15th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

15th Division
former IJA 15th Division HQ in Toyohashi, Aichi
Active	1 April 1905 – May 1925 4 April 1938 – 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Size	25,000 men / 15,00 men
Garrison/HQ	Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Nickname(s)	Festival Division
Engagements	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, Minami Jiro, and Kanji Ishiwara

The 15th Division (第15師団, Dai Jūgo Shidan^?) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the Festival Division (祭兵団, Sai Heidan^?), and its military symbol was 15D. The 15th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). With Japan's limited resources towards the end of that conflict, the entire IJA was committed to combat in Manchuria, leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese home islands from attack. The 15th Division was initially raised from men in the area surrounding Nagoya under the command of Lieutenant General Okihara Kofu.

The Treaty of Portsmouth was concluded before the 15th division could be deployed to Manchuria, and it was sent instead to Korea as a garrison force. 24 March 1907, the logistics battalion was transferred to the military school in Ushigome, and entire division has moved to Narashino, Chiba on 28 March 1907. The division was re-assembled 15 November 1908 in its original divisional headquarters located in Toyohashi, Aichi prefecture.