Imperial Japanese Army
Army · Japan
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan's rapid modernization during the Meiji period and fought in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and World War II, becoming a dominant force in Japanese politics. Initially formed from samurai domain armies that overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate, it evolved into a powerful modern military influenced by French and German models. Notorious for committing widespread war crimes including mass murder, mass rape, and forced labour, it was dissolved after Japan's surrender in 1945; the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force succeeded it as Japan's ground warfare service.