IJA divisional chiefs of staff

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Joan Pinyol
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IJA divisional chiefs of staff

#1

Post by Joan Pinyol » 20 Aug 2007, 23:02

Anyone knows a source where we can find a complete list of divisional chiefs of staff of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 to 1945?

I'm trying to construct it from diferent sources, but I've got many gaps.

Thanks a lot.

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Lt.Amuro
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#2

Post by Lt.Amuro » 21 Aug 2007, 05:46

I’m sorry a "complete" list of divisional chiefs of staff might not exist on the web.
I tried it ever, and gave it up.
I have a paper source. So I will be able to help you if you accept my slow work.
It's tough work for a lazy man.


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#3

Post by Joan Pinyol » 21 Aug 2007, 11:43

Thanks for your helping hand Mr. Amuro. Perhaps your work and the data I've collected till now will reached us to, not complete, but an "almost" complete list. Here it goes the list for the guards divisions and the ten first divisions in the state I've got it now:

Imperial Guards Division:
Colonel Shunsaburo Mugikura 1 Nov 1937 25 Mar 1939
Colonel Yutaka Nishioeda 9 Mar 1939 29 May 1941
Colonel Kamejiro Imai 29 May 1941 18 Feb 1942
Colonel Nobuyoshi Obata 18 Feb 1942 1 Mar 1943

1st Imperial Guards Division:
Colonel Sanjushi Nanba 27 Nov 1944 9 Jan 1945
Colonel Hiroshi Onoda 9 Jan 1945 6 Apr 1945
Colonel Shin Ishikawa 6 Apr 1945 1 June 1945
Colonel Isho Mizutani 1 June 1945 15 Aug 1945

2nd Imperial Guards Division:
Colonel Hideo Ohira 18 Mar 1943 1 Apr 1944

3rd Imperial Guards Division:
no data

1st Division:
Colonel Otoko Maiden 15 Mar 1935 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Fusataro Teshima 7 Mar 1936 1 Nov 1937
Colonel Shigeru Katagiri 1 Nov 1937 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Hiroshi Watanabe 1 Aug 1939 9 Sep 1940
Colonel Mitsuji Sannomiya 9 Sep 1940 30 July 1942
Colonel Junkichi Okabayashi 5 Dec 1944 31 Aug 1945



2nd Division:
Colonel Shoichi Shimamoto 28 Mar 1936 2 Aug 1937
Colonel Takaji Takahashi 2 Aug 1937 15 July 1938
Colonel Yoshie Oki 1 Mar 1941 18 July 1942
Colonel Onwa Tamika 18 July 1942 2 Aug 1943

3rd Division:
Colonel Kiichiro Higuchi 1 Aug 1935 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Shinichi Endo 9 Mar 1939 21 Nov 1939
Colonel Kiyoe Yamamoto 5 Feb 1941 18 Jan 1943
Colonel Hiroshi Fukuyama 25 Aug 1943 20 Dec 1944

4th Division:
Colonel Shojiro Iida 1 Aug 1935 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Tasuke Okada 1 Mar 1937 15 July 1938
Colonel Tsutomu Tanaka 15 July 1938 1 Aug 1939
Major General Gida Akiyama 15 July 1938 31 Jan 1939
Colonel Shigenori Yoshida 9 Mar 1940 25 Aug 1943

5th Division:
Colonel Toshikoto Miura 15 Mar 1935 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Takeshi Sakurada
Colonel Onwa Tamika 1 Aug 1939 1 Aug 1940
Colonel Shigesada Kawagoe 7 July 1941 1 Apr 1942
Colonel Yoshitaro Kawamoto 1 Apr 1942 4 Dec 1942
Colonel Itsuo Mabuchi 4 Dec 1942 1 Feb 1945
Colonel Takashi Shimizu 2 Sep 1945 30 Sep 1945

6th Division:
Colonel Isamu Yokoyama 28 Mar 1936 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Ichiko Shimotsuke 1 Mar 1937 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Tokumatsu Shigeta 1 Mar 1938 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Jiro Yamanouchi 15 Oct 1941 11 June 1943
Colonel Yoshiyuki Ejima 31 Aug 1945


7th Division:
Colonel Shunkichi Ikeda 31 Jan 1939 6 Apr 1940
Colonel Shiro Omoto 1 Mar 1941 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Keiji Suzuki 1 Aug 1942 29 Jan 1943
Colonel Satoshi Takashina 29 Jan 1943 3 May 1945

8th Division:
Colonel Seiichi Kuno 18 Mar 1933 15 Mar 1935
Colonel Youshihito Takagi 15 Mar 1935 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Kanji Nishihara 8 Oct 1937 1 July 1938
Colonel Kyuzo Kodama 1 Aug 1939 9 Mar 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Hisashi Fukushima 9 Mar 1940 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Misao Komatsu 1 Mar 1941 2 Nov 1941
Colonel Taro Kawame 12 Nov 1941 7 Feb 1944


9th Division:
Colonel Noboru Kunisaki 15 Mar 1935 1 Aug 1936
Colonel Hiroshi Nakagawa 1 Aug 1936 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Koichi Abe 1 Mar 1938 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Hideyoshi Kusuyama 9 Mar 1939 2 Dec 1940
Colonel Yoshio Ishino 2 Dec 1940 1 July 1942
Colonel Kazuo Murasawa 20 June 1944 8 Jan 1945
Colonel Tokusaburo Sakurai 8 Jan 1945 31 Aug 1945


10th Division:
Colonel Gida Akiyama 1936 1936
Colonel Fusaki Tsutsumi 1 Mar 1938 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Koji Chichinami 1 Aug 1939 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Hisashi Tsuchiya 1 Mar 1941 31 Aug 1945


The sources are your own website (personal roaster section); the Jack Purunus Database; the Allied Intelligence reports hanged in the webside of Fort Leavenworth; the reports of the interrogatories to Japanese officers after the end of the war; and all the references to chiefs of the staff I've found in the English literature on Pacific War. As you can see, the list is still very incomplete. Thanks a lot for your helping.

Kindly regards,

Joan Pinyol

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Lt.Amuro
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#4

Post by Lt.Amuro » 21 Aug 2007, 16:01

2nd Imperial Guards Division:
Colonel Hideo Ohira 18 Mar 1943 ~ 1 Apr 1944
Colonel Shigemi Okada 1 Apr 1944 ~ till the end of the war


3rd Imperial Guards Division:
Colonel Shigeyasu Suzuki 5 May ~ 1944 5 Oct 1944
Colonel Seiichi Ookubo 5 Oct 1944 ~ till the end of the war


1st Division:
Colonel Otoko Maiden 15 Mar 1935 ~ 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Fusataro Teshima 7 Mar 1936 ~ 1 Nov 1937
Colonel Shigeru Katagiri 1 Nov 1937 ~ 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Hiroshi Watanabe 1 Aug 1939 ~ 9 Sep 1940
Colonel Mitsuji Sannomiya 9 Sep 1940 ~ 30 July 1942
Colonel Kouichi Ikeda 30 July 1942 ~ 5 Dec 1944
Colonel Junkichi Okabayashi 5 Dec 1944 ~ 31 Aug 1945

2nd Division:
Colonel Shoichi Shimamoto 28 Mar 1936 ~ 2 Aug 1937
Colonel Takaji Takahashi 2 Aug 1937 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Jiro Harada 15 July 1938 ~ 2 Dec 1940
Colonel Ichiro Ogawa 2 Dec 1940 ~ 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Yoshie Oki 1 Mar 1941 ~ 18 July 1942
Colonel Onwa Tamika 18 July 1942 ~ 2 Aug 1943
Colonel Takeo Kinoshita 2 Aug 1943 ~ till the end of the war


3rd Division:
Colonel Kiichiro Higuchi 1 Aug 1935 ~ 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Toshio Tajiri 1 Mar 1937 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Masatoshi Saito 15 July 1938 ~ 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Shinichi Endo 9 Mar 1939 ~ 21 Nov 1939
Colonel Keishichiro Higuchi 21 Nov 1939 ~ 5 Feb 1941
Colonel Kiyoe Yamamoto 5 Feb 1941 18 Jan 1943
Colonel Hiroshi Muraoka 8 Jan 1943 ~ 25 Aug 1943
Colonel Hirokuni Fukuyama 25 Aug 1943 ~ 20 Dec 1944
Colonel Sumio Arima 20 Dec 1944 ~ till the end of the war


to be continued

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#5

Post by Joan Pinyol » 21 Aug 2007, 22:46

Thanks a lot Mr. Amuro. I'll expect your next post with admiration.

I think I've got complete serials for the next divisions:

19th Division:
Colonel Tetsuzo Ide 7 Mar 1936 2 Aug 1937
Colonel Yoshiaki Nakamura 2 Aug 1937 15 Oct 1938
Colonel Shiori Nagura 15 Oct 1938 2 Dec 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Hideo Yamada 2 Dec 1940 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Banzo Fukutomi 1 Aug 1942 7 Jan 1944
Colonel Tsutomu Terao 22 Nov 1944 31 Aug 1945
(Note: Mr. Hideo Yamada was promoted to Colonel on 1 Mar 1941)

25th Division:
Colonel Takashi Kohara 1 Aug 1940 2 Mar 1942
Colonel Masumi Shiraki 2 Mar 1942 31 Aug 1945

40th Division:
Lieutenant Colonel Koshiro Terakura 2 Oct 1939 1 Aug 1940
Colonel Mitsuo Kubo 1 Aug 1940 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Shigeki Sakata 1 Aug 1942 15 Nov 1944
Colonel Kichiro Yamamoto 15 Nov 1944 31 Aug 1945

43rd Division:
Colonel Kimihide Ota 10 June 1943 15 Oct 1943
Colonel Suguro Suzuki 15 Oct 1943 18 July 1944
(Note: Mr. Suguro Suzuki was killed in action at Saipan and he was posthumously promoted to Major General)

61st Division:
Colonel Tetsuo Yamashita 18 Mar 1943 31 Aug 1945

69th Division:
Colonel Sachigoro Miyauchi 15 Apr 1942 2 Aug 1943
Colonel Yoichi Yamamoto 2 Aug 1943 31 Aug 1945

72nd Division:
Colonel Kenosu Han 6 Apr 1944 31 Aug 1945

104th Division:
Colonel Tadasu Kataoka 3 July 1938 6 Apr 1939
Colonel Shinsaku Tsutsumi 6 Apr 1939 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Ryozo Sakuma 6 Apr 1939 13 Nov 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Uichi Uchino 13 Nov 1940 24 Apr 1942
Lieutenant Colonel Satoshi Hikasa 24 Apr 1942 18 Mar 1943
Colonel Jiro Saito 18 Mar 1943 22 Aug 1944
Colonel Isao Suzuki 22 Aug 1944 31 Aug 1945
(Note: Mr. Uichi Uchino was promoted to Colonel on 1 Mar 1941)

108th Division (1st formation):
Colonel Naomitsu Takano 22 Oct 1937 15 July 1938
Colonel Kanju Yazaki 18 Nov 1938 21 Feb 1940

108th Division (2nd formation:)
Colonel Akira Kobori 14 July 1944 31 Aug 1945

109th Division (2nd formation):
Colonel Seiichi Hori 27 May 1944 30 Dec 1944
Colonel Takaishi Masa 30 Dec 1944 26 Mar 1945
(Note: Mr. Takaishi Masa was killed in action at Iwo Jima on 26 Mar 1945; 4 days earlier he has been promoted to Major General)..

111th Division:
Colonel Keiichi Shibata 14 July 1944 31 Aug 1945

114th Division (1st formation):
Colonel Saburo Isoda 22 Oct 1937 1 Aug 1939

123rd Division:
Colonel Jo Tsuchida 20 Jan 1945 31 Aug 1945

125th Division:
Colonel Sanehiko Fujita 25 Jan 1945 31 Aug 1945

127th Division:
Colonel Kiyoshi Hirose 25 Jan 1945 31 Aug 1945

131st Division:
Colonel Yoshifumi Miyanaga 15 Feb 1945 31 Aug 1945

133rd Division:
Lieutenant Colonel Ichi Hisawa 23 Mar 1945 31 Aug 1945

145th Division:
Colonel Hidekazu Ito 1 Apr 1945 31 Aug 1945

154th Division:
Colonel Takeo Miyahara 31 Mar 1945 31 Aug 1945

158th Division:
No officer was appointed before the end of war.

321st Division:
Colonel Hitoshi Ukai 1 June 1945 31 Aug 1945

I hope it will help. For the rest of divisions I've got incomplete serials with gaps in the name's lists or with not precise dates.

A last question. I've got a Colonel Sumio Arima as a chief of staff of 58th Division from 2 Aug 1943 till the end of war. Is this officer another colonel with the same name of that of the 3rd Division? or It was a concurrent command with 3rd Division? or (most probably) I've got a mistake in my notes?)

Kindly regards

Joan Pinyol

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#6

Post by Lt.Amuro » 22 Aug 2007, 15:48

4th Division:
Colonel Shojiro Iida 1 Aug 1935 ~ 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Tasuku Okada 1 Mar 1937 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Tsutomu Tanaka 15 July 1938 ~ 1 Aug 1939
Lt Colonel Kenshi Sumi 1 Aug 1939 ~ 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Motohiko Yoshida 9 Mar 1940 ~ 25 Aug 1943
Colonel Hiroshi Muraoka 25 Aug 1943 ~ 23 Sep 1943
Colonel Gunji Oguri 23 Sep 1943 ~ 5 Mar 1945
Colonel Masahiko Inai 5 Mar 1945 ~ till the end of the war

5th Division:
Colonel Toshiwaza Miura 15 Mar 1935 ~ 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Toshiyoshi Nishimura 7 Mar 1936 ~ 1 Nov 1937
Colonel Takeshi Sakurada 1 Nov 1937 ~ 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Harukazu Tamaki 1 Aug 1939 ~ 1 Aug 1940
Colonel Kumeichi Watanabe 1 Aug 1940 ~ 7 July 1941
Colonel Shigesada Kawagoe 7 July 1941 ~ 1 Apr 1942
Colonel Yoshitaro Kawamoto 1 Apr 1942 ~ 4 Dec 1942
Colonel Itsuo Mabuchi 4 Dec 1942 ~1 Feb 1945
Colonel Itsuro Hamajima 1 Feb 1945 ~ 7 Sep 1945(commit suicide)
Colonel Takashi Shimizu 7 Sep 1945 ~ 30 Sep 1945

6th Division:
Colonel Isamu Yokoyama 28 Mar 1936 ~ 1 Mar 1937
Colonel Ikkaku Shimono 1 Mar 1937 ~ 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Tokumatsu Shigeta 1 Mar 1938 ~ 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Kouzaburo Ishikawa 9 Mar 1939 ~ 15 Oct 1941
Colonel Jiro Yamanouchi 15 Oct 1941 ~ 11 Apr 1943
Colonel Yoshiyuki Ejima 11 Apr 1943 ~ till the end of the war

7th Division:
Colonel Gyoutaro Hattori 1 Nov 1937 ~ 30 Jan 1939
Colonel Shunkichi Ikeda 31 Jan 1939 ~ 6 Apr 1940
Colonel Hide Iwakiri 6 Apr 1940 ~ 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Shiro Omoto 1 Mar 1941 ~ 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Keiji Suzuki 1 Aug 1942 ~ 11 June 1943
Colonel Yuzuru Tsuchida 11 June 1943 ~ 12 Jan 1945
Colonel Minoru Eda 12 Jan 1945 ~ till the end of the war


today's work's finished
see you

Joan Pinyol
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#7

Post by Joan Pinyol » 22 Aug 2007, 17:05

Thanks, Mr. Amuro.

If it helps, the next ten divisions incomplete serials:

11th Division:
Colonel Hachiro Tagami 15 July 1938 9 Mar 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Hirokichi Umezu 9 Mar 1940 10 Apr 1941
Colonel Masao Nishihara 22 Nov 1944 24 May 1945
Colonel Hiroshi Yokota 24 May 1945 30 Sep 1945
(Note Hirokichi Umezu was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940)

12th Division:
Colonel Jiro Shinohara 15 Mar 1935 1 Aug 1936
Colonel Masao Nakamura 1 Aug 1936 15 July 1938
Colonel Eitaro Naka 11 June 1938 23 June 1939
Colonel Junjiro Ihara 1941 9 July 1942
Colonel Fumio Shimura 9 July 1942 7 Jan 1944
Colonel Sadao Murata 7 Jan 1944 20 Feb 1945

13th Division:
Lieutenant Colonel Nori Yoshihara 10 Sep 1937 1938
Colonel Tsutomu Akinaga 9 Mar 1940 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Yoji Ichikawa 1 Aug 1942 15 June 1945
Colonel Jukichi Nakamura 15 June 1945 30 Sep 1945
(Note: Nori Yoshihara was promoted to Colonel on 1 Nov 1937)

14th Division:
Colonel Masao Watanabe 7 Mar 1936 1 Aug 1937
Colonel Tadayoshi Sano 1 Aug 1937 15 July 1938
Colonel Wataro Yoshinaka 15 July 1938 6 Feb 1940
Colonel Hiroyuki Yoshino 30 July 1942 30 Nov 1943
Colonel Tokuchi Tada 1944 1944

15th Division:
Colonel Naotomi Mikuni 15 July 1938 15 July 1939
Lieutenant Colonel Bujo Ono 1 Aug 1939 9 Sep 1940
Colonel Shizuma Kawakubo 9 Sep 1940 11 Mar 1943
Colonel Kikusaburo Okada 11 Mar 1943 5 Oct 1944
Colonel Shojiki Hayashi 25 Jan 1945 8 June 1945
(Note: Bujo Ono was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940; Kikusaburo Okada was promoted to Major General on 2 Aug 1943).

16th Division:
Colonel Morito Hirabayashi 7 Mar 1936 2 Aug 1937
Colonel Mitsuo Nakazawa 2 Aug 1937 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Yasutada Ishida 9 Mar 1939 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Saburo Watanabe 1 Mar 1941 11 Oct 1942
Colonel Muraji Kawazoe 11 Oct 1942 21 June 1944
(Note: Muraji Kawazoe was promoted to Major General on 1 Mar 1944)

17th Division:
Colonel Shinobu Ito 15 July 1938 15 Aug 1940
Colonel Kaoru Motorizumi 15 Aug 1940 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Taro Sasamichi 1 Aug 1942 16 Mar 1944
Colonel Hiroki Kakutani 16 Mar 1944 30 Sep 1945
(It probably is complete)

18th Division:
Colonel Megumi Koto 11 Sep 1937 1 Dec 1938
Colonel Masayoshi Yoshimura 5 Feb 1939 1 Sep 1939
Colonel Mei Yokoyama 10 Dec 1942 28 June 1943

19th Division:
Colonel Tetsuzo Ide 7 Mar 1936 2 Aug 1937
Colonel Yoshiaki Nakamura 2 Aug 1937 15 Oct 1938
Colonel Shiori Nagura 15 Oct 1938 2 Dec 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Hideo Yamada 2 Dec 1940 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Banzo Fukutomi 1 Aug 1942 7 Jan 1944
Colonel Tsutomu Terao 22 Nov 1944 30 Sep 1945

20th Division:
Colonel Kenkichi Hirata 1936 1936
Colonel Masatsugu Araki 16 Sep 1940 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Masutaro Nakai 1 Mar 1941 2 Aug 1943
Colonel Sumitsugi Takahashi 10 Apr 1944 3 Oct 1944

Kindly regards,

Joan Pinyol

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VJK
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#8

Post by VJK » 22 Aug 2007, 19:10

Hi Joan!

Here are the Chiefs of Staff for the 23rd Division:

Colonel Tsutomu Ouchi: 7 Jul 1938 - 4 Jul 1939 (KIA, posthumously promoted to Maj. General)
Colonel Tokuzo Okamoto: 6 Jul 1939 - 11 Sep 1939 (died of wounds on 13 May 1940, posthumously promoted to Maj. General)
Colonel Matsujiro Kimura: 11 Sep 1939 - 1 Aug 1940
Colonel Yuujin Kawamata: 1 Aug 1940 - 15 Oct 1941 (promoted to Lt. General on 1 Mar 1945)
Colonel Iwao Matsuda: 15 Oct 1941 - 1 Aug 1942 (later promoted to Maj. General)
Colonel Toshimitsu Takatsu: 1 Aug 1942 - 1 Mar 1944
Colonel Hiroshi Yoshikawa: 1 Mar 1944 - 17 Nov 1944 (KIA, promoted to Maj. General))
Colonel Toshimitsu Takatsu: 27 Nov 1944 - end (later promoted to Maj. General)

Best regards,

VJK

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#9

Post by Joan Pinyol » 22 Aug 2007, 20:09

Thanks a lot Mr. VJK.

Kindly regards

stulev
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#10

Post by stulev » 23 Aug 2007, 15:22

Was it common practice to promote KIA to general rank in the IJA -- I noted in two different topics listing of Colonel to Maj or Lt. General - and was there a reason for doing this in Japan?

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#11

Post by Lt.Amuro » 23 Aug 2007, 15:37

8th Division:
Colonel Seiichi Kuno 18 Mar 1933 ~ 15 Mar 1935
Colonel Youshihito Takagi 15 Mar 1935 ~ 7 Mar 1936
Colonel Yoichi Hitomi 7 Mar 1936 ~ 8 Oct 1937
Colonel Kanji Nishihara 8 Oct 1937 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Kaoru Takeda 15 July 1938 ~ 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Kyuzo Kodama 1 Aug 1939 ~ 9 Mar 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Kyuusaku Fukushima 9 Mar 1940 ~ 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Misao Komatsu 1 Mar 1941~ 2 Nov 1941
Colonel Taro Kawame 12 Nov 1941 ~ 7 Feb 1944
Colonel Kenichiro Asano 7 Feb 1944 ~ till the end of the war

9th Division:
Colonel Noboru Kunisaki 15 Mar 1935 ~ 1 Aug 1936
Colonel Hiroshi Nakagawa 1 Aug 1936 ~ 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Koichi Abe 1 Mar 1938 ~ 9 Mar 1939
Colonel Hideyoshi Kusuyama 9 Mar 1939 ~ 2 Dec 1940
Colonel Yoshio Ishino 2 Dec 1940 ~ 1 July 1942
Colonel Tokusaburo Sakurai 1 July 1942 ~ 1 Dec 1943
Colonel Shichiro Misawa 1 Dec 1943 ~ 20 June 1944
Colonel Kazuo Murasawa 20 June 1944 ~ 8 Jan 1945
Colonel Yoshiharu Sumi 8 Jan 1945 ~ 31 Aug 1945

10th Division:
Colonel Yoshimitsu Akiyama 13 Mar 1936 ~ 1 Mar 1937
Colone Muneichi Hiraiwa 2 Aug 1937 ~ 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Fusaki Tsutsumi 1 Mar 1938 ~ 1 Aug 1939
Colonel Koji Chichinami 1 Aug 1939 ~ 1 Mar 1941
Colonel Hisashi Tsuchiya 1 Mar 1941 ~ 31 Aug 1945


It's great great help for me even if the list is incomplete.

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#12

Post by Joan Pinyol » 23 Aug 2007, 16:48

Mr. Stulev,

The evidence I examined suggests that this promotion was usual in four cases:

-When the officer was killed in action.
-When the officer died for honour.
-When the officer was wounded in action and died a time later.
-When the officer died from a disease contracted in front line (a fact usual in New Guinea).

There were two types of promotions:

-Normal promotion (one rank more, so, from colonel to major general, from captain to major, e.c.)
-Special class promotion (two ranks more: from colonel to lieutenant general, for instance).

I guess that the normal promotion or the special class promotion depended on the heroical degree of the action in which the officer found the ticket to eternity, but it is only a supposition.

I can't extend this theory to private or corporal levels, because I haven't examined yet evidence on that issue.

Kindly regards,

Joan Pinyol

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#13

Post by Joan Pinyol » 23 Aug 2007, 17:02

My daily thanks giving Mr Amuro. An excellent work, as usual.

The data for the next ten divisions:

21st Division:
Colonel Kujima Chiba 15 July 1938 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Yasuzaburo Ogawa 1941 12 Jan 1945


22nd Division:
Lieutenant Colonel Hideo Baba 15 July 1938 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Masao Yamawaki 9 Mar 1940 18 Jan 1943
Colonel Seiichi Miyamoto 18 Jan 1943 11 Dec 1944
(Note: Mr. Hideo Baba was promoted to Colonel on 9 Mar 1939: Mr. Seiichi Miyamoto was promoted to Major General on 1 Mar 1943).

23rd Division:
See the excellent post above of Mr. VJK, I think it's complete.

24th Division:
Colonel Kikutaro Aotsu 2 Oct 1939 1940
Colonel Hideto Yoshitake 1 Apr 1941 9 Feb 1942
Colonel Kaichi Suzuki 1944 June 1945

25th Division:
Colonel Takashi Kohara 1 Aug 1940 2 Mar 1942
Colonel Masumi Shiraki 2 Mar 1942 30 Sep 1945


26th Division:
Colonel Isamu Cho 9 Mar 1939 1 Aug 1940
Colonel Shigeru Kuroda 1 Aug 1940 11 Mar 1942
Colonel Saburo Hagi 11 Mar 1942 11 Sep 1943
Colonel Hisashi Kato ?? - 27 July 1945

27th Division:
Colonel Yoshikazu Harada 15 July 1938 1 Aug 1939
Lieutenant Colonel Kimihide Ota 1 Aug 1939 2 Oct 1940
Colonel Kyutaro Sekine 22 Oct 1940 3 Aug 1944
(Note: Mr. Kimihide Ota was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940; Mr Kyutaro Sekine was promoted to Major general on 1 Mar 1944).

28th Division:
Colonel Haruo Fukuchi 31 Oct 1941 1 Feb 1945
Colonel Hisashi Ichise (reported in Okinawa by US Intelligence in 1945)

29th Division:
Colonel Eiichi Okabe 1 Apr 1941 26 July 1944
(Mr. Eiichi Okabe was killed in action in Guam, and posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General, special class promotion).
Probably He was the only Chief of Staff of this division, because it was formed on 25 Feb 1941 and was disbanded in Guam on 22 Aug 1944.

30th Division:
I haven't found data.

Kindly regards,

Joan Pinyol

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#14

Post by Lt.Amuro » 24 Aug 2007, 15:36

11th Division:
Colonel Shihachi Katamura 1 Aug 1936 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Hachiro Tagami 15 July 1938 ~ 9 Mar 1940
Lieutenant Colonel Hirokichi Umezu 9 Mar 1940 ~ 10 Apr 1941
Colonel Motoharu Okada 10 Apr 1941 ~ 22 Nov 1944
Colonel Masao Nishihara 22 Nov 1944 ~ 24 May 1945
Colonel Hiroshi Yokota 24 May 1945 ~ 30 Sep 1945
(Note Hirokichi Umezu was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940)

12th Division:
Colonel Jiro Shinohara 15 Mar 1935 ~ 1 Aug 1936
Colonel Masao Nakamura 1 Aug 1936 ~ 11 June 1938
Colonel Eitaro Naka 11 June 1938 ~ 23 June 1939
Colonel Junjiro Ihara 1 Dec 1940 ~ 9 July 1942
Colonel Fumio Shimura 9 July 1942 ~ 7 Jan 1944
Colonel Sadao Murata 7 Jan 1944 ~ 20 Feb 1945
Colonel Yoichi Wakayama 20 Feb 1945 ~ till the end of the war

13th Division:
Colonel Yuzaburo Hata 24 Sep 1937 ~ 1 Mar 1938
Colonel Kane Yoshihara 1 Mar 1938 ~ 10 Dec 1938
Colonel Takuma Ishikawa 10 Dec 1938 ~ 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Tsutomu Akinaga 9 Mar 1940 ~ 1 Aug 1942
Colonel Yoji Ichikawa 1 Aug 1942 ~ 15 June 1945
Colonel Jukichi Nakamura 15 June 1945 ~ 30 Sep 1945

14th Division:
Colonel Masao Watanabe 7 Mar 1936 ~ 1 Aug 1937
Colonel Tadayoshi Sano 1 Aug 1937 ~ 15 July 1938
Colonel Wataro Yoshinaka 15 July 1938 ~ 6 Feb 1940
Colonel Tetsushiro Taga 6 Feb 1940 ~ 30 July 1942
Colonel Hiroyuki Yoshino 30 July 1942 ~ 30 Nov 1943
Colonel Tokuchi Tada 30 Nov 1943 ~ till the end of the war

15th Division:
Colonel Naotomi Mikuni 15 July 1938 ~ 15 July 1939
Lieutenant Colonel Takeki Ono 1 Aug 1939 ~ 9 Sep 1940
Colonel Shizuma Kawakubo 9 Sep 1940 ~ 11 Mar 1943
Colonel Kikusaburo Okada 11 Mar 1943 ~ 5 Oct 1944
Colonel Yoshiyasu Suzuki 5 Oct 1944 ~ 9 Feb 1945
Colonel Masanao Hayashi 9 Feb 1945 ~ 8 June 1945
Colonel Toshiyuki Sako 8 June 1945 ~ till the end of the war
(Note: Ono was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940; Kikusaburo Okada was promoted to Major General on 2 Aug 1943).

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#15

Post by Joan Pinyol » 24 Aug 2007, 17:12

Thanks Mr. Amuro,

Late yesterday I have find some new data to complete serials:

21st Division:
Colonel Kujima Chiba 15 July 1938 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Sadao Murata 9 Mar 1940 15 Oct 1941
Colonel Yasuzaburo Ogawa 15 Oct 1941 12 Jan 1945
Colonel Seijiro Shishido 12 Jan 1945 30 Sep 1945
(I think it's complete)


22nd Division:
Lieutenant Colonel Hideo Baba 15 July 1938 9 Mar 1940
Colonel Masao Yamawaki 9 Mar 1940 18 Jan 1943
Colonel Seiichi Miyamoto 18 Jan 1943 11 Dec 1944
Colonel Yoshiaki Hotta 11 Dec 1944 30 Sep 1945
(Note: Mr. Hideo Baba was promoted to Colonel on 9 Mar 1939: Mr. Seiichi Miyamoto was promoted to Major General on 1 Mar 1943).

I think this is complete too, but I have doubts about the correct transliteration to Romaji of the name of Mr Hotta.



24th Division:
Colonel Kikutaro Aotsu 2 Oct 1939 10 Oct 1940
Colonel Haruo Tsuchiya 10 Oct 1940 28 Apr 1941
Colonel Hideto Yoshitake 28 Apr 1941 9 Feb 1942
Lieutenant Colonel Yoshiaki Shirasaki 9 Feb 1942 16 May 1944
Colonel Osu Kitani 16 May 1944 30 June 1945
I think this is complete too, but I have doubts about the correct transliteration to Romaji of the name of Mr Kitani.

25th Division:
Colonel Takashi Kohara 1 Aug 1940 2 Mar 1942
Colonel Masumi Shiraki 2 Mar 1942 30 Sep 1945


27th Division:
Colonel Yoshikazu Harada 20 July 1938 1 Aug 1939
Lieutenant Colonel Kimihide Ota 1 Aug 1939 23 Oct 1940
Colonel Kyutaro Sekine 23 Oct 1940 3 Aug 1944
Colonel Masao Isshoku 3 Aug 1944 30 Sep 1945
(Note: Mr. Kimihide Ota was promoted to Colonel on 1 Aug 1940; Mr Kyutaro Sekine was promoted to Major general on 1 Mar 1944).
I think this is complete too.


Thanks a lot again and kindly regards,

Joan Pinyol

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