{{Infobox military unit | unit_name = First General Army | native_name = {{langx|ja|第1総軍 (日本軍)}}<br>''Dai-ichi Sōgun'' | image = | caption = | dates = April 8, 1945 – November 30, 1945 | country = Empire of Japan | allegiance = Emperor of Japan | branch = Imperial Japanese Army | type = General Army | garrison = Tokyo | nickname = {{nihongo|Toho|東方|Eastern}} | battles = None ''(Operation Downfall)'' }} {{command structure |name= Japanese First General Army |date=1945 |parent=Imperial General Headquarters |subordinate=<br> * Japanese Eleventh Area Army **IJA 50th Army **72nd Division **142nd Division **222nd Division **322nd Division **113th Independent Mixed Brigade *Japanese Twelfth Area Army ** Tokyo Defense Army **Army of Tokyo Bay **36th Army **51st Army **52nd Army **53rd Army **321st Division **IJA 66th Independent Combined Brigade **IJA 67th Independent Combined Brigade **IJA 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade *Japanese Thirteenth Area Army **54th Army **73rd Division **153rd Division **229th Division **8th Independent Mixed Brigade **IJA 2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade}}
The '''{{nihongo|First General Army|第1総軍 (日本軍)|Dai-ichi Sōgun}}''' was a general army (army group equivalent) of the Imperial Japanese Army, established for the defense of eastern and northern Honshū (including the Tōkai and Kantō regions) during the final stage of the Pacific War.
==History== The First General Army was established on April 8, 1945, with the dissolution of the General Defense Command into the First and Second General Army. It was essentially a home guard and garrison, responsible for civil defense, anti-aircraft defenses, and for organizing guerilla warfare cells in anticipation of the projected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands in Operation Downfall (or {{nihongo|Operation Ketsugō|決号作戦|Ketsugō sakusen}} in Japanese terminology). Although its territory encompassed all of northern Japan, its primary mission was to ensure the security of the heavily populated Kantō region, which included Tokyo. Its forces consisted mostly of poorly trained and poorly armed reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia.
The First General Army remained active for several months after the surrender of Japan to help maintain public order until the arrival of the American occupation forces, and to oversee the final demobilization and dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army.
==Commanders==
===Commanding officer=== {| class=wikitable ! || Name || From || To |- |1 || Field Marshal Hajime Sugiyama ||7 April 1945 || 12 September 1945 |- |2 || General Kenji Doihara ||14 September 1945 || 23 September 1945 |- |3 || General Yoshijirō Umezu ||23 September 1945 || 1 October 1945 |- |4 || General Masakazu Kawabe ||1 October 1945 || 30 November 1945 |- |}
===Chief of Staff=== {| class=wikitable ! || Name || From || To |- |1 || Lieutenant General Einosuke Sudo ||6 April 1945 || 30 October 1945 |- |}
==See also== *Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army
==References==
===Books=== *{{cite book | last = Brooks | first = Lester | year = 1968 | title = Behind Japan's Surrender: The Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire | url = https://archive.org/details/behindjapanssurr00broo | url-access = registration | publisher = McGraw-Hill Book Company | location = New York | id = }} *{{cite book | last = Drea | first = Edward J. | year = 1998 | chapter = Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland & Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan | title = In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | isbn = 0-8032-1708-0 }} *{{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 = Jowett | first = Bernard | year = 1999 | title = The Japanese Army 1931–45 (Volume 2, 1942–45) | publisher = Osprey Publishing | 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 | id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW }} *{{cite book | last = Marston | first = Daniel | year = 2005 | title = The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima | publisher = Osprey Publishing | isbn = 1-84176-882-0 }} *{{cite book | last = Skates | first = John Ray | year = 1994 | title = The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb Downfall | publisher = University of South Carolina Press | location = New York | isbn = 0-87249-972-3 }}
==External links== *{{cite web | last = Wendel | first = Marcus | url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6758 | title = Axis History Factbook | work = First General Army }}
Category:Army groups of Japan Category:Military units and formations established in 1945 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945