6th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

6th Division
IJA 23rd Infantry Regiment 2nd Battalion seizing Shāshì city, 8 June 1940
Active	1888–1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Garrison/HQ	Kumamoto City, Japan
Nickname(s)	"Bright Division"
Engagements	Second Sino-Japanese War First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, Kuroki Tamemoto, Ōkubo Haruno, Akashi Motojiro, and Sadao Araki

The 6th Division (第6師団, Dai-roku shidan^?) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Bright Division (明兵団, Akari-heidan^?).

The 6th Division was formed in Kumamoto City on 12 May 1888, as one of the new divisions to be created after the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army away from six regional commands and into a divisional command structure, as per the recommendations of the Prussian military advisor Jakob Meckel to the Japanese government. Its troops were drawn primarily from the southern prefectures of Kyūshū.

It participated in combat during the First Sino-Japanese War at the Battle of Weihaiwei. In the Russo-Japanese War it has participated in the Battle of Shaho under the command of the 2nd army and in the Battle of Mukden under the command of the 4th army. 29 April 1910 the divisional headquarters building was demolished, and new building was assigned temporarily in Kumamoto Kaikosha 22 June 1916 until new building on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle was received 5 April 1917.