Imperial Japanese Army



"Unite for the glory of Japan!"

-Imperial Commander at the start of Team Deathmatch.

The Imperial Japanese Army (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國陸軍, Shinjitai: 大日本帝国陸軍, Romaji: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun), or more officially Army of the Greater Japanese Empire was the land force of Japan after reforms from the feudal system caused in part by the breaking of the Japanese isolationist policy, causing the downfall of the Feudal system as new ideas, goods and weaponry flooded the country. They are currently only featured in Call of Duty: World at War.

World War II
In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army had 51 divisions and various special-purpose artillery, cavalry, anti-aircraft and armored units with a total of 1,700,000 men. At the beginning of the Second World War most of the Japanese Army was stationed in China. However, from 1942 soldiers were sent to Hong Kong (23rd Army), the Philippines (14th Army), Thailand (15th Army), Burma (15th Army), Dutch East Indies (16th Army) and Malaya (25th Army). By 1945, there were 5.5 million men in the Imperial Japanese Army.

The Japanese Army performed well in the early stages of the war. After 1943 they suffered from a shortage of supplies, especially food, heavy weapons, guns, tanks and aircraft, which was worsened by a long-standing and severe rivalry with the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was affected even more by submarine interdiction of supplies and losses to IJA shipping. The supply situation was so bad, large numbers of fighter aircraft became unserviceable for lack of spare parts and medicines were in such short supply, "as many as two-thirds of Japan's total military deaths resulted from illness or starvation."

Lt Gen Arthur Percival, led by a Japanese officer (center), marches under a flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces during the Battle of Singapore, on February 15, 1942. Throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army had gained a reputation both for its fanaticism and for its brutality against prisoners of war and civilians alike. After Japan surrendered in the summer of 1945, many Imperial Japanese Army officers and enlisted men were tried and punished for committing numerous atrocities and war crimes.

Several reasons are theorized for the especially brutal and merciless behavior exhibited by many members of the IJA towards their adversaries or non-Japanese civilians. One is probably the brutal behavior that they themselves experienced. The IJA was known for the extremely harsh treatment of its enlisted soldiers from the start of training, including beatings, unnecessarily strenuous duty tasks, lack of adequate food, and other violent or harsh disciplinary tactics. This was contrary to the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of 1882, which instructed officers to treat subordinates respectfully. Not until 1943 did the senior command realize this brutality had effects on morale and order an end to it, an order which was routinely circumvented or ignored.

In addition, IJA officers took more than their share of food when their men were starving, arranged transfers to safer areas, or simply deserted their men in action, while the spirit of gyokusai ("glorious death") saw them order suicidal attacks with knives, when supplies of hand grenades and ammunition were still available.

The reputation of Imperial Army troops during the Pacific War, and since, of never surrendering is false. While the numbers are small by comparison to the European Theatre, in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) just over 1,000 surrendered in each of 1942 and 1943, around 5,100 in 1944, and over 12,000 in 1945, and might have been greater except for American shooting of prisoners. The effect of psychological warfare was noticeable (about 20% of surrenders were directly due to it, and many more were influenced), amounting to about one POW for every 6,000 leaflets dropped, while the Japanese objected to the "unscrupulous" leaflets, which expressly contained nothing but the truth. After the war, the Imperial Army was disbanded and became the JGSDF (Japanese Ground Self Defense Force) with the support of the United States.

Call of Duty: World at War
In Call of Duty: World at War, the Imperial Army is featured in the Pacific campaign. They use Arisaka bolt action rifles, Type 100 SMG's, Type 99 Light Machine Guns as their primary infantry weapons. They make heavy use of surprise attacks and Banzai Charges.

Like the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer, There are different character skins for each type of weapon their character uses.The Japanese skin for the riflemen class is a soldier wearing a Japanese uniform and a hachimaki. The SMG skin is a fully equipped Japanese soldier with a helmet. The shotgun class is a Japanese officer with an officer's hat. The machine gun skin is a muscular helmetless soldier with a beard. The sniper skin is a standard Japanese uniform covered with lots of leaves and natural foliage and is arguably the most effective sniper skin in Call of Duty: World at War.

Quotes

 * "Fight as one under the Emperor!"/"Unite for the glory of Japan!" - Japanese commander at the start of Team Deathmatch
 * "Your defeat has brought great dishonor to our nation!"/"You have brought shame to the Imperial Army!" - Japanese commander when Japanese faction is defeated during multiplayer
 * "We bring honor to the Emperor and all of Japan!"/"The Savages[Marine Raiders] kneel before us in defeat!" - Japanese commander when Japanese faction is victorious during multiplayer