The 7th Division was formed in Sapporo, Hokkaidō on 12 May 1888, as the first new infantry division formed by the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army from six regional commands to a divisional command structure. The reorganization was recommended by Prussianmilitary advisorJakob Meckel. It was responsible for the defence of Hokkaidō, which it divided into four operational areas (Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa and Kushiro). As one of the projects of the Japanese government was to encourage the settlement of Hokkaidō by ex-soldiers, the 7th Division was over-strength, and contained many soldiers originally from other areas of Japan. The territorial division was converted to a field infantry division on 12 May 1896, in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War. On 30 October 1901, most of division's units were transferred to Takasu village in Kamikawa (Ishikari) District, Hokkaido, where previously only the 28th Infantry Regiment was located. After an extensive building project, the division moved to its new headquarters in Takasu on 21 October 1902, and 25 October 1902 the Sapporomilitary prison was moved to the same location.
It was reassigned to Manchuria twice in 1934 and 1936, performing police duties without significant events. In February 1938, the 7th Division was permanently assigned to Kwantung Army, but arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Lake Khasan in July 1938. Parts of it reinforced the 23rd Division during the disastrous Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939. By September 1939, the entire division had arrived at the front lines, with the 26th Infantry Regiment being noted in particular for halting an advance by Chinese Communist forces. Because Hokkaido was left mostly undefended, the 7th Division eventually returned to Asahikawa, Hokkaido in August 1940, being subordinated directly to Imperial General Headquarters as part of the strategic reserve. Also in 1940, the 25th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Sakhalin Mixed Brigade, which became the 88th Division in February 1945. As result, the 7th Division became a triangular division.
Pacific WarEdit
In 1942, despite its specialization in Arctic warfare, the 28th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division under the command of Kiyonao Ichiki was assigned to invade Midway in the central Pacific. After the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, which caused the cancellation of the invasion of Midway, the regiment was on its way back to Japan when it was rerouted to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942. Also, a detachment of the 7th Division was part of the Japanese occupation of Attu. At Guadalcanal, the regiment took heavy casualties during the Battle of the Tenaru and the Battle of Edson's Ridge. Of the 2500 men who were sent to the Guadalcanal campaign, only 140 returned alive to Japan.
This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第7師団 (日本軍)
Madej, W. Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945. Allentown, PA: Game Publishing Company. OCLC 8930220.
United States War Department; David Isby (Introduction) and Jeffrey Ethell (Afterword) (1991) [1944]. Handbook on Japanese Military Forces. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN0-8071-2013-8.
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Independent Mixed Brigade
Infantry Division (including guard divisions)
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Japanese infantry and armored units in Home Islands, 15 August 1945
October 21, 2023
division, imperial, japanese, army, division, 第7師団, nana, shidan, infantry, division, imperial, japanese, army, call, sign, bear, division, 熊兵団, kuma, heidan, divisionactive1888, 1945countryempire, japanbranchimperial, japanese, armytypeinfantrygarrison, hqasa. 7th Division 第7師団 Dai nana Shidan was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army Its call sign was the Bear Division 熊兵団 Kuma heidan 7th DivisionActive1888 1945CountryEmpire of JapanBranchImperial Japanese ArmyTypeInfantryGarrison HQAsahikawa Hokkaido JapanNickname s Bear Division 熊兵団 Kuma heidan North Subduing Division 北鎮部隊 Hokuchin butai CommandersNotablecommandersNagayama Takeshiro Ueda Arisawa Uehara Yusaku Watanabe Jotaro Osami Okiie The 7th Division was formed in Sapporo Hokkaidō on 12 May 1888 as the first new infantry division formed by the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army from six regional commands to a divisional command structure The reorganization was recommended by Prussian military advisor Jakob Meckel It was responsible for the defence of Hokkaidō which it divided into four operational areas Sapporo Hakodate Asahikawa and Kushiro As one of the projects of the Japanese government was to encourage the settlement of Hokkaidō by ex soldiers the 7th Division was over strength and contained many soldiers originally from other areas of Japan The territorial division was converted to a field infantry division on 12 May 1896 in the aftermath of the First Sino Japanese War On 30 October 1901 most of division s units were transferred to Takasu village in Kamikawa Ishikari District Hokkaido where previously only the 28th Infantry Regiment was located After an extensive building project the division moved to its new headquarters in Takasu on 21 October 1902 and 25 October 1902 the Sapporo military prison was moved to the same location Contents 1 Action 1 1 Russo Japanese War to Soviet Japanese border conflicts 1 2 Pacific War 2 See also 3 Reference and further readingAction EditRusso Japanese War to Soviet Japanese border conflicts Edit The 7th Division saw combat during the Russo Japanese War where it was assigned to the Siege of Port Arthur and later to the Battle of Mukden Assigned to Manchuria from 1917 1919 it also participated in the Siberian Intervention beginning on 6 June 1918 The division returned to Asahikawa Hokkaido on 5 May 1919 It was reassigned to Manchuria twice in 1934 and 1936 performing police duties without significant events In February 1938 the 7th Division was permanently assigned to Kwantung Army but arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Lake Khasan in July 1938 Parts of it reinforced the 23rd Division during the disastrous Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 By September 1939 the entire division had arrived at the front lines with the 26th Infantry Regiment being noted in particular for halting an advance by Chinese Communist forces Because Hokkaido was left mostly undefended the 7th Division eventually returned to Asahikawa Hokkaido in August 1940 being subordinated directly to Imperial General Headquarters as part of the strategic reserve Also in 1940 the 25th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Sakhalin Mixed Brigade which became the 88th Division in February 1945 As result the 7th Division became a triangular division Pacific War Edit In 1942 despite its specialization in Arctic warfare the 28th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division under the command of Kiyonao Ichiki was assigned to invade Midway in the central Pacific After the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway which caused the cancellation of the invasion of Midway the regiment was on its way back to Japan when it was rerouted to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942 Also a detachment of the 7th Division was part of the Japanese occupation of Attu At Guadalcanal the regiment took heavy casualties during the Battle of the Tenaru and the Battle of Edson s Ridge Of the 2500 men who were sent to the Guadalcanal campaign only 140 returned alive to Japan The remainder of the division remained as the Asahikawa Hokkaido garrison until March 1944 At that time it was moved to Obihiro in eastern Hokkaido relieved by the 77th Division at Asahikawa The infantry regiments fortified the Nakashibetsu Hokkaido area building a network of pillboxes stretching from Nemuro to Kushiro The division was disbanded with the surrender of Japan in September 1945 See also EditList of Japanese Infantry Divisions List of IJA Mixed BrigadesReference and further reading EditThis article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations June 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第7師団 日本軍 Madej W Victor 1981 Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle 1937 1945 Allentown PA Game Publishing Company OCLC 8930220 United States War Department David Isby Introduction and Jeffrey Ethell Afterword 1991 1944 Handbook on Japanese Military Forces Baton Rouge and London Louisiana State University Press ISBN 0 8071 2013 8 nbsp nbsp 8 nbsp 7 nbsp 5 6 nbsp 4 nbsp 3 nbsp 2 nbsp 1 nbsp 4 nbsp 1GD 2GD 3GD nbsp 354 nbsp 344 nbsp 322 nbsp 321 nbsp 316 nbsp 312 nbsp 308 nbsp 303 nbsp 234 nbsp 231 nbsp 230 nbsp 229 nbsp 225 355 nbsp 224 nbsp 222 nbsp 221 nbsp 216 nbsp 214 nbsp 212 nbsp 209 nbsp 206 nbsp 202 nbsp 201 nbsp 157 nbsp 156 nbsp 155 nbsp 154 nbsp 153 nbsp 152 nbsp 151 nbsp 150 nbsp 147 nbsp 146 nbsp 145 nbsp 144 nbsp 143 nbsp 142 nbsp 140 nbsp 93 nbsp 89 nbsp 86 nbsp 84 nbsp 81 nbsp 77 nbsp 73 nbsp 72 nbsp 57 351 nbsp 44 nbsp 42 nbsp 28 nbsp 25 nbsp 11 205 nbsp 7 nbsp 64 nbsp 66 nbsp 67 nbsp 95 nbsp 96 nbsp 97 nbsp 98 nbsp 101 nbsp 107 nbsp 109 nbsp 113 nbsp 114 nbsp 115 nbsp 116 nbsp 117 nbsp 118 nbsp 119 nbsp 120 nbsp 121 nbsp 122 nbsp 123 nbsp 124 nbsp 125 nbsp 126 nbsp Independent Mixed Brigade nbsp Infantry Division including guard divisions nbsp Independent Armored Brigade nbsp Armored divisionclass notpageimage Japanese infantry and armored units in Home Islands 15 August 1945 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 7th Division Imperial Japanese Army amp oldid 1108505146, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
