The was an
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
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 ...
during the final days of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
History
The Japanese 59th Army was formed on June 15, 1945, under the
Japanese 15th Area Army as part of the last desperate defense effort by the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
to deter possible landings of
Allied forces in the
San'yo region of western
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
during
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, th ...
. The Japanese 59th Army consisted mostly of poorly trained
reservists,
conscripted students and
home guard militia. Headquartered in
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
, most of its command staff, including its commander Lieutenant General Yoji Fujii, were killed during the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Together with the
2nd General Army
''Dai-ni Sōgun''
, image =
, caption =
, dates = April 8, 1945-November 30, 1945
, country = Empire of Japan
, allegiance = Empe ...
,
Fifth Division, and other combat divisions in the city who were also hit, an estimated 20,000 Japanese combatants were killed. Remnants of the 59th Army attempted to perform relief work and maintain public order in the devastated city with little success. The IJA 59th Army was officially
demobilized
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
after the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
on August 15, 1945.
List of Commanders
Commanding officer
Chief of Staff
References
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External links
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Notes
{{reflist
59
Military units and formations established in 1945
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945