Japanese China Garrison Army
Barracks of the China Garrison Army, approx. 1905
Active1 June 1901 – 26 August 1937
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleField Army
Garrison/HQTianjin, China

The China Garrison Army (支那駐屯軍, Shina Chutongun) was formed 1 June 1901 as the Chinese Empire Garrison Army (清国駐屯軍, Shinkoku Chutongun), as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It took the name China Garrison Army from 14 April 1912 and onward, though was typically referred to as the Tianjin Garrison.[1]

History

The IJA 5th Division was dispatched to protect Japanese nationals and property in Tianjin, China in June 1900 after the start of the Boxer Rebellion. It formed the core of the Japanese expeditionary forces in northern China. Under the terms of the Boxer Protocol, Japan was allowed to maintain a military garrison to guard its embassy, concessions in China, as well as certain strategic fortifications and ports. The IJA 5th Division was thus transformed into the Chinese Empire Garrison Army in June 1901.

After the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China was proclaimed in 1911, the name was considered an anachronism, and the Chinese Empire Garrison Army was thus renamed in 1912 to the China Garrison Army.

From April 1936, as diplomatic relations between Japan and China continued to worsen, the China Garrison Army was reinforced with ten companies of infantry and one combined regiment.

Its forces were involved in the clash with the Chinese in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident that triggered the Second Sino-Japanese War. The China Garrison Army was reinforced in July 1937 with the IJA 20th Division from Korea and two Independent combined brigades from the Kwantung Army in Manchukuo, and subsequently with an additional three infantry divisions (the IJA 5th Division, IJA 6th Division and IJA 10th Division) from the Japanese home islands for the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin and Operation Chahar.

The China Garrison Army was abolished on 26 August 1937 and its forces redistributed between the Japanese First Army, Japanese Second Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army. Garrison duties for the Tianjin area were assigned to the IJA 27th Division.

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

NameFromTo
1Lieutenant General Hisanao Oshima1 June 19014 July 1901
2Lieutenant General Takesuke Yamane4 July 190125 October 1901
3General Yoshifuru Akiyama25 October 19012 April 1903
4Lieutenant General Taro Senba2 April 190325 June 1905
5General Mitsumoi Kamio25 June 190527 November 1906
6Lieutenant General Aizo Nakamura27 November 190621 November 1908
7Lieutenant General Teijiro Abe21 November 190824 April 1912
8Lieutenant General Kojiro Sato24 April 19128 August 1914
9General Takeshi Nara8 August 19145 July 1915
10Lieutenant General Sueharu Saito5 July 19152 May 1916
11Lieutenant General Masaomi Ishimitsu2 May 191610 June 1918
12General Hanzo Kanaya10 June 191825 July 1919
13Major General Jirō Minami25 July 191920 January 1921
14Lieutenant General Ichiba Suzuki20 January 19216 August 1923
15Lieutenant General Kensaku Yoshioka6 August 19231 May 1925
16Lieutenant General Rokuichi Koizumi1 May 19252 March 1926
17Lieutenant General Toyoki Takada2 March 192626 July 1927
18Lieutenant General Kametaro Arai26 July 192716 March 1929
19General Kenkichi Ueda16 March 192922 December 1930
20Lieutenant General Kōhei Kashii22 December 193029 February 1932
21General Kotaro Nakamura29 February 19325 March 1934
22General Yoshijirō Umezu5 March 19341 August 1935
23General Hayao Tada1 August 19351 May 1936
24Lieutenant General Kanichiro Tashiro1 May 193612 July 1937
25Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki12 July 193726 August 1937

Chief of Staff

NameFromTo
1Major General Kenji Matsumoto10 August 19281 August 1931
2Major General Toshijiro Takeuchi1 August 19319 January 1932
3Major General Monya Kikuchi9 January 19321 August 1934
4General Takashi Sakai1 August 19342 December 1935
5Major General Takenori Nagami2 December 19351 August 1936
6Major Gumu Hashimoto1 August 193626 August 1937

References

  1. Sophie Lee, Education in Wartime Beijing 1937–1945 (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan University, 1996), 42.

Books

  • Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937–41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.
  • Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
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