12th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

12th Division
Type 4 15-cm howitzer at site former IJA 12th Division HQ at Kokura Castle
Active	1 October 1898 – 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Size	25,000 men
Garrison/HQ	Kokura, Japan
Nickname(s)	Sword Division
Engagements	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ando Sadami, Uchiyama Kojiro, Oi Shigemoto, Shiba Goro, and Hajime Sugiyama

The 12th Division (第12師団, Dai Jūni Shidan^?) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Sword Division (剣兵団, Ken-heidan^?), and its military symbol was 12D. The 12th Division was one of six new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). The division received its colors on 1 October 1898 and disbanded in September 1945. Its troops were recruited primarily from communities in the northern portion of the island of Kyūshū and it was originally headquartered within Kokura Castle (now part of the city of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka)

During the Russo-Japanese War, under the command of Lieutenant General Inoue Hikaru, the division deployed to Manchuria as part of the 1st army. It returned to Kokura after the war, and was deployed again to the continent during the Japanese intervention in Siberia from 19 August 1918. The divisional arsenal in Kokura Castle was used meanwhile to supply other units. The participation in the Siberian Intervention has ended 19 July 1919, but resumed again briefly in 1921. The 12th Division headquarters was relocated to Kurume, another city in Fukuoka prefecture in 1925. In February 1932, following the First Shanghai Incident, the IJA 24th Infantry Regiment of the 12th Division was reinforced with additional artillery units, becoming the 24th Mixed Brigade, which was deployed to Shanghai, and which was later (from April 1936) assigned to Manchukuo. During that period, the 12th division was an elite unit, sporting an disproportionately large amount of firepower and heavy equipment.