14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

14th Division
Fortifications of Peleliu Island constructed by the 14th Division
Active	1905–1944
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Size	25,000 men
Garrison/HQ
Nickname(s)	Shining Division
Engagements	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Tsuchiya Mitsuharu, Samejima Shigeo, Uehara Yusaku, Suzuki Takao, Hata Shunroku, Kenji Doihara

The 14th Division (第14師団^?, Dai Jūyon Shidan) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Shining Division (照兵団^?, Shō Heidan), and its military symbol was 14D. The 14th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War 1 April 1905, after it turned out that the entire IJA was committed to combat in Manchuria, leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese home islands from attack.

The 14th Division was initially established in Kokura (present-day Kitakyushu, Fukuoka) under the command of Lieutenant General Tsuchiya Mitsuharu, with men recruited from Osaka, Zentsūji, Kagawa, Hiroshima and Kumamoto.

It was the only one of the four emergency divisions raised that was considered combat-ready (albeit still severely understrength) prior to the end of the war. It was dispatched to the front in August 1905, where it joined General Nogi Maresuke's IJA Third Army. However, it arrived too late to see any combat, and was assigned policing duties in the Japanese-occupied Liaodong Peninsula and along the South Manchurian Railway in August 1905. It was replaced by the 10th division in 1906, and was withdrawn to Himeji, Hyōgo.