Toyohashi Army Training School (Reserve Officer School)

The Toyohashi Army Preparatory Officer School (豊橋陸軍教導学校・予備士官学校) traces its origins to the establishment of the Imperial Japanese Army's 15th Division (第15師団) at Takashinohara (高師原) in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, in November 1908. The 15th Division was raised primarily from men in the Nagoya military district, and its headquarters complex — including infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineering regiments — occupied an extensive area of approximately 500,000 tsubo (1.65 km²) at the northwestern end of the Takashinohara plateau, in the southern part of Toyohashi. The Infantry 18th Regiment (歩兵第18連隊) was garrisoned at the nearby Yoshida Castle site (present-day Toyohashi Park), while the Infantry 60th Regiment and division headquarters were located at what is now the Aichi University campus at Machihata-cho.

Following the Ugaki military reductions (宇垣軍縮) after World War I, the 15th Division was disbanded on May 1, 1925. However, the extensive military infrastructure at Takashinohara was not abandoned. On August 1, 1927, under the Army Training School Ordinance (陸軍教導学校令) promulgated on July 1 of that year, the Toyohashi Army Training School (豊橋陸軍教導学校) was established in the former barracks of the 60th Infantry Regiment, becoming one of three such schools nationwide alongside Sendai and Kumamoto. The school's mission was to educate and train non-commissioned officer candidates (下士官候補者) in infantry tactics, with the Takashinohara and Tenpaku training grounds (高師原・天伯原演習場) serving as primary training areas.

The Army Reserve Officer School system began with a single school in 1938; in August 1939 it was expanded to three schools (Morioka, Toyohashi and Kurume). The Toyohashi Army Reserve Officer School (豊橋陸軍予備士官学校) was initially housed within the existing Training School campus at Machihata-cho, under the direct control of the Army Education Inspectorate (教育総監). The school's purpose was to transform selected enlisted personnel — Class-A Officer Candidates (甲種幹部候補生) — into reserve company-grade officers through an intensive training program that combined classroom instruction with rigorous field exercises on the Takashinohara plateau.

In November 1940, the Training School relocated to new facilities at Nishiguchi-cho (西口町), in the vicinity of the former Iwanishi Elementary School, leaving the Machihata-cho barracks to the Reserve Officer School.

A major reorganization occurred in August 1943, when the Army Training School was abolished and the Second Toyohashi Army Reserve Officer School (豊橋第二陸軍予備士官学校) was set up on its Nishiguchi-cho site, while the original Reserve Officer School at Machihata-cho became the First Toyohashi Army Reserve Officer School (豊橋第一陸軍予備士官学校). This reorganization reflected the Imperial Army's urgent need for junior officers as the war expanded across multiple fronts. In July 1945, the Second School was renamed the Narashino Army Reserve Officer School ahead of a planned move to Chiba Prefecture, but the war ended before the transfer was carried out and its name reverted.

The schools closed in August 1945, following Japan's surrender. Over their operational period, many thousands of graduates served as reserve junior officers across the Pacific and Asian theaters, with many killed in combat in the Philippines, Burma, China, and the Pacific islands.

After the war, the former military grounds underwent a remarkable transformation into an educational district. Aichi University (愛知大学) was founded on the campus in November 1946, utilizing the former military buildings. The 15th Division headquarters building — a two-story Western-style wooden structure with a distinctive U-shaped plan, constructed in 1908 — served as the university's main building until 1996. In January 1998, it was registered as a national tangible cultural property and redesignated as the Aichi University Memorial Hall (愛知大学記念館). The building's ground floor now houses exhibitions on Aichi University's history and its predecessor institution, Toa Dobun Shoin University (東亜同文書院大学), while the second floor preserves the former division commander's office (later used as the university president's office) and exhibits on the university's founder, Honma Kiichi.

Other surviving structures from the military era include the former division commander's official residence (旧第十五師団長官舎), now serving as the Aichi University Public Hall, which has been designated as a cultural property by Toyohashi City. The former Takashinohara and Tenpaku military training grounds have been developed into residential areas and the Toyohashi University of Technology campus (on the Tenpaku plateau). Toyohashi Park (豊橋公園), built on the former Infantry 18th Regiment garrison at the Yoshida Castle site, preserves a stone monument inscribed "Site of the 18th Infantry Regiment" (歩兵第十八連隊之址) as a memorial to the regiment's history.