability to Western
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...
by systematically emulating the technological, governing, social, and military practices of the Western European great powers. Initially, under
Ōmura Masujirō was a Japanese military leader and theorist in Bakumatsu period Japan. He was the "Father" of the Imperial Japanese Army, launching a modern military force closely patterned after the French system of the day. Early life and education Ōmura ...
and his newly created Ministry of the Military Affairs (''Hyōbu-shō''), the Japanese military was patterned after that of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. However, the stunning victory of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
and the other members of the
North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
in the 1870/71 Franco-Prussian War convinced the Meiji oligarchs of the superiority of the Prussian military model and in February 1872,
Yamagata Aritomo '' Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the '' genrō'', an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated J ...
and
Oyama Iwao Oyama, Ōyama or Ohyama may refer to: * Oyama, Tochigi ( ja, 小山市, link=no), a city in Japan * Ōyama, Ōita ( ja, 大山町, link=no), a town in Japan * Oyama, Shizuoka ( ja, 小山町, link=no), a town in Japan * Mount Ōyama (Kanagawa) ( j ...
proposed that the Japanese military be remodeled along Prussian lines. In December 1878, at the urging of
Katsura Taro Katsura or Katsuura may refer to: Architecture *The Katsura imperial villa, one of Japan's most important architectural treasures, and a World Heritage Site Botany *Katsura, the common name for Cercidiphyllum, a genus of two species of trees nativ ...
, who had formerly served as a
military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
to Prussia, the
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
fully adopted the Prussian/German general staff system (''Großer Generalstab'') which included the independence of the military from civilian organs of government, thus ensuring that the military would stay above
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
maneuvering, and would be loyal directly to the emperor rather than to a
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
who might attempt to usurp the emperor's authority. The administrative and operational functions of the army were divided between two agencies. A reorganized Ministry of War served as the administrative, supply, and mobilization agency of the army, and an independent Army General Staff had responsibility for strategic planning and command functions. The Chief of the Army General Staff, with direct access to the emperor could operate independently of the civilian government. This complete independence of the military from civilian oversight was codified in the 1889
Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...
which designated that the Army and Navy were directly under the personal command of the emperor, and not under the civilian leadership or
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
. Yamagata became the first chief of the Army General Staff in 1878. Thanks to Yamagata's influence, the Chief of the Army General Staff became far more powerful than the War Minister. Furthermore, a 1900 imperial ordinance () decreed that the two service ministers had to be chosen from among the
general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
s or
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...
s (
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...
s or vice admirals) on the active duty roster. By ordering the incumbent War Minister to resign or by ordering generals to refuse an appointment as War Minister, the Chief of the General Staff could effectively force the resignation of the cabinet or forestall the formation of a new one. Of the seventeen officers who served as Chief of the Army General Staff between 1879 and 1945, three were members of the Imperial Family ( Prince Arisugawa Taruhito,
Prince Komatsu Akihito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who was a member of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the ''shinnōke'' branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Biography Early ...
, and
Prince Kan'in Kotohito was the sixth head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family, and a career army officer who served as Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff from 1931 to 1940. During his tenure as the Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army Ge ...
) and thus enjoyed great prestige by virtue of their ties to the Emperor. The American Occupation authorities abolished the Imperial Army General Staff in September 1945.


Organization

The Organization of the Army General Staff Office underwent a number of changes during its history. Immediately before the start of the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...
, it was divided into four operational bureaus and a number of supporting organs: Chief of the Army General Staff (general or Field Marshal)
Vice Chief of the Army General Staff (lieutenant general) *General Affairs (personnel, accounting, medical, mobilization planning) *G-1 (Operations) **Strategy and Tactics Department **Land Survey Department (or Land Surveying Bureau) *G-2 (Intelligence) **Russia Department **Europe and North America Department **China Department **Others Department *G-3 (Transport & Communications) *G-4 (Historical and Maps)Responsible for cartography, military history matters, translation and archives. Post abolished 15 October 1943 and responsibilities transferred to the Second Bureau *G-5 (Fortifications) rom Jan 1889 – Dec 1908*General Staff College


Chiefs of the General Staff

Note: The given rank for each person is the rank the person held at last, not the rank the person held at the time of their post as Chief of the Army General Staff. For example, the rank of Field Marshal existed only in 1872/73 and from 1898 onward.


See also

* Ministry of the Army


Notes


References

*U.S. War Department, ''Handbook of Japanese Military Forces'', TM-E 30-480 (1945; Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1991, reprint). * *Shin'ichi Kitaoka, "Army as Bureaucracy: Japanese Militarism Revisited", ''Journal of Military History'', special issue 57 (October 1993): 67–83. * * {{Authority control Imperial Japanese Army
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...