Eastern District Army (Japan)

Eastern District Army
Active	November 16, 1923 - November 30, 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Field Army
Engagements	Operation Downfall

The Eastern District Army (東部軍, Tōbugun) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of the Kantō region and northern Honshū during the Pacific War. It was one of the regional commands in the Japanese home islands reporting to the General Defense Command.

History

The Eastern District Army was established on 16 November 1923 in the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake as the Tokyo Defense Headquarters (東京警備司令部, Tokyo Keibi Shireibu). It was essentially a home guard and garrison, responsible for recruitment and civil defense training to ensure the security of Tokyo, Yokohama, and the surrounding areas.

On 1 August 1935, the Tokyo Defense Headquarters was renamed the Eastern Defense Command. On 1 August 1940, it was renamed again as the Eastern Army, which became the Eastern District Army on 1 February 1945.

The Eastern District Army existed concurrently with the Japanese 12th Area Army, which was tasked with organizing the final defenses of Tokyo against the expected American invasion of the Japanese home islands.

The Eastern District Army played an especially significant role in combating the 15 August 1945 attempted coup d'etat of Major Kenji Hatanaka, who sought to prevent the Emperor's announcement of Japan's surrender from being broadcast. At the time, the commander of the Eastern District Army was Lieutenant General Shizuichi Tanaka.

Support of the Eastern District Army was essential to Hatanaka's plan to take over the Imperial Palace, and so Hatanaka exhorted General Tanaka to aid him. Tanaka refused, and later told his men to ignore Strategic Order 584, forged by Hatanaka and ordering the Eastern District Army to seize and defend the Imperial Palace; in short, to aid in the coup. Rather than send in his men to defeat the rebels by force, Tanaka traveled to the Imperial Palace and spoke to Hatanaka and the other rebel leaders personally, haranguing them, and putting an end to the rebellion.

The Eastern District Army remained active for several months after the surrender of Japan to help maintain public order until the arrival of the American occupation forces, and to oversee the final demobilization and dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Commanders

Commanding officer

	Name	From	To
1	General Hanzo Yamanashi	16 November 1923	20 August 1924
2	General Shinnosuke Kikuchi	20 August 1924	2 March 1926
3	Field Marshal Nobuyoshi Muto	2 March 1926	28 July 1926
4	General Nen Isomura	28 July 1926	10 August 1928
5	General Shikitaro Kishimoto	10 August 1928	1 August 1929
6	Lieutenant General Naotoshi Hasegawa	1 August 1929	22 December 1930
7	Lieutenant General Yasakichi Hayashi	22 December 1930	29 February 1932
8	Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Kihara	29 February 1932	18 March 1933
9	Lieutenant General Noriyuki Hayashi	18 March 1933	5 March 1934
10	General Giichi Nishi	5 March 1934	2 December 1935
11	Lieutenant General Kohei Kashii	2 December 1935	2 April 1936
12	Lieutenant General Koichi Iwakoshi	2 April 1936	2 August 1937
13	General Kotaro Nakamura	2 August 1937	23 June 1938
14	Lieutenant General Bunzaburo Kawagishi	23 June 1938	1 December 1939
15	Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba	1 December 1939	15 October 1941
16	General Shizuichi Tanaka	15 October 1941	24 December 1941
17	General Kotaro Nakamura	24 December 1941	1 May 1943
18	General Kenji Doihara	1 May 1943	22 March 1944
19	General Keisuke Fujie	22 March 1944	9 March 1945
20	General Shizuichi Tanaka	9 March 1945	22 August 1945
21	General Kenji Doihara	22 August 1945	23 September 1945
22	General Kenzo Kitano	23 September 1945	30 November 1945

Chief of Staff

	Name	From	To
1	Lieutenant General Shinji Hata	17 November 1923	2 March 1926
2	Lieutenant General Yataka Nakaoka	2 March 1926	20 May 1928
3	Lieutenant General Okiie Usami	30 May 1928	1 August 1929
4	Lieutenant General Toranosuke Hashimoto	1 August 1929	1 August 1931
5	Major General Shozo Shima	1 August 1931	18 March 1933
6	Lieutenant General Kamezo Odaka	18 March 1933	1 August 1935
7	Lieutenant General Touji Yasui	1 August 1935	2 August 1937
8	General Teiichi Yoshimoto	2 August 1937	20 June 1938
9	Lieutenant General Ryotaro Nakai	15 July 1938	9 March 1939
10	Lieutenant General Takuma Nishimura	9 March 1939	5 September 1940
11	Lieutenant General Haruki Isayama	5 September 1940	28 June 1941
12	Major General Suguru Kitajima	28 June 1941	29 September 1942
13	Lieutenant General Eiichi Tatsumi	30 September 1942	1 March 1945
14	Major General Tatsuhiko Takashima	1 March 1945	30 November 1945

References

Books

Brooks, Lester (1968). Behind Japan's Surrender: The Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Drea, Edward J. (1998). "Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland & Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan". In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1708-0.
Frank, Richard B (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41424-X.
Jowett, Bernard (1999). The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-354-3.
Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
Marston, Daniel (2005). The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-882-0.
Skates, John Ray (1994). The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb Downfall. New York: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-972-3.

External links

Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook". Eastern Army.

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