Imperial Guard of The Imperial Japanese Army
| Imperial Guard 近衛師団 |
|
|---|---|
The ensign of the Imperial Japanese Army |
|
| Active | 1867 - 1945 |
| Country | Empire of Japan |
| Allegiance | Emperor of Japan |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Infantry Cavalry Artillery |
| Size | 3 Divisions 10 Regiments |
| Garrison/HQ | Tokyo |
| Engagements | Satsuma Rebellion Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War World War I World War II |
| Disbanded | 1945 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Yamagata Aritomo, Ōyama Iwao, Kotohito Kan'in, Hajime Sugiyama, Hideki Tojo, Yasuji Okamura, Shunroku Hata, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Tomoyuki Yamashita, Masaharu Homma |
When Emperor Meiji assumed all the powers of state during the Meiji Restoration he ordered the formation of an Imperial Guard to protect himself and the Japanese royal family. In 1867 the Imperial Guard was formed from loyal retainers and former samurai. This unit would then go on to form the nucleus of the new Imperial Japanese Army.
By the 1870s the Imperial Guard, which had been organized and trained along French Military lines, consisted of 12,000 officers and men. It was organized into the 1st Guards Infantry Brigade which had the 1st and 2nd Regiments. The 2nd Guards Brigade contained the 3rd and 4th regiments. However following the decisive German victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the French defeat prompted the Japanese government to recruit some of the victorious German officers to retrain and reorganize the Imperial Guards on the Prussian Gardes du Corps model. The Imperial troops first saw action in the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877.
By 1885 the Imperial Guards was one of seven divisions within the Imperial Japanese Army. Each division consisted of four regiments containing two battalions. The Imperial Guard division was based in garrisons around Tokyo but it recruited nationally.
The Imperial Guards saw little action in Manchuria during the Sino-Japanese War, but were used to invade Taiwan in May 1895 following the proclamation of the Republic of Formosa. The division suffered relatively low battle casualties, but lost a significant proportion of its strength from malaria and other diseases. By the end of the campaign it was down to half strength.
After the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, a further Guard Brigade was formed from indigenous Formosans. In 1920 the Guards Cavalry Regiment, Guards Field Artillery Regiment, Guards Engineer Battalion, Guards Transport Battalion, plus other Guards service units were added.
From 1937 to 1939 the Guards Engineer Battalion was expanded into a regiment along with the Guards Transport Battalion.
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