1.
Empire of Japan
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The Empire of Japan was the historical Japanese nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan. Imperial Japans rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei led to its emergence as a world power, after several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, the Empire also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples it conquered. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, Occupation and reconstruction continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose full title is the State of Japan or simply rendered Japan in English. The historical state is referred to as the Empire of Japan or the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku, which translates to Greater Japanese Empire and this is analogous to Großdeutsches Reich, a term that translates to Greater German Empire in English and Dai Doitsu Teikoku in Japanese. This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonym Empire of the Sun. After two centuries, the policy, or Sakoku, under the shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. The following years saw increased trade and interaction, commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the terms of these Unequal Treaties, the Shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement. In March 1863, the Emperor issued the order to expel barbarians, although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, the British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima and they responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. For Richardsons death, the Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity, shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to the Bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the coup known as the Kinmon incident. The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, in early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito. On November 9,1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to the Emperor, however, while Yoshinobus resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. On January 3,1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the palace in Kyoto. On January 17,1868, Yoshinobu declared that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration, on January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces
2.
Thirty-Fifth Army (Japan)
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The Japanese 35th Army was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final days of World War II. It was under the command of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army. As the battle was lost, surviving units were given independent command authority, the IJA 35th Army was officially disbanded on April 19,1945. Some individual Japanese stragglers did not give up until the 1970s, Japanese 35th Army 16th Infantry Division 30th Infantry Division 100th Infantry Division 102nd Infantry Division IJA 54th Independent Mixed Brigade Drea, Edward J. Leyte, Unanswered Questions. In the Service of the Emperor, Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army, downfall, The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945, the Pacific War Companion, From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
3.
Imperial Japanese Army
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The Imperial Japanese Army or IJA, literally Army of the Greater Japanese Empire, was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan, from 1871 to 1945. Later an Inspectorate General of Military Aviation became the agency with oversight of the army. During the Meiji Restoration, the forces loyal to Emperor Meiji were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist daimyōs of Satsuma. This central army, the Imperial Japanese Army, became even more essential after the abolition of the han system in 1871. One of the differences between the samurai and the peasant class was the right to bear arms, this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, based on the German General Staff, was established directly under the Emperor and was given broad powers for military planning and strategy. The Japanese invasion of Taiwan under Qing rule in 1874 was an expedition by Japanese military forces in response to the Mudan Incident of December 1871. The Paiwan people, who are indigenous peoples of Taiwan, murdered 54 crewmembers of a merchant vessel from the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southwestern tip of Taiwan. 12 men were rescued by the local Chinese-speaking community and were transferred to Miyako-jima in the Ryukyu Islands and it marked the first overseas deployment of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. Not surprisingly, the new led to a series of riots from disgruntled samurai. One of the riots, led by Saigō Takamori, was the Satsuma Rebellion. Thenceforth, the military existed in an intimate and privileged relationship with the imperial institution, top-ranking military leaders were given direct access to the Emperor and the authority to transmit his pronouncements directly to the troops. The sympathetic relationship between conscripts and officers, particularly junior officers who were mostly from the peasantry, tended to draw the military closer to the people. In time, most people came to look more for guidance in matters more to military than to political leaders. By the 1890s, the Imperial Japanese Army had grown to become the most modern army in Asia, well-trained, well-equipped, however, it was basically an infantry force deficient in cavalry and artillery when compared with its European contemporaries. The Sino-Japanese War would come to symbolize the weakness of the military of the Qing dynasty and this was the result by Japans 120, 000-strong western-style conscript army of two armies and five divisions, which was well-equipped and well-trained when compared with their Qing counterparts. The Treaty of Shimonoseki made the Qing defeat official, with a shift in regional dominance in Asia from China to Japan. In 1899–1900, Boxer attacks against foreigners in China intensified eventually resulting in the siege of the legations in Beijing
4.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
5.
Mindanao
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Mindanao is the second largest and southernmost major island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three groups in the country, consisting of the island of Mindanao and smaller outlying islands. As of the 2010 census, the population itself is 20,281,545 people, while the Mindanao island group has 21,968,174 inhabitants. Davao City is the most populous city in Mindanao hosting 1,632,991 people, followed by Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, the island has seen a communist insurgency as well as armed Moro separatist movements. Mindanao is considered the food basket of the Philippines, eight of the top 10 agri-commodities exported from the Philippines come from here. Mindanao is also dubbed with the monikers The Philippines Land of Promise, although many attempts made, it was never occupied by Spain for their 333 years of stay in Luzon and Visayas. Yet during Spains defeat and Treaty of Paris in 1898, they illegally included by coordinates Mindanao, evidence of human occupation dates back tens of thousands of years. In prehistoric times the Negrito people arrived, sometime around 1500 BC, Austronesian peoples spread throughout the Philippines and far beyond. Native people of the Maluku Islands refer the island as Maluku Besar, the evidence of old stone tools in Zamboanga del Norte may indicate a late Neolithic presence. Ceramic burial jars, both unglazed and glazed, as well as Chinese celadons, have found in caves, together with shell bracelets, beads. Many of the objects are from the Yuan and Ming periods. Evidently, there was a history of trade between the Subanon and the Chinese long before the latter’s contact with Islam. In the Classic epoch of Philippine history, the people of Mindanao were heavily exposed to Hindu and Buddhist influence and beliefs from Indonesia, artifacts found from this era include the Golden kinnara, Golden Tara, and the Ganesh pendant. These cultural traits passed through Mindanao into the Visayas and Luzon, in coastal areas, the Hindu-Buddhist cultural revolution was strongest, whereas in interior parts, influences were indigenized into local animist beliefs and customs and appeared more subtly. The Darangen epic of the Maranao people harkens back to this era as the most compete local version of the Ramayana. The Maguindanao at this also had strong Hindu beliefs, evidenced by the Ladya Lawana epic saga that survives to the modern day. The Rajahnate of Butuan, a kingdom mentioned in Chinese records as a tributary state in the 10th century AD, was concentrated along the northeastern coast of the island around Butuan. The coming of Islam happened in the 14th century, the first mosque in the Philippines was built in the mid-14th century in the town of Simunul
6.
Battle of Davao
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The Battle of Davao was fought by Allied forces during World War II. It is part of Operation VICTOR V, an operation against Japanese forces in Mindanao. The battle was the engagement of the Mindanao Campaign. Davao was among the first cities in the Philippines to be occupied by Japanese troops in 1942, with its navy decisively crushed at the battle of Leyte Gulf six months earlier, the Japanese in Mindanao were now cut off from their main bases in Luzon. The Allies had already much of Central Mindanao, having destroyed several Japanese units in Malaybalay. By this time the Allies are preparing for the assault in Davao City, artillery and anti-aircraft batteries extensively ringed the coastal shoreline defenses. Soldiers from the American 8th Army are yet to land from their ships steaming in the Davao Gulf heading towards Davao City, with Allied assistance, separate large-sized Philippine guerrilla units were already being formed in eastern and southern Davao Province in anticipation for the upcoming battle. Defending the city was the role of the Japanese 100th Division under Gen. Harada, the center, overlooking Libby Airdrome, was manned by three battalions. The battle began on 27 April when the first Americans units of Gen. Roscoe B, woodruffs 24th Division reached what is now Digos, then part of Sta. By the time the division reached Digos, the Americans quickly overrun the Japanese defenses who were prepared only to repel an assault from the sea westward, the 24th Division immediately turned north and headed toward Davao City. Up to a point, X Corps had bypassed the main Japanese defenses of the 100th Division, which was inland on higher ground, Filipino soldiers of the guerrilla 108th Division cleared the Davao Gulf coast for fifteen miles south of Digos. On 30 April, the 21st Infantry attacked toward Mintal, a chronicler for the 24th Division wrote, The soldiers of the 24th Infantry, considered the post-Davao operations to be the hardest, bitterest and, most exhausting battle of the ten island campaigns. In addition to the tenacious defense put up by the Japanese, to the foot soldiers fighting in the Davao province, the word abaca was synonymous with hell. In the abaca fields, visibility was rarely more than ten feet. No breeze ever reached through the expanse of green, and more men - American, Filipino. The common way for scouts to locate a position in abaca fighting was to advance until they received machinegun fire at a range of three to five yards. For the next two months, in such an environment, the 24th Division fought the Japanese, while the infantry sought out the Japanese defenses, platoons and squads worked through the abaca and surrounding jungle to seek out enemy bunkers and spider holes. In this way, fighting progressed slowly, but the Americans, at Libby Airdrome and the village of Mintal, some 5 mi west of Davao City, the 21st Infantry Regiment got assailed from three sides in a concentrated attack by a numerically stronger enemy. Individual acts of heroism often spelled the difference between victory and defeat in the desperate fighting
7.
Tsu, Mie
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Tsu is the capital city of Mie Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2015, the city had an population of 279,304. The total area was 711.11 square kilometres, Tsu is located in east-central Kii Peninsula, in central Mie Prefecture. It stretches the width of Mie Prefecture, and is bordered by Ise Bay on the Pacific Ocean to the east, parts of the city are within the limits of the Murō-Akame-Aoyama Quasi-National Park. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from May to September, Tsu originally developed as a port town known as Anotsu in the Nara and Heian periods. The port was destroyed by a tsunami in the 1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake, the town was rebuilt as a castle town and a post station by the Tōdō clan, daimyō of Tsu Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. During the Edo period, it became a stopping point for travelers to Ise shrine. Following the Meiji Restoration, it became the capital of Mie Prefecture in 1871, with the establishment of municipalities on April 1,1889, Tsu was one of original 31 cities to be proclaimed. As a result of the merger, the city became the second largest in Mie by population behind Yokkaichi, imuraya Confectionery, a confectionery company, and ZTV, a cable television operator, are headquartered in Tsu. Mie University, the only national university. There are two cities that celebrate Tōjin Odori, Suzuka city in Mie Prefecture and Ushimado-chō in Okayama Prefecture. The ruins of Tsu Castle have been made into a city park. Kitabatake Shrine and Yūki Shrine are notable local Shinto shrines
8.
Shizuoka, Shizuoka
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Shizuoka is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefectures second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times, the citys name is made up of two kanji, 静 shizu, meaning still or calm, and 岡 oka, meaning hill. In 1869, Shizuoka Domain was first created out of the older Sunpu Domain, in 2003, Shizuoka merged with Shimizu City, briefly becoming the largest city by land area in Japan. In 2005, it one of Japans designated cities. Shizuoka City lies in central Shizuoka Prefecture, about halfway between Tokyo and Nagoya along the Tōkaidō Corridor, between Suruga Bay to the south and the Minami Alps in the north, the total area is 1,411.90 km2. Shizuoka is the 5th largest city in Japan in terms of area after Takayama, Hamamatsu, Nikkō. The fan-like shape of the Shizuoka Plain and Miho Peninsula were formed over the ages by the fast-flowing Abe River, carrying along collapsed sand and these areas form the foundations of the city today. The isolated Mount Kunō separates the Suruga coastline from the Shimizu coastline, further north, the mountainous Ikawa area is part of the Japanese snow country, where there are ski areas. As of the end of April 2015, the city had an population of 715,752. On 22 December 2006, colours and logos were established for each of the wards, numerous kofun have been found within the city limits, and the Toro archaeological site indicates that a major Yayoi period settlement existed in what is now part of the central city area. Suruga was established as a province of Japan in the early Nara period, during the Muromachi period, Sunpu was the capital of the Imagawa clan. The Imagawa were defeated at the Battle of Okehazama, and Sunpu was subsequently ruled by Takeda Shingen, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Ieyasu, and installed Nakamura Kazutada to rule Sunpu. After the Toyotomi were defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu recovered Sunpu, reassigning it to his own retainer and this marked the start of Sunpu Domain. Subsequently, aside for periods, Sunpu was tenryō, ruled by the Sunpu jōdai. In 1869, after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the former line, headed by Tokugawa Iesato was sent to Sunpu. The same year, Sunpu was renamed Shizuoka, Shizuoka Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line was opened on 1 February 1889. The same day, a burned down most of downtown Shizuoka. The modern city was founded on 1 April 1889, at the time, the population was 37,681, and Shizuoka was one of the first 31 cities established in Japan
