| 16th Division | |
|---|---|
 IJA 16th Division HQ in Kyoto | |
| Active | 1905 - 1945 |
| Country | Empire of Japan |
| Branch | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | 25,000 men |
| Garrison/HQ | Kyoto |
| Nickname | Wall Division |
| Engagements | Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Prince Nashimoto (Morimasa) Minami Jiro Kanji Ishiwara Shiro Makino |
The16th Division (第16師団,Dai Jūroku Shidan) was aninfantry division in theImperial Japanese Army. Itstsūshōgōcode name was theWall Division (垣兵団,Kaki Heidan), and its military symbol was 16D. The 16th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). With Japan's limited resources towards the end of that conflict, the entire IJA was committed to combat in Manchuria, leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese home islands from attack. The16th Division was initially raised from men in the area surrounding Kyoto 18 July 1905 under the command of Lieutenant GeneralYamanaka Nobuyoshi.
The 16th Division was immediately deployed to Manchuria, but the peace process was already underway since 6 August 1905, culminating with the signing of theTreaty of Portsmouth on 5 September 1905. As a consequence, the16th division could not see any combat.
On 28 March 1907 the divisional headquarters was established in what is now the city ofTakaishi, Osaka, but was relocated to Kyoto 30 October 1908. The divisions were sent thrice to Manchuria to perform a garrison duties - in 1919, 1929 and 1934.
While in Kyoto, the division was called upon to provide emergency relief efforts during massive flooding of theKamo River 28 June 1935. For the three days, sappers from the division helped shore up dikes and construct temporary bridges, while over a thousand men assisted with traffic control and rescue efforts at the request of the Kyoto city government.
In July 1937, open hostilities broke out againstChina and theSecond Sino-Japanese War commenced. The 16th Division, under the command of Lieutenant GeneralKesago Nakajima, was assigned to theSecond Army, as part of theNorthern China Area Army. The division participated in theSecond Shanghai Incident(August–November 1937),Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation (August–December 1937),[1] theBattle of Nanjing (December 1937), theBattle of Xuzhou (January 1938) and theBattle of Wuhan (July–October 1938). It was thus one of the Japanese military units implicated in theNanjing Massacre. In December 1938, the16th division was incorporated into the11th army.
The division was demobilized and returned to Japan in August 1939. At that time, the division was re-organized into atriangular division, with the 38th Infantry Regiment transferred to become the core of the newly formed29th Division. The reformed16th division was mobilized and permanently re-located toManchukuo in July 1940.
The 16th Division was assigned to the14th Area Army 6 November 1941 and participated in thePhilippines campaign (1941–1942). Later it was based inManila as a garrison force.
However, as the war situation deteriorated in August 1944, theImperial General Headquarters ordered the 16th Division toLeyte Island as part of the35th Army for a final decisive stand againstAllied forces. 22 October 1944, the divisional headquarters were placed inDagami, which contributed to the difficulty controlling troops inKananga -Jaro -Tanauan -Tabontabon -Catmon hill in Tolosa -Julita -Burauen semi-circular defence perimeter.[2] The initial US attack onTabontabon was repulsed 25 October 1944, butTabontabon positions were lost 28 October 1944, followed by outlying stronghold ofCatmon hill in Tolosa 29 October 1944. As the result of theTabontabon breakthrough, the northern part of the Japanese positions inJaro was cut off and annihilated 29 October 1944, followed by Rizal inKananga andDagami itself falling to US forces 30 October 1944. Disorganized and cut off survivors of the division have gathered together in a single battalion (about 500 men) by 2 December 1944 in a mountains southwest ofDagami.[3] That battalion has led theBattle of the Airfields 6 December 1944, an attack on abandoned US airstrips on Leyte east coast, which failed after some initial successes 9 December 1944. After the capture of theOrmoc by US77th division 10 December 1944, the survivors of the16th division (about 200 men at this point) were ordered to disengage and retreat westward.16th division commander, Lieutenant GeneralShiro Makino, was ordered to control all of the Japanese forces remaining onLeyte after 17 March 1945,[4] and committed suicide during the battle, 10 August 1945. Of the approximately 13,000 men in the 16th Division, only 620 survived theBattle of Leyte.
The building today exists asKyoto Seibo Gakuin High School as a private high school founded in 1949 in the current site.[5] It served as a model for the school named "Usagiyama High School" in the 2013 anime television seriesTamako Market.