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| Japanese Twenty-Third Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | June 26, 1941 - August 15, 1945 |
| Country | Empire of Japan |
| Branch | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | Guangdong |
| Engagements | Second Sino-Japanese War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Hitoshi Imamura Takashi Sakai Hisakazu Tanaka |
TheJapanese 23rd Army (第23軍,Dai-nijyusan gun) was an army of theImperial Japanese Army duringWorld War II.
The Japanese 23rd Army was established on June 26, 1941, under the command of theImperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to the control of theChina Expeditionary Army on August 12 of the same year. It was based inGuangdong province and onHainan Island to replace theSouthern China Area Army which was disbanded June 26, 1941.
The Japanese 23rd Army was primarily agarrison force to deter the possible landings ofAllied forces in southern China. It was involved in theBattle of Guilin-Liuzhou (part ofOperation Ichi-Go) from August–November 1944. The Japanese 23rd Army surrendered to the ChineseKuomintang forces on August 15, 1945, with thesurrender of Japan and was disbanded inGuangzhou.
After the war, Imamura, Sakai, and Tanaka were all tried and convicted of war crimes. Sakai and Tanaka were tried in China and executed, while Imamura received a life sentence from an Australian military court. He was released in 1954. Viewing his own sentence as too lenient, Imamura built his own prison in which he imprisoned himself until his death in 1967.
| Name | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GeneralHitoshi Imamura | 28 June 1941 | 6 November 1941 |
| 2 | Lt. GeneralTakashi Sakai | 6 November 1941 | 1 March 1943 |
| 3 | Lt. GeneralHisaichi Tanaka | 1 March 1943 | 9 September 1945 |
| Name | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lt. GeneralSeizo Arisue | 28 June 1941 | 15 September 1941 |
| 2 | Lt. GeneralTadamichi Kuribayashi | 15 September 1941 | 10 June 1943 |
| 3 | Major GeneralYosuke Adachi | 10 June 1943 | 16 December 1944 |
| 4 | Major GeneralKatsunobu Uzawa | 16 December 1944 | 15 April 1945 |
| 5 | Major GeneralNaosuke Tomita | 15 April 1945 | 1 September 1945 |