Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 is the first nuts-and-bolts handbook to utilize both the voluminous raw allied intelligence documents and postwar Japanese documentation as primary sources. This first volume covers the tactical organization of Army and Navy ground forces during the 1937-45 war. Using the wartime Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) mobilization plans, and the Unit Organization Tables, Unit Strength Tables and Unit History Tables compiled by the War Ministry and the 1st Demobilization Bureau during and after the war, a complete picture of IJA ground forces through the war is presented.

The evolution of the Japanese force structure is examined, including infantry, armor, cavalry, artillery and naval ground combat units from battalion to division level, each thoroughly discussed and illustrated with tables of organization and equipment and mobilization data. This forms the framework for any discussion of the Imperial Japanese Army's capabilities and intentions.

• Cover
• About the author
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Tables
• List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1 General
  • Manchuria Beckons
  • Into the China Morass
  • Force Expansion
  • Decision Time
  • A Pacific War
  • Figuring Out the Next Step
  • The Last Gasp of the Offensive Theme
  • Reality Sets In – Forced Onto the Defensive
  • Operation Sho-Go
  • 1945: From Bad to Worse
  • Defending the Homeland
  • A Plan For Failure
• 2 Infantry
  • The Post WWI Reorganization
  • New Weapons and New Organization in the 1930s
  • The Redesigned Divisions
  • The Wartime Divisions
  • Optimizing for Manchuria
  • The Change to Triangular Divisions
  • Reorganizing at the Platoon/Company Level
  • Force Expansion 1939/40
  • The 1941 Mobilization Plan Order
  • Divisional Artillery
  • Divisional Reconnaissance
  • Service Support for the Division
  • The 1941 Division
  • The China Experiments with Divisional Armor
  • The Motor-Type Divisions
  • The 1941 Reworking of Wartime Divisions for China
  • Preparing for the Move South
  • Reorganization for Burma
  • The Security Divisions of 1942
  • Improvised Divisions
  • The Security Divisions of 1943
  • Defending the South 1943
  • A New Organization for the Pacific
  • Reorganization in China, 1943
  • The 1944 Mobilization Plan Order
  • Force Expansion 1944
  • Homeland Defense: The Preliminary Moves
  • China and Manchuria 1944
  • The Draw-Down of the Kwantung Army
  • Local Reorganization 1944
  • Consolidating in China 1945
  • Homeland Defense: the Coastal Divisions
  • Homeland Defense: the Mobile Divisions
  • Homeland Defense: the Third Mobilization Wave
  • Desperation in Manchuria
  • The Regular Army Brigades
  • The Independent Infantry Groups
  • The First Independent Mixed Brigades
  • IMB Conversions in China
  • IMBs for the South
  • The Southeastern Theater and the Homeland, Spring 1944
  • IMBs in the Central Pacific
  • Southern Army IMBs – the Second Wave
  • IMBs for the Philippines
  • IMBs for the Homeland: a First Group via Redesignation
  • Southern Army and Kwantung Army
  • The Last Gasp in China
  • Homeland Defense: the Second IMB Group
  • The Last Wave of IMBs for the Homeland, May 1945
  • The Independent Infantry Brigades
  • The Amphibious Brigades
  • The Independent Mixed Regiments
  • A New Generation of IMRs for the Central Pacific
  • The Third Generation IMRs
  • The 1945 Group of IMRs
  • Separate Infantry Units
  • South Seas Detachments
  • The Expeditionary Units
  • The Garrison Infantry
  • The LoC Sector Units
  • The Fortress Units
  • The Border Garrisons in Manchuria
  • Independent Machine Gun Battalions
  • The Mortar Battalions
  • Independent Anti-Tank Units
  • Reserve and Replacement Units
• 3 Cavalry
• 4 Armor
  • The Resurgence of Combined Arms
  • Separate Tank Regiments
  • The Tank Brigades
  • Other Armor Units
• 5 Non-Divisional Artillery
  • Field Artillery
  • Mountain Artillery
  • Medium Artillery
  • Coastal and Heavy Artillery
  • Artillery Mortars
  • Rocket Artillery
  • Self-Propelled Artillery
  • Artillery Intelligence
  • Artillery Commands
• 6 Anti-Aircraft Artillery
  • Anti-Aircraft Units
  • Prelude to War: the 1941 Mobilization Plan
  • Commanding the Homeland AA Units
  • Smaller Static AA Units
  • Field Anti-Aircraft Units
  • Field Machine Cannon Units
  • Special Machine Cannon Units
  • Field Searchlight Units
  • Higher Commands
  • Shipping Artillery
  • Air Intelligence
• 7 Other Army Units
  • Airborne
  • Commando Units
  • Airfield Units
• 8 Naval Ground Forces
  • Naval Landing Forces
  • Naval Ground Units in Japan
  • Naval Ground Units Outside Japan
  • Air Defense Units
  • Emergency Mobilization
• Notes on Sources
  • General Notes
  • Sources for Organizational Materials