Imperial General Headquarters
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The Imperial General Headquarters or Daihonei, as part of the Supreme War Council was the supreme command for Japanese military forces during the World War II era. Its tactics development was divided into two distinct groups:
- Strike North Group - dominated by the Imperial Japanese Army
- Strike South Group - dominated by the Imperial Japanese Navy
Organization of the Imperial General Headquarters
The Emperor of Japan was defined as the Head of State and the Generalissimo of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces from 1889 to 1945.
He was assisted in his tasks by the Imperial General Headquarters consisting of the following:
- Chief of the Army General Staff,
- Chief of the Navy General Staff,
- Minister of War,
- Minister of the Navy,
- Inspectorate General of Military Training,
- Inspectorate General of Aviation.
Organization of the Imperial Japanese Army -- December 8, 1941
The majority of these troops were stationed in China, Indochina, Japan, Formosa, Korea, and Manchuria. This includes some 61 divisions, 59 cavalry brigades, and 51 air squadrons. Only a fraction of Japan's military, 11 to 14 divisions and the South Seas Detachment, would be available for the December 1941 operations in southeast Asia and the Pacific.
- Imperial General Headquarters
- IJA General Staff - headed by a Chief (General Sugiyama) and several Vice Chiefs.
- General Affairs Bureau
- Organization and Mobilization Department
- training Department
- 1st(Operations) Bureau
- Operations Department
- Defence Department
- 2d (Intelligence)Bureau
- Europe and the Americas Department
- China Department
- Russia/Soviet Union Department
- Intelligence Department
- 3d (Transport and Communications) Bureau
- Transport Department
- Communications Department
- 4th (Historical) Bureau
- Military History Department
- Strategy and Tactics Department
- General Staff College
- Land Survey Department
- General Affairs Bureau
- Ministry Of War
- General Defense Command
- China Expeditionary Army
- Kwantung Theater Army
- Southern Expeditionary Army
- Units under direct General Staff control
- IJA General Staff - headed by a Chief (General Sugiyama) and several Vice Chiefs.
See also:
US Navy Department, US War Department, Supreme Allied Headquarters