List of IJA general armies, area armies, armies and corps

Below listed all the army-level units and above of the Imperial Japanese Army. Named units are listed according to the date of creation while numbered units are arranged by numbers.

HQ locations are described with geographical, not political features, save Japan and China with Manchuria, where prefectures/provinces are mentioned to make finding the city easier.

If there were several names of the city in use or then and current place names are different, they all are mentioned. This is especially important for place names in China, where historical and current transliteration of the same name into English can differ greatly.

Dates for the unit formation or disbandment are according to the date of the appointment or transfer out the first/last unit commander.

Contents:

Sino-Japanese war period (1894-1895)

Area army:

Armies:

Boxer Rebellion period (1900-1901)

Russo-Japanese War period (1904-1905)

Area army:

Armies:

First World War and Russian Civil War period (1914-1925)

Armies:

Second Sino-Japanese war and Pacific War period (1937-1945)

Named general armies, area armies, armies and corps:

They are grouped together in the chronological order of formation, because named armies were sometimes upgraded into area armies and even general armies without changing names. Details of this shown in the notes.

Unit name	Formation date	Unit code name	HQ location on 15 August 1945	Notes
China Garrison Army	22 April 1901		─	Renamed the 1st Army 31 August 1937.
Korean Garrison Army	16 March 1904		─	Renamed the Korean Army 1 June 1918.
Korean Army	1 June 1918		─	From the Korean Garrison Army. Renamed the 17th Area Army 1 February 1945.
Kwantung Army	12 April 1919	徳	Hsinking (Changchun, Xinjing), Manchuria	Area army from January 1938. General army from July 1942.
Taiwanese Army	20 August 1919		─	Renamed the 10th Area Army 22 September 1944. Army existed as a territorial area without a separate army HQ until 1 February 1945.
Shanghai Expeditionary Army	25 February 1932		─	Disbanded 27 June 1932.
Shanghai Expeditionary Army (2nd formation)	15 August 1937		─	Disbanded and merged into the Central China Expeditionary Army 14 March 1938.
North China Area Army	26 August 1937	甲	Beijing (Beiping, Peking), China	Formed as an area army.
Central China Area Army	30 October 1937		─	Formed as an area army. Disbanded and merged into the Central China Expeditionary Army 5 March 1938.
Mongolian Garrison Corps	28 December 1937		─	Renamed the Mongolian Garrison Army 4 July 1938.
Central China Expeditionary Army	14 February 1938		─	Disbanded and merged into the China Expeditionary Army 14 October 1939.
Mongolian Garrison Army	4 July 1938	戊	Zhangjiakou (Kalgan), Hebei Province, China	Formed from the Mongolian Garrison Corps.
China Expeditionary Army	12 September 1939	栄	Nanking (Nanjing), China	Formed as a general army.
South China Area Army	10 February 1940		─	Renamed the 23rd Army 28 June 1941.
Eastern Defense Army	1 August 1940		─	Renamed the 12th Area Army 11 February 1945.
Central Defense Army	1 August 1940		─	Renamed the 15th Area Army 1 February 1945.
Western Defense Army	1 August 1940		─	Renamed the 16th Area Army 1 February 1945.
Indochina Expeditionary Army	6 September 1940		─	Disbanded and reorganized into the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade 24 June 1941.
Northern Defense Army	2 December 1940		─	Renamed the Northern Army 11 February 1943.
Defense General Headquarters	5 July 1941		─	Formed as an area army. General army from February 1945. Disbanded 8 April 1945 (divided between the 1st and the 2nd General Armies).
Kwantung Defense Army	17 July 1941		─	Renamed the 44th Army 30 May 1944.
Southern Army	6 November 1941	威	Saigon, French Indo-China (Vietnam)	Formed as an area army. General army from March 1943.
Governor-General’s Department for the Occupied Territories of Hong Kong	19 February 1942		Hong Kong, China	Commanded the Hong Kong Defense Force (roughly brigade size), which was formed 19 January 1942.
Borneo Defense Army	10 April 1942	灘	─	Renamed the 37th Army 22 September 1944.
Armored Army	26 June 1942		─	Disbanded 29 October 1943.
Shanghai Army, China Expeditionary Force	1 October 1942		Shanghai, China	Army commander Concurrently serving as Deputy Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Army
Indo-China Garrison Army	10 November 1942	信	─	Renamed the 38th Army 11 December 1944.
Thailand Garrison Army	4 January 1943	義	─	Renamed the 39th Army 20 December 1944.
Northern Army	11 February 1943	達	─	Renamed the 5th Area Army 10 March 1944.
Burma Area Army	18 March 1943	森	Moulmein (Mawlamyine), Burma (Myanmar)	Formed as an area army.
Wuhan Defense Army	9 May 1944	呂武	─	Renamed the 34th Army 5 July 1944.
Ogasawara Corps	25 June 1944	膽	Chichijima Island, Ogasawara Islands
Tokyo Bay Corps	16 June 1945	房	Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Tokyo Defense Army	23 June 1945	幡	Tokyo, Japan

Numbered general armies:

Numbered area armies:

Unit name	Formation date	Unit code name	HQ location on 15 August 1945	Notes
1st Area Army	1 July 1942	鋭	Dunhua (Dunhwa), Manchuria
2nd Area Army	1 July 1942	輝	─	Disbanded 9 July 1945
3rd Area Army	29 October 1943	強	Mukden (Fengtian, Shenyang), Manchuria
5th Area Army	10 March 1944	達	Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan	Formed from the Northern Army.
6th Area Army	25 August 1944	統	Hankou (Wuhan), China
7th Area Army	22 March 1944	岡	Singapore (Shonan), Malaya
8th Area Army	9 November 1942	剛	Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Islands
10th Area Army	22 September 1944	湾	Taihoku (Taipei), Taiwan	Formed from the Taiwanese Army.
11th Area Army	1 February 1945	進	Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
12th Area Army	1 February 1945	幡	Tokyo, Japan	Formed from the Eastern Defense Army.
13th Area Army	1 February 1945	秀	Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
14th Area Army	28 July 1944	尚武	near Kiangan Village, central Luzon Island, Philippines	Formed from the 14th Army. Largely destroyed by May 1945.
15th Area Army	1 February 1945	楠	Osaka, Japan	Formed from the Central Defense Army.
16th Area Army	1 February 1945	睦	Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan	Formed from the Western Defense Army.
17th Area Army	1 February 1945	築	Keijo (Seoul), Korea	Formed from the Korean Army.
18th Area Army	14 July 1945	義	Bangkok, Thailand	Formed from the 39th Army.

Numbered armies:

Unit name	Formation date	Unit code name	HQ location on 15 August 1945	Notes
1st Army	26 August 1937	乙	Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China	Formed from the China Garrison Army.
2nd Army	26 August 1937		─	Disbanded 31 January 1939.
2nd Army (2nd formation)	1 July 1942	勢	Pinrang, Celebes (Sulawesi) Island, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia)
3rd Army	8 January 1938	岩	Yanji, Manchuria
4th Army	15 July 1938	光	Harbin, Manchuria
5th Army	8 December 1937		─	Disbanded 26 February 1938.
5th Army (2nd formation)	19 May 1939	城	Jixi, Manchuria
6th Army	1 August 1939	守	Hangzhou, Zhejiang (Chekiang) Province, China
10th Army	14 October 1937		─	Disbanded 9 March 1938.
11th Army	20 June 1938	呂	Guilin, Guangxi Province, China
12th Army	9 November 1938	仁	Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
13th Army	4 September 1939	登	Shanghai, China
14th Army	6 November 1941		─	Renamed 14th Area Army 28 July 1944.
15th Army	6 November 1941	林	Lampang, Thailand
16th Army	6 November 1941	治	Batavia (Jakarta), Java Island, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia)
17th Army	5 May 1942	沖	Buin, Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands	Largely destroyed on Bougainville Island by March 1944.
18th Army	9 November 1942	猛	Numbok near Wewak, eastern New Guinea Island	Largely destroyed by August 1944.
19th Army	22 December 1942	堅	─	Disbanded 19 March 1945.
20th Army	11 September 1941	桜	Hengyang, Hunan Province, China
21st Army	8 September 1938		─	Disbanded 10 February 1940.
22nd Army	10 February 1940		─	Disbanded 19 November 1940.
23rd Army	28 June 1941	波	Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong Province, China	From the South China Area Army.
25th Army	28 June 1941	富	Bukittinggi, central Sumatra Island, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia)
27th Army	10 March 1944	北部	─	Disbanded 1 February 1945.
28th Army	7 January 1944	策	Moulmein (Mawlamyine), Burma (Myanmar)
29th Army	7 January 1944	定	Taiping, Malaya
30th army	25 July 1945	敏	Hsinking (Changchun, Xinjing), Manchuria
31st Army	25 February 1944	備	Truk (Chuuk) Islands, Caroline Islands
32nd Army	22 March 1944	球	─	Destroyed on Okinawa Island by June 1945.
33rd Army	8 April 1944	毘	Thaton, Burma (Myanmar)
34th Army	5 July 1944	呂武 → 展	Hamheung, Korea	Formed from the Wuhan Defense Army.
35th Army	4 August 1944	尚	Mindanao Island, Philippines
36th Army	18 July 1944	富士	Urawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
37th Army	22 September 1944	灘	Tenom, northern Borneo Island	Formed from the Borneo Defense Army.
38th Army	20 December 1944	信	Hanoi, French Indo-China (Vietnam)	Formed from the Indo-China Garrison Army.
39th Army	20 December 1944	義	─	Formed from the Thailand Garrison Army. Renamed 18th Area Army 15 July 1945.
40th Army	12 January 1945	陽	Ijuin, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
41st Army	19 March 1945	振武	Montalban, Luzon Island, Philippines	Largely destroyed on Luzon Island by March 1945.
43rd Army	31 March 1945	秀嶺	Jinan, Shandong Province, China
44th Army	30 May 1944	遠征	Mukden (Fengtian, Shenyang), Manchuria	Formed from the Kwantung Defense Force.
50th Army	26 May 1945	俊	Aomori Prefecture, Japan
51st Army	6 April 1945	建	Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
52nd Army	6 April 1945	捷	Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
53rd Army	6 April 1945	断	Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
54th Army	1 June 1945	颯	Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
55th Army	6 April 1945	偕	Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, Japan
56th Army	15 April 1945	宗	Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
57th Army	6 April 1945	鋒	Tairabe, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
58th Army	6 April 1945	砦	Saishu (Jeju) Island, Korea
59th Army	15 June 1945	山陽	Hiroshima, Japan

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of war	Notes
Anti-Qing General Headquarters	June 1894	Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan	GHQ was led by Prince Arisugawa, then by Meiji Emperor himself. Disbanded April 1896. Separate field HQ existed in Lushun under Prince Komatsunomiya Akihito(?)

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of war	Notes
1st Army	28 August 1894	Ryojun (Lushun), Manchuria	Disbanded 9 November 1895.
2nd Army	25 September 1894	Weihaiwei, China (or Ryojun (Lushun), Manchuria(?))	Disbanded 26 May 1895.
Government-General of the Occupied Territories	5 April 1895	Ryojun (Lushun), Manchuria	Disbanded 10 May 1896.
Weihaiwei Occupation Army	29 November 1895	Weihaiwei, China	Disbanded 12 June 1898.

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of war	Notes
Qing Provisional Expeditionary Force	15 June 1900	Beiping (Peking, Beijing), China	Disbanded 6 June 1901.
China Garrison Army	22 April 1901	Tientsin (Tianjin), northern China	The army existed until renamed the 1st Army 26 August 1937: see 1937-1945 table.

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of war	Notes
Manchurian Army General Headquarters	20 June 1904	Mukden (Shenyang) (?), Manchuria	Disbanded 21 December 1905.

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of war	Notes
1st Army	5 February 1904	Manchuria	Disbanded 6 February 1906.
2nd Army	6 March 1904	Manchuria	Disbanded 6 February 1906.
3rd Army	2 May 1904	Manchuria	Disbanded 14 February 1906.
4th Army	25 June 1904	Manchuria	Disbanded 3 February 1906.
Yalu River Army	14 January 1905	Manchuria	Disbanded 30 January 1906.
Liaodong Garrison Army	30 August 1904	Dairen (Dalniy, Dalian), Kwantung (Liaodong) Leased Territory, Manchuria	Disbanded 25 June 1905.
Taiwanese Garrison Army	2 November 1904	Taihoku (Taipei), Taiwan	Disbanded 6 June 1906.
Korean Garrison Army	16 March 1904	Keijo (Seoul), Korea	The army existed until renamed the Korean Army 1 June 1918: see 1937-1945 table.

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List of IJA general armies, area armies, armies and corps

Contents:

Sino-Japanese war period (1894-1895)

Area army:

Armies:

Boxer Rebellion period (1900-1901)

Russo-Japanese War period (1904-1905)

Area army:

Armies:

First World War and Russian Civil War period (1914-1925)

Armies:

Second Sino-Japanese war and Pacific War period (1937-1945)

Named general armies, area armies, armies and corps:

Numbered general armies:

Numbered area armies:

Numbered armies:

Army Air Force army-levels formations:

Unit name	Formation date	HQ location in the end of wars	Notes
Tsingtao Fortress Siege Army	August 1914	Tsingtao (Qingdao), China	Disbanded 26 November 1914.
Tsingtao Garrison Army	26 November 1914	Tsingtao (Qingdao), China	Disbanded 15 December 1922.
Urajio Expeditionary Army	9 August 1918	Vladivostok, Russia	Urajio = Vladivostok Disbanded 6 November 1922.
Sagaren Expeditionary Army	29 July 1920	Karafuto (Sakhalin) Island, Russia	Sagaren = Sakhalin Disbanded 25 May 1925.