The was an army group of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of eastern and northern Honshū, including the Tōkai and Kantō regions during the final stage of Pacific War.

History

The First General Army was established on 8 April 1945 with the dissolution of the General Defense Command into the First and Second General Army. It was essentially a home guard and garrison, responsible for civil defense, anti-aircraft defenses, and for organizing guerilla warfare cells in anticipation of the projected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands in Operation Downfall (or in Japanese terminology). Although its territory encompassed all of northern Japan, its primary mission was to ensure the security of the heavily populated Kantō region, which included Tokyo. Its forces consisted mostly of poorly-trained and poorly-armed reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia.

The First General 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	Field Marshal Gen Sugiyama	7 April 1945	12 September 1945
2	General Kenji Doihara	14 September 1945	23 September 1945
3	General Yoshijiro Umezu	23 September 1945	1 October 1945
4	General Masamitsu Kawabe	1 October 1945	30 November 1945

Chief of Staff

	Name	From	To
1	Lieutenant General Einosuke Sudo	6 April 1945	30 October 1945

Organization

• Japanese Eleventh Area Army
• IJA 50th Army
• IJA 72nd Division
• IJA 142nd Division
• IJA 222nd Division
• IJA 322nd Division
• IJA 113rd Independent Combined Brigade
• Japanese Twelfth Area Army
• IJA 36th Army
• IJA 51st Army
• IJA 52nd Army
• IJA 53rd Army
• Tokyo Port Defense Brigade
• IJA 321st Division
• IJA 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade
• Tokyo Defense Army
• IJA 66th Independent Combined Brigade
• IJA 67th Independent Combined Brigade
• Japanese Thirteenth Area Army
• IJA 54th Army
• IJA 73rd Division
• IJA 153rd Division
• IJA 229th Division
• IJA 8th Independent Combined Brigade
• IJA 2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade

See also

• Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army

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). 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 1841763543.
• 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 1841768820.
• 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. First General Army. .