Imperial Japanese Army facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Imperial Japanese Army 大日本帝國陸軍 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun
The ensign of the Imperial Japanese Army
Active	1868–1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Allegiance	Emperor of Japan
Type	Army
Role	Military ground force
Size	6,095,000 men at peak
Nickname(s)	"IJA"
Engagements	Boshin war Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874) First Sino-Japanese War Boxer Rebellion Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895) Russo-Japanese War World War I Siberian Intervention Japanese invasion of Manchuria Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Emperor of Japan Emperor Meiji Emperor Taishō Emperor Shōwa
Notable commanders	Yamagata Aritomo Ōyama Iwao Prince Kan'in Kotohito Hajime Sugiyama Hideki Tojo Yasuji Okamura Shunroku Hata Tadamichi Kuribayashi Tomoyuki Yamashita Masaharu Homma

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help) Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun; "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") 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 War, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the navy.

Origins (1868-1871)

In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains (han) with the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu) in overall control, which had ruled Japan since 1603. The bakufu army, although large force, was only one among others, and bakufu efforts to control the nation depended upon the cooperation of its vassals' armies. The opening of the country after two centuries of seclusion led subsequently led to the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War in 1868.

The IJA was dissolved at the end of World War II. Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan prohibits the use of aggressive force as a means for settling international disputes.

Conscription

The conscription law enacted in 1873, made universal military service compulsory for all male subjects in the country. The law called for a total of seven years of military service: three years in the regular army (jōbigun), two years in the reserve (dai'ichi kōbigun), and an additional two years in the second reserve (daini kōbigun). All able-bodied males between the ages of 17 and 40 were considered members of the national guard (kokumingun), which would only see service in a severe national crisis, such as an attack or invasion of Japan.

Imperial Japanese Army uniform as worn on the expedition to Kiaochow

Images for kids

• 

  Ukiyo-E, depicting the retreat of shogunate forces in front of the Imperial Army (Kangun). Yodo Castle is shown in the background.

• 

  The Koishikawa Arsenal in Tokyo, inaugurated in 1871, soon after the Meiji restoration.

• 

  Prince Aritomo Yamagata, a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He was one of the main architects of the military foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese militarism.

• 

  Barrack of the Imperial Guard, circa 1940

• 

  Marquis Nozu Michitsura, a field marshal in the early Imperial Japanese Army. He was appointed as chief of staff of the Imperial Guard (Japan) in 1874.

• 

  Marquis Jutoku Saigo, a general in the early Imperial Japanese Army. He is the nephew of Saigō Takamori, the leader of Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Many of the rebels were incorporated into the Imperial Army after the failure of the armed uprising.

• 

  Commander-in-chief Saigō Tsugumichi (sitting at the center) pictured with leaders of the Seqalu tribe.

• 

  Count Nogi Maresuke, a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the third governor of Taiwan

• 

  Type 13(Top) & Type 22(bottom) Murata rifle. Murata rifle was the first indigenously produced Japanese service rifle adopted in 1880.

• 

  Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War

• 

  Count Akiyama Yoshifuru, served as a cavalry regimental commander in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, he led his troops against the Cossack cavalry divisions of the Imperial Russian Army.

• 

  Prince Katsura Tarō, three times Prime Minister of Japan. Katsura was the Vice-Minister of War during the period. He commanded the IJA 3rd Division under his mentor, Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo, during the First Sino-Japanese War.

• 

  Type 30 rifle was the standard infantry rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1897 to 1905.

• 

  Ōshima Ken'ichi, Minister of War during the period

• 

  Japanese riflemen during the Russo-Japanese War

• 

  The Type 38 rifle was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1905

• 

  Commanding Officers and Chiefs of Staff of the Allied Military Mission to Siberia, Vladivostok during the Allied Intervention

• 

  IJA amphibious assault ship Shinshū Maru, the world's first landing craft carrier ship to be designed as such.

• 

  Army uniforms between 1941 and 1945 (US Army poster)

• 

  Type 38 rifle

• 

  Type 97 Chi-Ha, the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II

• 

  Type 99 light machine gun

• 

  Disposition of the Imperial Japanese Army in Japan at the time of its capitulation, 18 August 1945

• 

  IJA Japanese officers, 1930s

• 

  IJA Korean Volunteer army, 1943

• 

  IJA Taiwanese soldier in Philippines during World War II

See also

In Spanish: Ejército Imperial Japonés para niños