imported>Onel5969: Disambiguating links to Public order (link changed to Public-order crime) using DisamAssist.

2025-05-07T21:55:47Z

Disambiguating links to Public order (link changed to Public-order crime) using DisamAssist.

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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= First Area Army
|image=
|caption=
|dates= July 2, 1942 - August 15, 1945
|country= [[Empire of Japan]]
|allegiance=
|branch= [[Imperial Japanese Army]]
|type= [[Infantry]]
|role= [[Field Army]]
|garrison=[[Mukden]]
|nickname= 鋭 (''Ei'' = “sharp”)
|battles=[[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]]
}}
{{command structure
|name= Japanese First Area Army
|date=1945
|parent=[[Kwantung Army]]
|subordinate=<br>
* [[Japanese Third Army|Japanese 3rd Army]]
* [[Japanese Fifth Army|Japanese 5th Army]]
* [[122nd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|122nd Infantry Division]]
* [[128th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|128th Infantry Division]] (from 9 August 1945)
* [[134th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|134th Infantry Division]] (from 9 August 1945)
* [[139th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|139th Infantry Division]]
}}
The {{nihongo|'''First Area Army'''|第1方面軍|Dai-ichi hōmen gun}} was a [[field army]] of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] during [[World War II]], based in northern [[Manchukuo]] and active in combat against the [[Soviet Union]] in the closing stages of the war.<ref>Jowett, ''The Japanese Army 1931-45''</ref>

==History==
The Japanese 1st Area Army was formed on July 4, 1942 under the control of the [[Kwantung Army]] as a [[military reserve]] and [[garrison]] force to maintain security and [[Public-order crime|public order]] in northern [[Manchukuo]] as many veteran divisions of the Kwantung Army were transferred to the various southern fronts in the [[Pacific War]]. It consisted mostly of minimally-trained [[military reserves|reservists]], [[military conscription|conscripted]] students and [[militia|home guard militia]], without adequate weapons or supplies. The 1st Area Army was headquartered in [[Dunhua]], in what is now the [[Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture]] of [[Jilin|Jilin Province]], [[China]].

The units of the 1st Area Army proved to be no match for the [[Red Army]] when the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|Soviet Union invaded Manchukuo]] at the end of [[World War II]]. Without adequate armor, ammunition or leadership, many units broke and fled, or surrendered en masse.<ref>Glantz, ''The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945''</ref> Many surviving soldiers of the 1st Area Army, including its [[commanding officer]] General Seiichi Kita, became [[Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|prisoners]] in [[Siberia]] and other parts of the Soviet Union after the [[surrender of Japan]] on August 15, 1945.<ref>Frank, ''Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire''</ref>

==List of Commanders==

===Commanding officer===
{| class=wikitable
! || Name || From || To
|-
|1|| General [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]] ||1 July 1942 || 26 September 1944
|-
|2|| General [[Seiichi Kita]]||26 September 1944 || 15 August 1945
|-
|}

===Chief of Staff===
{| class=wikitable
! || Name || From || To
|-
|1|| Major General [[Kitsuju Ayabe]] ||1 July 1942 || 7 December 1942
|-
|2|| Major General [[Tsunamasa Shidei]]||7 December 1942 || 16 October 1944
|-
|3|| Major General [[Tadao Teragaki]]||16 October 1944 || 1 April 1945
|-
|4|| Major General [[Ryozo Sakurai]]||1 April 1945 || 15 August 1945
|-
|}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Frank
| first = Richard B
| year = 1999
| title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
| publisher = Random House
| location = New York
| isbn = 0-679-41424-X
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Glantz
| first = David
| author-link =
| year = 2003
| chapter =
| title = The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7)
| publisher = Routledge
| location =
| isbn = 0-7146-5279-2
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Jowett
| first = Bernard
| year = 1999
| title = The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45)
| publisher = Osprey Publishing
| location =
| isbn = 1-84176-354-3
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Madej
| first = Victor
| year = 1981
| title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945
| publisher = Game Publishing Company
| location =
| id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Marston
| first = Daniel
| year = 2005
| title = The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
| publisher = Osprey Publishing
| location =
| isbn = 1-84176-882-0
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Hasegawa
| first = Tsuyoshi
| year =
| title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
| publisher = Belknap Press
| location =
| isbn = 0-674-01693-9
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/racingenemystali00hase
}}

==External links==
*{{cite web
| last = Wendel
| first = Marcus
| url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6737
| title = Axis History Factbook
| work = Japanese First Area Army
}}

[[Category:Field armies of the Imperial Japanese Army|1]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1942]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945]]

First Area Army - Revision history

imported>Onel5969: Disambiguating links to Public order (link changed to Public-order crime) using DisamAssist.