Imperial Guard Division

The Imperial Guard Division (近衛師団, Konoe Shidan) was established on December 14, 1891, as the elite formation charged with the defense of the Emperor and the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Recruited exclusively from the finest soldiers across Japan, the Guard Division held a unique status outside the regular divisional numbering system. Its barracks were situated adjacent to the Imperial Palace at Takebashi.

The division saw combat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and was deployed to southern China and Southeast Asia during World War II, taking part in the Malayan campaign and the capture of Singapore. After the reorganisations of 1943–1944 the 2nd Guards Division garrisoned Sumatra, while the 1st Guards Division in Tokyo and the 3rd Guards Division in Chiba Prefecture remained in Japan for homeland defense.

The most dramatic episode in the Guard Division's history was the Kyūjō Incident (宮城事件) on the night of August 14–15, 1945. Major Kenji Hatanaka and fellow conspirators, determined to prevent Emperor Hirohito's recorded surrender broadcast, assassinated the commander of the 1st Guards Division, Lt. Gen. Takeshi Mori, and forged orders to seal the Imperial Palace. The conspirators searched for the surrender recording but failed to find it. By dawn, Eastern District Army commander General Shizuichi Tanaka arrived and ordered the rebels to stand down. Hatanaka committed suicide; the surrender broadcast aired at noon on August 15.