Sixteenth Army (Japan)

Japanese Sixteenth Army
Japanese troops enter Java
Active	November 5, 1941 - August 15, 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Corps
Garrison/HQ	Batavia
Nickname(s)	Osamu (治 )
Engagements	Battle of Java (1942)

The Japanese 16th Army (第16軍 , Dai-jyūroku gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

History

The Japanese 16th Army was formed on November 5, 1941 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group to coordinate the infantry divisions and other Japanese ground forces in the Invasion of Java in the Netherlands East Indies. It remained based on Java throughout the Pacific War as a garrison force.

On March 27, 1944, with the threat of possible landings of Allied forces to retake the Dutch East Indies increasing, the organizational structure of the Southern Expeditionary Army changed and the IJA 16th Army was reassigned to the Japanese Seventh Area Army. It remained headquartered in Jakarta as a garrison force as before.

The Japanese 16th Army was demobilized at the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.

List of commanders

Commanding officer

	Name	From	To
1	General Hitoshi Imamura	6 November 1941	9 November 1942
2	Lieutenant General Kumakichi Harada	9 November 1942	7 April 1945
3	Lieutenant General Yuichiro Nagano	7 April 1945	September 1945

Chief of Staff

	Name	From	To
1	Lieutenant General Seizaburo Okazaki	6 November 1941	10 June 1943
2	Lieutenant General Shinshichiro Kokubu	10 June 1943	14 November 1944
3	Major General Shigeichi Yamamoto	14 November 1944	September 1945