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Japanese Armored Divisions

As in the case of most of the belligerent powers, Japanese armored divisions were relatively few in number by the standards of Germany and the United States. In fact, only four such divisions were formed during the period between 1934 and 1945, and only one of them during the Second World War. The other three were experimental formations first developed in China, which were later re-designated as "armored divisions" during the Second World War.

Initially, Japan's large scale armor formations were referred to as "Armored Groups". These differed from Armored Divisions in being formal organizations for disparate groups of armor operated in a specific geographical area and brigaded together for a particular tactical purpose. Armored units could be attached and detached from Armored Groups at will.

Later, when formal Armored Divisions were created, the idea was to create a more or less permanent status in regards to the Armored Groups and to recognize the de-facto status already present with many units, particularly in China. As such, regiments were permanently attached to the Armored Groups as opposed to being attached only when "in theatre", and a greater sense of coordination was achieved.

Typically, a Japanese Armored Group would vary in size, due to its ad-hoc nature, but a Japanese Armored Division was a somewhat more formalized affair, containing four armored and one reconnaissance regiment.

In addition, each Infantry Division was nominally assigned a company of tankettes, along with a minimum of about twenty to forty integral armored vehicles. Because of the way that Japanese armor doctrine worked for much of the Second World War, these numbers could rapidly be brought up to speed by drawing from detachments of the Armored Groups/Armored Divisions stationed in the area. This served to support the Japanese concept of armor supporting the infantry, but it also further denuded the capability of IJA Armored Divisons and smaller armored units, preventing them from operating as independent formations.

Despite the establishment of Armored Groups and Divisions, most Japanese tanks (more than half) were, in fact, attached to mechanized divisions in China, and to the Independent Mixed Brigades being experimented with throughout the war. As in the case of the larger formations, this armor was rarely permitted independence of action, although small units were frequently detached on special missions.

Comparatively, while the IJN did make heavy use of tanks in many of its operations, no SNLF (Marine/Naval) Armored Divisions were formed. One organization occasionally cited is the so-called "Shinbun" Armored Group encountered during the Allied invasion of the Philippines. The Shinbun fought on Luzon in 1945, but very little is known about it beyond that.

In all, the IJA envisioned the creation of more than a dozen (12) Armored Divisions during the war. This was, to say the least, optimistic to the extreme. At least four Armored Groups, however, were re-designated Armored Divisions by 1945.

1. 1st Armored Division, "Taku" (Development) - Originally formed in Central China in 1934. In 1941, the Taku Division was reinforced and re-formed. In 1942, it was re-designated as an Armored Division. Aside from a brief stint in Central China, the Taku Division was deployed to Manchuria fairly consistently for much of the period between 1934 and 1945. Taku was recalled to Japan shortly before the end of the war. When officially designated an Armored Division, Taku was assigned the 1st, 5th, 3rd, and 9th Armored Regiments and the 1st Tank Division Reconnaissance Regiment.
2. 2nd Armored Division, "Geki" (Hit) - Formed initially as the Geki Armored Group in Central China around 1934, Geki was re-designated an Armored Division in 1942 while posted to Manchuria. The unit spent some time in Manchuria and was then transferred to the Philippines where it was completely destroyed in the fighting of 1944-45. When officially designated an Armored Division, Geki was assigned the 6th, 7th, and 10th Armored Regiments. The Axis History Factbook suggests that the Armored Reconaissance Regiment was, in this case, replaced with the 2nd Mobile Infantry Regiment (a mechanized unit).
3. 3rd Armored Division, "Taki" (Waterfall) - Officially designated an Armored Division in 1942 while stationed in Outer Mongolia, Taki was probably formed prior to this as an Armored Group. Taki saw fairly heavy and sustained fighting during the war, but survived until the end of the war deployed to China. According to the Axis History Factbook, Taki was formed of the same units assigned to 2nd Armored Division (6th, 7th, and 10th Armor). This conflicts with other sources, which do not confirm the units which did comprise.
4. 4th Armored Division, "Hagane" (Steel) - Formed as an elite cadre type armored division in the mold of Panzer Lehr, the 4th Armor was founded in Japan in early 1943 with the assistance of German Advisors. Its tankers were hand picked, with Hagane to have been the elite core of Japan's new armor doctrine. The 4th never saw combat as a cohesive unit, though elements may have been deployed elsewhere in small numbers or attached as advisors. The 4th consisted of the 28th, 29th, and 30th Armored Regiments, along with the 4th Tank Division Reconnaissance Regiment.

The Japanese deployed their armor in virtually every campaign waged by the IJA and IJN. Frequently, Allied troops were rather shocked to discover armor in the most unlikely of places - several tiny islands in the Solomons, for example, were found with lighter Japanese vehicles. It should be stressed, however, based upon production numbers, that this equates to quite a few penny packet deployments of one or two vehicles!

Generally speaking, the larger units, including three of the four armored divisions, were deployed initially to China/Manchuria, and all four divisions began life there. The 2nd Armored Division was eventually relocated to the Philippines, and ended its life there. The other three divisions survived the war. Several independent mixed brigades were deployed in China, a few in Southeast Asia, and at least one (briefly) in Burma.

Most of the tanks developed by the Japanese were deployed to all fronts, but some of the specialized engineering vehicles were only deployed to the China/Manchuria area. In addition, none of the armored cars deployed outside the Home Islands ever left continental Asia. The same could be said of Japan's armored trains (a topic not covered here), which were never deployed outside the China/Manchuria area of operations. None of the German vehicles given to the Japanese ever left the Home Islands.

As a means of reference, the most commonly produced Japanese armored vehicle was the Type 95 Ha-Go, and this (subsequently) was the most commonly encountered Japanese vehicles. All of the armies fighting the Japanese engaged the Ha-Go, and a few of them continued to use the Ha-Go (and a few other Japanese vehicles) operationally post war. There are photos, for example, of Type 95 Ha-Gos at Dien Bien Phu with Viet-Minh markings!