The Central District Army (中部軍, Chubu gun) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of the Japanese home islands during the Pacific War. It was one of the regional commands in the Japanese home islands reporting to the General Defense Command.

Central District Army
Active1940 to 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleField Army
EngagementsOperation Downfall

Commanders edit

Commanding officer edit

Name From To
1 Lieutenant General Kesago Nakajima 2 August 1937 26 August 1937
2 Lieutenant General Hasunuma Ban 26 August 1937 28 December 1937
3 Lieutenant General Hisao Tani 28 December 1937 1 August 1939
4 Lieutenant General Waichiro Sonobe 1 August 1939 9 March 1940
5 Lieutenant General Iwamatsu Yoshio 9 March 1940 20 June 1941
6 Lieutenant General Fujii Yoji 20 June 1941 17 August 1942
7 Lieutenant General Jun Ushiroku 17 August 1942 21 February 1944
8 Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida 21 February 1944 1 December 1944
9 Lieutenant General Masakazu Kawabe 1 December 1944 1 February 1945

See also edit

Further reading edit

  • 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.