Organization of the Kwantung Army of Japan

Organization of the Kwantung Army of Japan

Officers attached to Kwantung Army HQ

Hatazo Adachi:-Attached to HQ, Kwantung Army
Kenji Doihara:-Attached to HQ, Kwantung Army (MajGen)
Kiichiro Higuchi:-Attached to HQ, Kwantung Army (MajGen)
Haruyoshi Hyakutate:-Attached to HQ, Kwantung Army
Masatane Kanda:-Attached to Kwantung Army HQ, Officer, Kwantung Army HQ
Renya Mutaguchi:-Assigned to Kwantung Army HQ (MajGen)
Hidemitsu Nakano:-HQ, Kwantung Army
Takuma Shimoyama:-Attached to Kwantung Army
Jun Ushiroku:-Attached to Kwantung Army HQ
Isamu Yokoyama:-Attached to Kwantung Army HQ
Shizuo Yokoyama:-(Colonel), assigned to Kwantung Army HQ
Seichiro Itagaki:-Attached to same army (MajGen)

Kwantung Army Railroad Service Commanders

Hatazo Adachi:-Commander, Kwantung Army Railroad Command
Shizuo Yokoyama:-Member, Railway Sector HQ, Kwantung Army, Commander, same Sector HQ

Officers attached to Kwantung Government-General Service

Sadao Araki:-Officer, Kwantung Government-General
Koiso Kuniaki:-Army Staff Officer, Kwantung Government--
Jun Ushiroku:-Assigned to Kwantung Government-General

Deputy Chief of Kwantung Army Staff

Kitsuju Ayabe:-Deputy Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army (MajGen)
Hitoshi Imamura:-Deputy Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Seichiro Itagaki:-Deputy-Chief of Staff, same army
Yasuji Okamura:-Deputy Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army

Chiefs of Kwantung Army Staff

Heitaro Kimura:-Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Jo Iimura:-,Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Kanji Ishihara:-Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Koiso Kuniaki:-General, Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Juzo Nishio:-Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army
Hideki Tojo:-Chief of Staff, Kwantung Army

Members of Kwantung Army Staff

Kitsuju Ayabe:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army, Staff Officer, engaged in Chahar area operation as Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Takushiro Hattori:-Staff Officer (Operations), Kwantung Army Headquarters (LtCol)
Kanji Ishihara:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army,
Seichiro Itagaki:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Torashiro Kawabe:-Staff Officer (Operations; Intelligence), Kwantung Army
Seiichi Kita:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Takeshi Mori:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Akira Muto:-staff officer, Kwantung Army
Sosaku Suzuki:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Sinichi Tanaka:- Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Kioji Tominaga:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army,
Masanobu Tsuji:-Staff Officer (Operations), Kwantung Army (Major), during Nomonhan Incident
Rikishi Tsukada:-Staff Officer, Kwantung Army

Kwantung Army Commanders (regular Army)

Kotoku Sato:-during Nomonhan Incident in 1939 he led the 2nd Sector Unit, 8th Border Garrison Unit (Hailar). Then a Major General, he replaced the wounded commanding general of the 23d Infantry' Group on the Nomonhan battle front
Michitaro Komatsubara:-Chief of 23d Division, and Japanese Commander in Nomonhan Incident
Kitsuju Ayabe:-Chief of Staff, First Area Army (Manchuria), Kwantung Army, North China Detachment, Staff Officer, Third Army (Manchuria)
Jo Iimura:-Commanding General, Fifth Army (Manchuria)
Kenzo Kitano:-Hunchun Garrison Commander (Manchuria)
Seiichi Kita:-Commanding General, First Area Army (Manchuria)
Masutaro Nakai:-Commander assigned to Manchuria Independent Garrison Unit
Korechika Anami:-Second Area Army Commander (Tsitsihar, Manchuria)
Nobuyoshi Obata:-Chief of Staff, Forty-fourth Army (Manchuria)
Jun Ushiroku:-Third Area Army Commander, Manchuria
Otozo Yamada:-12th Division Commander (Tungning, Manchuria), Commanding General, Third Army (Mutanchiang, Manchuria)
Noritsune Shimizu:-Lieutenant General, commander of Fifth Army (Mutanchiang)
Keisaku Murakami:- Commander in Third Army (Yenchi)
Mikio Uemura:-Chief in Fourth Army (Tsitsihar)
Shojiro Iida:-Commander of Thirtieth Army (Hsinking)
Yoshio Hongo:-Forty-Four Army (Liaoyuan)
Kioji Tominaga:-139th Division Commander (organized in Manchuria)
Tomoyuki Yamashita:-Led First Area Army (with HQ in Mutanchiang)
Yoshio Kozuki:-Commanded Second Army (Yenchi)
Shin Yoshida:-Led Mechanized Army with HQ in Ssupingchieh

Commander of 1st Special Tank Company in Harbin(1932) and Jehol (1933)

Captain Hyakutake:-Commander of 1st Special Tank Company during Harbin figth(Manchurian Incident)in 1932 and Jehol battle in 1933.

Commander of Yasuoka Task Force(armored group) in Nomonhan Incident(1939)

Yasuoka Masaomi:-Commander of Yasuoka Task Force.between your units stayed the 3rd Tank Regiment,led by Colonel Yoshimaru and 4th Tank Regiment led for Colonel Tamada

Commander of 2nd Tank Group (Division) (Manchukuo)

Tasuku Okada:-Commander, 2nd.Tank Group (Division) "Geki", Manchukuo

Chief of Staff, Kwantung Defense Army

Nobuyoshi Obata:-Kwantung Army, Chief of Staff, Kwantung Defense Army
Tomoyuki Yamashita:-Commanding General, Kwantung Army Defense Army

Kwantung Army Commander-in-Chief

General Honjo:- Commander of Kwantung Army
General Muraoka:- Commander of Kwantung Army
Senjuro Hayashi:- Commander of Kwantung Army
Jiro Minami:-Commanding General, Kwantung Army
Koiso Kuniaki:-Commander of Kwantung Army
Yoshijiro Umezu:-Commanding General, Kwantung Army, Commander-in-Chief, same army
Otozo Yamada:-Commander-in-Chief, Kwantung Army

Commander of Kempeitai units, Kwantung Army

Keisuke Fujie:-Chief, General Affairs Bureau, Military Police, HQ, Kwantung Army, Commander, Kwantung Army Military Police
Shizuichi Tanaka:-Commander, Kwantung Army Military Police Units
Hideki Tojo:-Commanding General, Military Police, Kwantung Army
Saburo Shimomura:-General of Japanese Gendarmerie section,Kempeitai detachment in Hsinking

Commander in Kwantung Special Intelligence Service

Prince Takeda:-Occult Commander-in-Chief of Japanese Secret Services in Manchukuo also Imperial Family Liaison with Kwantung Army and Kempeitai Intellingence Services in land
Torashiro Kawabe:-Staff Officer (Operations; Intelligence), Kwantung Army
Kingoro Hashimoto:-Chief, Special Service Agency, Hailar, Kwantung Army
Michitaro Komatsubara:-Chief of the Special Service Agency at Harbin, Kwantung Army
Koiso Kuniaki:-concurrently Chief, Special Service Department, Kwantun Army
Nobuyoshi Obata:-Chief, Harbin Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army

Commanders of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service forces in the Kwantung Army

Torashiro Kawabe:-Commanding General, 7th Air Brigade (Manchuria), Commanding General, Second Air Army (Manchuria)
Captain Kamata:-commander of Kwantung Army Hane Air Unit

Air Squadrons of Kwantung Army and Manchukuoan Air Force

Kwantung Army Air units

2nd Air Division
2nd Air Brigade
8th Air Brigade
9th Air Brigade
13th Air Brigade
29th Air Brigade
28th Independent Regiment

Combat Units

15th Sentai
104th Sentai
25th Sentai
81st Sentai
Hane Air Unit
5th Sentai (with base in Hopei, fighting against Soviets probably in Chahar, Mengjiang area)

Training Units (also was operative used in combat)

101st Sentai
4th Sentai
13th Sentai
22nd Sentai
23rd Sentai
26th Sentai
42th Sentai
24th Sentai
5th Sentai

Manchoukouan Air Units

1st Air Group
2nd Air Group
3rd Air Group
Training Air Group

Chief and Instructors in Kwantung Army Training Schools

Kenzo Kitano:-Commandant, Kungchuling Army School (Manchuria)
Kioji Tominaga:-Commandant, Kungchuling Army Tank School (Manchuria)

Operative units in Kwantung Army Training Schools

1st Tank Army (Main Tank instruction unit)
23rd Tank Regiment (Practice Tank unit)
24th Tank Regiment (Practice Tank unit)

Japanese Official Ambassador to Manchukuo

Jiro Minami:-Kwantung Army-concurrently Ambassador to Manchukuo

Adviser in Manchukuoan Military Administration Bureau

Takuma Shimoyama:-Headquarters-Adviser, Manchukuoan Military Administration Bureau

Officers in Kwantung Frontier Guards detachment

N.Imoto:- Kwantung Army Frontier Guard officer in service in Hiriyahari detachment HQ, no far less of frontier point N°25 in upper lands of Usachi River, in front at Komissarsky, in Soviet Side, Manchu-Russian frontier
Captain Ohki:-Commander, Artillery Unit/15th Border Guard Unit in Kotou Fortress located near Ussuri River in the Soviet-Manchurian border
Kotoku Sato:-During Nomonhan Incident in 1939 he led the 2nd Sector Unit, 8th Border Garrison Unit (Hailar, Hsingan)
Ilasebe Riei:-Commander, 8th Border Guards unit

Participants in Changkufeng Incident(1938)

Kotoku Sato COL During Changkufeng Incident in 1938,commanded the 75th Infantry' Regiment

Participants in Nomonhan Incident(1939)

Aoyagi Kinichiro CPT Commander, 5th Company, 2/28th Battalion
Azuma Shoji LTC Acting Commander, 71st Infantry Regiment
Azuma Yaozo LTC Commander,Reconnaissance Element, 23d Division
Ilasebe Riei COL Commander,8th Border Guards
Hattori Takushiro LTC Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Kajikawa Romiji MAJ Commander,2/28th Battalion
Komatsubara Michitaro LTG Commander, 23d Infantry Division
Morita Tetsuji COL Commander,71st Infantry Regiment
Muranaka Shoichi 1LT Aide-de-camp, Commander, 2/28th Battalion
Nagano Eizo COL Commander.71st Infantry Regiment
Nakano Tomizo 2LT Commander,1st Platoon, 6th Company, 2/28th Bn
Nishinome Shogoro 2LT Commander,2d Platoon, 6th Company, 2/28th Bn
Ogisu Rippei LTG Commander,6th Army
Sadakaji Tetsuo 1LT Commander,Machine Can Company, 2/28th Btn
Saito Kiyokichi 1LT Commander,7th Company, 2/28th Btn
Sano Shoji 2LT Commander, id Platoon, 5th Company, 2/28th Btn
Sawada Tetsuro 1LT Commander, Weapons Platoon, 5th Company, 2/ 28th
Sumi Shinichiro COL Commander, 26th Infantry Regiment Relieved
Suzuki Katsushi 2LT Commander, 3d Platoon, 7th Company, 2/28th Ed
Tahara Tamotsu 2LT Commander, 1st Platoon, 5th Company, 2/28th Bn
Tokushima Masao 2LT Commander, 2d Platoon, 7th Company, 2/28th Bn
Tsuji Kiichi CPT Commander, 6th Company, 2/28th Bn
Tsuji Masanobu MAJ Staff Officer, Kwantung Army
Ueda Kenachi GEN Commander, Kwantung Army
Yamagata Takemitsu COL Commander, 64th Infantry Regiment
Yasuoka Masaomi LTG Commander, Yasuoka Task Force
Colonel Yoshimaru COL Commander of 3rd Tank Regiment,inside of Yasuoka Task Force
Colonel Tamada COL Commander of 4th Tank Regiment inside of Yasuoka Task Force
Col. Ise COl Commander of 13th Field Artillery Regiment
Major Gen.Hata MJR.GEN Commander of 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade HQ
Col. Mishima COL Commander of 1st Field Heavy Artillery Regiment
Col. Takatsukasa COL Commander of 7th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment
Lt. Col. Someya LT.COL. Commander of Muling Heavy Artillery Regiment
Col. Miyao COL.Commander of 1st Independent Field Artillery Regiment
1st Lt. Hitoshi Asano 1st LT twenty-two-victory IJAAF air ace against the Russians in Nomonhan

Organization of Manchukuoan Fortresses

Referring to defensive fortifications in Russian-Manchu frontier line, this organization was led from Hsinking Fortress Command in the Manchoukoan capital, under the command of the Kwantung Army Commander.

The Kwantung Army laid plans for a border defense system in 1934, but construction work did not begin until 1935. During the early period (to 1938), four zones were fortified in East Manchuria, plus three in the north and one in the west.

Manchouli fortified district
Kotou fortified district
Fuyuan fortified district
Sungari fortified district and Japanese Army Sungari Flotilla
Hsinking fortified district/defense center
Tuntsiang defense center
Futsing fortified district with five permanent emplacements, a munitions depot and six mortar batteries
Sun’u fortified district with 20,000 Japanese officers and soldiers
Sansing fortified district

Kwantung Fortifications

These fortresses stayed in direct command of the Kwantung Army in the territory, also included Japanese Navy detachments in Dairen and Ryojun naval bases.

Port Arthur fortified district (now Liaoshun)
Dairen fortified district (now Dalian)
Ryojun fortified district (now Lushun)

Commanders and members of Unit 731

Ishii Shiro:-was founder of Unit 731 in Manchukuo
Ryoichi Naito
Masaji Kitano
Yoshio Shinozuka
Barone Ottavio

Commander and members of Unit 100

Yujiro Wakamatsu:-commander of Unit 100 in Changchung
Kazuo Mitomo
Officer Matsui
Officer Hirazakura
Officer Kuwabara

Others similar units under Japanese Army Command

Operative units in Kwangtung Theatre Army

Direct Reporting Units

10th Infantry Division
28th Infantry Division
29th Infantry Division
23rd Tank Regiment
Botanko Artillery Regiment
3rd Signal Regiment
Kwangtung Air Brigade

3rd Army

9th Infantry Division
12th Infantry Division
57th Infantry Division
1st Tank Brigade
7th Artillery Command
5th Separate Engineer Regiment
9th Separate Engineer Regiment
27th Separate Engineer Regiment
33rd Truck Brigade
49th Truck Brigade
66th Truck Brigade
67th Truck Brigade

4th Army

1st Infantry Division
44th Truck Brigade
68th Truck Brigade
5th Army
11th Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division
2nd Armored Brigade
8th Artillery Brigade
7th Separate Engineer Regiment
22nd Separate Engineer Regiment
23rd Separate Engineer Regiment
69th Truck Regiment
70th Truck Regiment

6th Army

14th Infantry Division
23rd Infantry Division
4th Signal Regiment
47th Truck Brigade
20th Army
8th Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
5th Artillery Brigade
34th Truck Brigade
64th Truck Brigade

1st Armored Group (Division)

Nickname: "Taku" (Development)

Formed in December 1941 in Manchuria; Renamed a Division in June 1942.

1st Tank Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment

2nd Armored Group (Division)

Nickname: "Geki" (Hit)